Garage Floor Tiles

I watched the guy across the street spend three days pressure washing and acid etching his floor, with all of his stuff out in the driveway, just to put down epoxy paint. While many have good luck, it does eventually pop or peel and the repair is not always easy.

I bought cheap CVT tiles at Home Depot, and some glue, washed the floor, spread the glue, and a little over an hour later, a awesome floor. $.058 per square foot and I was done. That was over a year ago. It still looks cool, and its so much cleaner and nicer than a nasty cement floor. Mop it, put down some polish, and man its just so pretty. I had 3 tiles pop up over the winter from the skid loader sitting there, cost all of, uhmmmm nothing. I had some extra. But otherwise about $3 repair.

 

If you get marble of some other type of tile can you put a car lift on top of it? Or should you have the posts sit directly on the concrete?

Matt

 

i've spec'd lots of cemercial buildings with a self leveling epoxy. this stuff does not come back up or peel, bubble and what not that the consumer grade paints do. however it is very expensive and requires specialy trained personal to handle.

it's used mostly in heavy industry and manufacturing of food handeling equipment where FDA requirements are. i've had good results with dex-o-tex.
http://www.dexotex.com/index.php?href=productdetail&id=48

so for the guys with no budget, this would be ideal.

 

Can you post some pictures of this ?

Thanks

 

here is the floor last year, still looks about the same today.
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Artvonne: Aren't the tiles very slick when wet ?
(I'd be concerned with snow,rain etc)

 

Agree with this 100%

 

Artvonne:

I've been thinking of laying down the same tiles. However I am concerned about them staining, etc. Have your tiles stained from hot tires, oil, etc? Do the hot tires leave any marks (if not stains)? Also, when you jack up a car, does the jack scar the tiles or leave permanent depression marks?

You probably have the acid test of tiles, black and white. If they do not stain or mark, then no other color is likely to be a problem would be my guess.

Thank you.

Alberto

 

Very nice. I remember seeing your site a long time ago with pics following the whole garage construction. Came out great.

 

Yes, they stain and scratch. So what? I can buff the floor and polish it and if that wont do it, replace a few $.60 cent tiles. The floor cost me a little over $400, and I don't think anyone can beat the look and durability for the price. Racedeck, or simular tiles are 10 times the cost. But remember as well that those tiles are open and anything spilled leaks through. The rubber tiles are just as expensive, but probably just as susceptible to maring and staining. I like it a lot, and will probably do the same thing at the next house.

 

Has anyone used the U Kote it floor paint? Highly praised on My Classic Cars.

 

You can kind of see it in this pic. We have porcelain tiles as the flooring in the work shop and fabrication department. After a lot of research we found this to be the best material. In a commercial shop we have yet to have any cracking or problems, very easy clean up.
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Marble stains easily, it sucks in liquids. Also wet marble as slippery as ice.

 

Home Depot has some vinyl tile that is shinny, easy to clean and only cost me $160 to do this:

 

awesome

 

Why not "concrete resurfacing"
Anyone here done it?
Seems like about the same price as the plastic tilles...

http://www.permacrete.com/showcase.php?list=Garage%20Floors&total=4&source=garage

http://www.ultimateconcrete.com/photos2.html

 

Here are my tiles.
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I opted for an Epoxy 3 layer floor in my 2 car garage. I investigated the tiles and found that stuff does get in between them, and they do not keep a clean look. The epoxy is impervious to anything you would have in the garage and oil wipes up with a paper towel. And no concrete dust...ever. The total cost for about 420 square feet, plus the side lips was $1625.

 

is this diy or does it include install?

 

You can't DIY. That price was installed. The first process is to grind off a slight amount of the concrete so that you are starting from a clean base. No acid etching. Then a sealer (color of your choice) is put down. While it is wet "chips", which give a marbled appearance, are sprinkled on. Next day, excess is vacuumed of, and a thick clear coat is applied. Keep your car off for a week, and then you are all set. Both my Alfa race car and my Ferrari drip oil (duh). Paper towel takes care of it.

 

Vault offers the same porcelain enamel tiles specified in Ferrari & Maserati showrooms throughout the world. This is also the same tile found on the factory floor in Modena, Italy.

http://www.showroomgarage.com/products.tiles.html#

Here is an overview of the product:

Nothing looks nicer than a stone floor, just like those found in luxury car showrooms. But the trick has been finding a product that can withstand the heavy weight of vehicles, be resistant to abrasion, stains and liquid absorption and be easy to clean.

Thanks to sophisticated new technologies, our high tech all natural porcelain ceramic provides an enhanced resistance to abrasions and acids compared to tiles that are quarried, such as granite or marble. These products evolved from porcelain technologies providing a technical ceramic with extraordinary performance characteristics.

These high-tech ceramic tiles provide the highest quality product available in the international market today. It is not by chance that these tiles have become one of the most popular materials for interior and exterior installations and are used not only in the automotive showrooms, but even in the service departments and factory floors (Ferrari uses them in their factory in Modena).

Proof of their superiority is the fact this type of high performance ceramics have been chosen to line the exterior of the space shuttle and are used in the brake systems of high performance vehicles, made by Porsche and Ferrari, chosen specifically for their durability over time.

These flooring products were designed for Ferrari in close collaboration with designer Massimo Iosa Ghini (who also designed several lights featured in our lighting section) to project their corporate image across all of their dealer showrooms, while enduring the highest levels of stress, enormous traffic and the most persistent stains.

Designed and installed exclusively at all Ferrari and Maserati showrooms throughout the world, they create just the right sense of style, technology, performance and beauty that defines Ferrari.

These are also the porcelain tiles specified at Acura, Audi, Honda, Land Rover, Mercedes, Porsche, Nissan, Toyota, SAAB, and Volkswagen showrooms throughout the world.

Nothing will showcase your vehicles better in your home than these Italian porcelain tiles available through Vault.

Manufactured and imported from Italy.

To order Vault's porcelain tiles, contact one of our flooring specialists at:
(866) 828-5810.

 

It doesn't creep through the cracks easily they fit pretty tight together. White tiles will stain a little if oil os left for a long period of time. My ferrari's oil cooler developed a leak and Ididnt catch it for about a month till the next time I pulled out of the garage. It wasn't bad though done some hard scrubing and for the most part it came of just not as bright as other white tiles. But it does't look like is seep thourgh the cracks from what I can tell.

 

I just finished the new showroom in tile. Found an outdoor tile that is very resistant. Nice texture and with the right grout it looks awesome.
We do have carpets under the engine though.
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Some pictures of the Vault porcelain tiles in use, including the assembly line in Modena and Lamborghini Headquarters in Bolognese, Italy.

More information about the tiles may be found at:

http://www.showroomgarage.com/products.tiles.html
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I installed Kiwi tiles over two years ago. Perfect fit for our winter climate in Wisconsin. In the spring I drag them out in large sections, power wash and drag back in. No more than an hour worth of work. By the way I used the perforated tiles. And yes the TR looks great on the surface. Good luck.
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