Garage flooring

[m topls]

I'm considering doing something with my garage floor (and I'm on a tight budget). I got an estimate from a local painter who said that epoxy is a 4-step process over a couple of days for about $950. A friend of mine told me I could easily do the epoxy myself for a lot less money. Any of you ever done it yourself and if so, could you share your experience?

The painter told me that another option is to stain the floor and put a clear coat on top, but that would only last about 3-5 years and would cost $200 less than the epoxy (so around $750).

Lastly, what about those rubber mats or tiles for the garage floor? Anybody have any experience with that and know an approximate cost compared to the epoxy or stain?

[Titanium 325]

I am very interested to know this also please if anyone has done it. I am leaning toward the DIY apoxy, but would love to know what you all have and how it holds up.

[RaceMX-M3]

Karen,

I've done this a few times. Stay away from your basic garage floor paint. You can get a basic epoxy kit at Home Depot or Lowes pretty cheap, it looks ok and holds up pretty well for a couple of years and then it will start going bad. When you drive into your garage and park with hot tires over and over whatever you have on the floor has to be able to hold up.

I ended up buying a commercial grade floor coating kit from Decorative Concrete Supply in Farmer's Branch. Epoxy, paint chips and a special eurethane coating designed to withstand a lot of abuse. This is probably comparable to what the guy is offering to do for $950. I spent about $500 on the materials and application tools required so $950 doesn't sound bad to me. It's a lot of work. I'm not too familiar with the other options you mentioned. Good luck.

[BlackSheep]

I Installed heavy duty linoleum floor tiles from Home Depot, it's kinda grey and speckeled. They are very thick.. Looks sweet with mop and glo on it!! Nice and shiny!.. Spread down the glue and set them in place.. They were .59/sqft and the glue was $20.. Took 6hrs to complete it.. Looks very nice!! My garage feels like another room in my house.. They have discolored a bit where I get tire shine on it and its easy to replace one if you need to.. Cost me about $250..

[TiptronicSoldier]

Everyone post pics of their garage floors. I'd like to do something of the sort for my parents as a gift.

[Qship5]

I've done the DIY garage paints before and they only last for a few years unless you do a multi step process like Scott was referring to. The hot tires will cause many paints to lift. I'm going to do the garage floor tiles on my garage later this spring. They looked to me to be the best option as I can choose color, pattern, etc. I priced out the tiles to do my 3 car garage and it is going to be about $3K for the materials.

Mike

[Titanium 325]

I Installed heavy duty linoleum floor tiles from Home Depot, it's kinda grey and speckeled. They are very thick.. Looks sweet with mop and glo on it!! Nice and shiny!.. Spread down the glue and set them in place.. They were .59/sqft and the glue was $20.. Took 6hrs to complete it.. Looks very nice!! My garage feels like another room in my house.. They have discolored a bit where I get tire shine on it and its easy to replace one if you need to.. Cost me about $250..

would you consider posting a pic of this when you have time? I would like to see how that looks. :) Sounds like a great alternative for me.

[m topls]

I Installed heavy duty linoleum floor tiles from Home Depot, it's kinda grey and speckeled. They are very thick.. Looks sweet with mop and glo on it!! Nice and shiny!.. Spread down the glue and set them in place.. They were .59/sqft and the glue was $20.. Took 6hrs to complete it.. Looks very nice!! My garage feels like another room in my house.. They have discolored a bit where I get tire shine on it and its easy to replace one if you need to.. Cost me about $250..

Wow, this sounds very interesting! Thank you for sharing the idea. I would like to see a pic of it, too, if you have time to post one. Someone else also mentioned the linoleum idea on another forum and he said that he ended up putting a small rubber mat on top of the linoleum under the spot where each tire landed in the garage to prevent the discoloration you mention.

What kind of glue did you use and does it stick very well to the concrete? And how long did you wait before parking a car in the garage?

[m topls]

Karen,

I've done this a few times. Stay away from your basic garage floor paint. You can get a basic epoxy kit at Home Depot or Lowes pretty cheap, it looks ok and holds up pretty well for a couple of years and then it will start going bad. When you drive into your garage and park with hot tires over and over whatever you have on the floor has to be able to hold up.

I ended up buying a commercial grade floor coating kit from Decorative Concrete Supply in Farmer's Branch. Epoxy, paint chips and a special eurethane coating designed to withstand a lot of abuse. This is probably comparable to what the guy is offering to do for $950. I spent about $500 on the materials and application tools required so $950 doesn't sound bad to me. It's a lot of work. I'm not too familiar with the other options you mentioned. Good luck.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It does sound like the $950 quote is comparable to your commercial grade experience. Interestingly enough, I got a second quote from another painter and he was only going to charge $300 to coat the garage floor with epoxy. He didn't mention the 4-step/2-day process like the $950 painter did, nor did he mention that it's best to wait 18-20 days to park the cars back in the garage to allow enough curing time so that the heat from the cars would not damage the floor. So I'm guessing that $300 quote was for the basic garage floor paint and not the commercial grade.

I have to admit that I like BlackSheep's idea for the heavy duty linoleum!

[BlackSheep]

My avatar pic is from my garage.. Not the best pic of it, but you get the idea.

[AlexT]

I have the plastic tiles that snaps together and have the diamond surface.

Did it because I didn't want to cut into the concrete for the lift but my cars are too short to get over the lift. So I use treated 2 x 10 to cover the floor and put the plastic tile over it. Gave me a 2" lift off the ground and my 3" ground clearance M-Coupe clears the lift. I also did it in M colors. Now I'm thinking about stripping everything out and put in a portable 2 post lift.

Here is a pic when the floor was done. I gave up trying to keep it clean as we have a lot of leaves around my house. It's been a while since I wash the floor. So it doesn't look very good now.

Down side on the way I did it is that it shifts a little until I screw it down into the wood. Now it shrink in the winter so the gap between tiles increases. Summer time, it looks good. Cleaning is tough to get around the diamond textures. They make the smoother ones with the circles texture. They might be better.

I got some spare tiles if you want to try it out. Not sure how much edging or what color combo I have tho. Kinda old (2002) but never out of the box.

[Raven]

After the builder ruined the floor of my garage, they put this in.
It's the spreadable stuff you get at home depot.
It has held up pretty good over the last 3 years.
It's just a little dirty in the pic.
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo268/rlpiii/CIMG0786.jpg

[LanceFitzgiben]

if anyone does epoxy DIY just be sure to wear a really kickass in-organic respirator.. I know this is common knowledge, at least should be.. but sometimes people don't think about it, and you have to have the right kind of respirator, with the right filters. Epoxy will f*ck you up bad.

Tiles are an awesome DIY option.. and like Jason said, it's easy to get in there and replace individuals later.

[Titanium 325]

Some sweet options in this thread. :) Thanks for sharing everyone.

[Mike CLK Black]

About $1,700 if I remember correctly. Very quiet to walk on, no clack, clack, clack with each step.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r261/altemail2/DSC01320.jpg

[Qship5]

About $1,700 if I remember correctly. Very quiet to walk on, no clack, clack, clack with each step.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r261/altemail2/DSC01320.jpg

I like the design. I'm looking to do a similar one on my garage floor with the checkerboard pattern and the solid color parking pad sections.

[m topls]

About $1,700 if I remember correctly. Very quiet to walk on, no clack, clack, clack with each step.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r261/altemail2/DSC01320.jpg

This floor looks great!

[m topls]

I have the plastic tiles that snaps together and have the diamond surface.

Did it because I didn't want to cut into the concrete for the lift but my cars are too short to get over the lift. So I use treated 2 x 10 to cover the floor and put the plastic tile over it. Gave me a 2" lift off the ground and my 3" ground clearance M-Coupe clears the lift. I also did it in M colors. Now I'm thinking about stripping everything out and put in a portable 2 post lift.

Here is a pic when the floor was done. I gave up trying to keep it clean as we have a lot of leaves around my house. It's been a while since I wash the floor. So it doesn't look very good now.

Down side on the way I did it is that it shifts a little until I screw it down into the wood. Now it shrink in the winter so the gap between tiles increases. Summer time, it looks good. Cleaning is tough to get around the diamond textures. They make the smoother ones with the circles texture. They might be better.

I got some spare tiles if you want to try it out. Not sure how much edging or what color combo I have tho. Kinda old (2002) but never out of the box.

I like the way you did the M colors -- very cool. Gosh, all of you have given me some great ideas now! Thank you!!

[Qship5]

Karen,

If you decide to go the garage tile route let me know and maybe we can order together and get a better price. Anyone else thinking about this can feel free to chime in and I'll see what I can negotiate for a group buy price.

Mike

[Mike CLK Black]

I like the design. I'm looking to do a similar one on my garage floor with the checkerboard pattern and the solid color parking pad sections.

Try Jim at http://carguygarage.com/

They have a design template that let's you choose colors tile by tile.

The tiles are not glued, you just use a rubber mallet to bang the interlocking edges, then glue the runner strip to the floor.

[m topls]

Try Jim at http://carguygarage.com/

They have a design template that let's you choose colors tile by tile.

The tiles are not glued, you just use a rubber mallet to bang the interlocking edges, then glue the runner strip to the floor.

Oh, cool! This place has lifts, too! That is also something in my future. Whenever I have the pleasure of buying Brad's mom's X5, I'll need to park 3 cars in my 2-car garage.

[Qship5]

That single post lift looks really nice.

[m topls]

I discovered another option today. Anyone ever try the polyvinyl flooring from Sam's? It comes in a few different colors, two different sizes (10' x 22' and 9' x 20'), no adhesives required, and it's shipped in a roll to your house. It got some good reviews on the Sam's web site and it seems to be cost-effective for us budget-minded folks. Check it out!
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=135738

http://graphics.samsclub.com/images/products/0073660810016_LG.jpg http://graphics.samsclub.com/images/products/0073660810061_LG.jpg

[NDeedOne]

man there are so many options. They all look pretty nice.

[Jetmech]

My garage floor is painted and than I put down a product by 'FLOR". It is
flooring made from recycled plastic. It resist oil, is easy to put down and can be taken up to clean individual tiles. FLOR.com check it out.

[Drei Bimmers]

I have the Polyvinyl stuff from Sams. It actually works really good. I have two of the 9's x 20's. My garage is a little bigger than that, so they don't cover all the floor, which is the only downside. Mine match up so the seem is pretty tight. I wash mine down with Dawn or Tide and use a broom. Oil resistance is good. The only other downside is if you do any type of welding or hot spark type of work, it melts in places. It does seem to be pretty heat resistant to the Cat, etc, though, if you are just parking. Depending on how low your car is.

I have thought about going the multi step epoxy paint way, to cover all the floor and get a cohesive look, but, as mentioned here, a lot of work and expense. I don't want to have to take everything out of the garage for 2 days, and I mean EVERYTHING. Acid Wash, you have a limited time to put it on, once it is mixed, etc. Good Luck!

[Fubar]

Only problem I would think about with tile is using a floor jack. It might break the tile or be difficult to roll the jack across.

[Mr. Hollywood]

That single post lift looks really nice.

I had one installed for one of my customers a few years ago...

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc226/Kllymartin/WolfCreekSpec013.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc226/Kllymartin/WolfCreekSpec012.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc226/Kllymartin/WolfCreekSpec044.jpg

[m topls]

I have the Polyvinyl stuff from Sams. It actually works really good. I have two of the 9's x 20's. My garage is a little bigger than that, so they don't cover all the floor, which is the only downside. Mine match up so the seem is pretty tight. I wash mine down with Dawn or Tide and use a broom. Oil resistance is good. The only other downside is if you do any type of welding or hot spark type of work, it melts in places. It does seem to be pretty heat resistant to the Cat, etc, though, if you are just parking. Depending on how low your car is.

I have thought about going the multi step epoxy paint way, to cover all the floor and get a cohesive look, but, as mentioned here, a lot of work and expense. I don't want to have to take everything out of the garage for 2 days, and I mean EVERYTHING. Acid Wash, you have a limited time to put it on, once it is mixed, etc. Good Luck!

My garage is only 19 x 18, so I'm wondering if the polyvinyl can be trimmed. I'd have to get two of the 9 x 20s, but they'd be a foot too big. Since you have the polyvinyl, does it look like it can be cut to size or would it totally mess up one of the edges?

[Drei Bimmers]

My garage is only 19 x 18, so I'm wondering if the polyvinyl can be trimmed. I'd have to get two of the 9 x 20s, but they'd be a foot too big. Since you have the polyvinyl, does it look like it can be cut to size or would it totally mess up one of the edges?


You can trim it easily with a utility knife. It woudl trim well around edges also. I don't know if I will have time to post a pic, but I might try and do that in the am. It has ridges that run longways in it and holds up real well. My floor jack clacks across it with the channels, but they help direct the dirt and water. It will lay very flat too.

[RaceMX-M3]

This is a great thread, thanks to all for contributing.

[Qship5]

My garage is only 19 x 18, so I'm wondering if the polyvinyl can be trimmed. I'd have to get two of the 9 x 20s, but they'd be a foot too big. Since you have the polyvinyl, does it look like it can be cut to size or would it totally mess up one of the edges?

It trims easily and you are much better off when the garage is smaller than the mat length and combined width. I really can't use the mats since my garage is 26' deep and 35' wide. (That's why I'm going with the tiles.) The also sell a baseboard type trim made from vinyl that you can put up to really give it a finshed look.

[Titanium 325]

I had one installed for one of my customers a few years ago...

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc226/Kllymartin/WolfCreekSpec013.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc226/Kllymartin/WolfCreekSpec012.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc226/Kllymartin/WolfCreekSpec044.jpg

Sorry to get off topic here, is that a standard height garage, or is it taller to accomodate the lift?

That is a really cool idea.

[G-man]

I had an epoxy floor with paint chips professionally applied about two and a half years ago and it has held up just fine so far. I'm quite happy with it.

WARNING: If you get an epoxy floor applied, be advised that this stuff will have a VERY STRONG smell for a couple of days. (Mine was a 2-day process.) Even with leaving my garage open and my house windows open, I still could smell the stuff in my house for at least a couple of days.

I had the floor done by Home Storage Systems (http://www.homestoragesystems.com/epoxyfloors.htm). I highly recommend them.

[Qship5]

Only problem I would think about with tile is using a floor jack. It might break the tile or be difficult to roll the jack across.

The better quality garage floor tiles are designed to prevent any issues with the floor jacks and/or any pulling appart when turning a car on them.

[Mr. Hollywood]

Sorry to get off topic here, is that a standard height garage, or is it taller to accomodate the lift?

That is a really cool idea.

12' ceilings are perfect. My customer parked his SUV under the Porsche.

[Crash]

I just wish I had a house to have a nice garage for my toys.