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Garage flooring

airhead78

Member
I am asking here since I live in Chicago. My detached garage floor has slightly "ribbed" concrete instead of a smooth one. It is uncomfortable as a result. I have been thinking about installing garage vinyl flooring. Anyone has any experience with them or recommendations? May be I should just get a lift;) or both. The concrete is always attracting a lot of dust, etc... TIA

Eduardo.
 
I found a garage floor vinyl that is coined and it was in various colors. I believe the size was 7x16. heavy duty stuff. I bought it for a non skid surface in the men's room for the machine shop. sees more abuse than you can imagine with dirt, steel chips, salt, damp location, the list goes on. I think it has been there for four years now. When my janitor swabs the deck, it looks as if it is new, EVERY TIME! I give it a big :thumb :thumb !

It is known as G Floor. There are also other patterns, here is one source.....

http://www.americangaragefloor.com/blt-garage-floor-coin.php

there maybe other vendors. pricey but well worth it

Bob
 
Detached so no heat right? Have someone come in and put radiant heat in. With a 10-20 gallon water heater it'll heat for $25-35 a month at 60 F all winter. If the garage is well insulated.
 
Epoxy

airhead78,

I also live in Chicago and had a local company install an epxoy floor in my garage about 3 yrs ago. I love it. It looks great, keeps the dust down, and cleans up nicely. I will go through my files and find the company info if you want. Or, if you live on the north shore, stop by and take a look. I am in Glenview.

Ben



BMW4.jpg
 
airhead78,

I also live in Chicago and had a local company install an epxoy floor in my garage about 3 yrs ago. I love it. It looks great, keeps the dust down, and cleans up nicely. I will go through my files and find the company info if you want. Or, if you live on the north shore, stop by and take a look. I am in Glenview.

Ben



BMW4.jpg

Thats a great floor, I'm going that route on my new floor. the reason I didn't recomend it to Airhead78 is because he says his floor is rough. you should have a smooth floor for best results when using epxoy. The epxoy floor kit is available at most Lowes and Home Depots. one gallon will cover 250 sq Ft, at $ 64.50 a gallon. My garage is 30' x 30' (900 sq Ft) so I will purchase 4 Gallon. I just haven't decided on what color I want. :thumb
 
Thanks for responses so far...

Thanks everyone. I will continue to consider the flooring (thanks for the link to the flooring site). Nice looking epoxy (and GS). I actually did that myself to my attached garage which has smooth concrete. Turned out nice although not as nice as the pro job. But the detached, as stated, is rough and "scratchy" and hard to clean as a result. That is why I was thinking about some vinil flooring to smooth it out and make it easier to do bike maintenance and clean. Great idea to put heated flooring, but the garage is not insulated and it would be a larger and more expensive project that I can tackle right know.
 
That broom finish on the garage floor was probably deliverate so it wouldn't be slippery. When we bought our house in Kansas it had a smooth garage floor. With the slightest humidity in the air - lots of the time, by the way - that floor was slick. Particularly troublesome when trying to wheel a motorcycle around on it.

When I put a concrete floor in the shop building - it had been just a rock base - I deliberately had them do a broom finish for the purpose of it not getting slick.

Replacing blue jeans when the knees wear out is cheaper than replacing motorcycle plastic!

Then I put in a lift - centered on a carpet pad - and solved the blue jeans knees problem.

So, whatever you do, put in a floor that is NOT SLIPPERY WHEN WET OR DAMP!!!!
 
Epoxy floor

I should have clarified. This is a professional epoxy application. It takes about 3 days (two layers), is about 1/8" thick, and is bullet proof. Your rough surface won't be a problem at all. The floor is also not slippery when wet.

The downside.... about $1,600. I have used the HD epoxy kits before and they have their place, but having it professionally done is no comparison. I believe the floor has a lifetime guarantee (whatever that is worth).
 
Radiant heat.

Detached so no heat right? Have someone come in and put radiant heat in. With a 10-20 gallon water heater it'll heat for $25-35 a month at 60 F all winter. If the garage is well insulated.
This is a good idea, but you'll need to cover the radiant tubing up with something. Gypcrete is a good way to go as it is self leveling, but expensive. Various contrators will do it for you. Radiant heat sources need to be buried in something when placed on a slab. It will raise your floor and that can be an issue in terms of your garage door, which will need to be adjusted.
 
I sell paints and industrial coatings for a living (30+years) so here's the small scoop on garage floors.

You have a broom finish, which was not excessively power floated. (Good!)
Power float floors will need way more prep to accept any paint or coating.

Doing it yourself or hiring out? DIY, you are limited to what is available to consumers. Limited performance, probably redo it fairly often. Won't get rid of the broom texture, but will solve the dust issue. Be fairly cheap, but you can DIY and maintain it yourself.

Hiring out? Be prepared to spend some good $$, you can even get coatings that will make the floor smooth and be harder than the concrete. Resistant to virtually any solvent or chemical too!

I can recommend coatings to you anywhere between these 2 styles, and walk you through the whole process. Just like having your own coatings consultant!

Just PM me and I'll help you out.

Steve
 
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