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In the process of buying a new house with a fresh new concrete floor. Thinking about flooring options before the stains/cracks/etc eventually set in. Thinking about those checkered rubber flooring tiles or just going with an epoxy. Anyone have experience with either?
Unfortunately, NotNamed . . . my experience with Epoxy was anything but positive.
Granted, my home was approximately 15 years old, the standard Two-Car Garage Floor was an ugly eyesore so I decided to go with Professionally Installed Epoxy with lots of guarantees and assurances. Immediately after the installation it looked fantastic, however, after about six months, the "chips" began and within a year or so the flaking / chipping had become a mega-mess.
Enough was enough so after a couple years of the Epoxy Chips Disaster, I had the entire Epoxy Floor removed and Porcelain Tile installed. Ten plus years later . . . the Porcelain Tile continues to look and perform flawlessly. No Chips, No Cracks and Flushing / Cleaning is a Piece of Cake.
[color="DarkRed"]Unfortunately, NotNamed . . . my experience with Epoxy was anything but positive.
Granted, my home was approximately 15 years old, the standard Two-Car Garage Floor was an ugly eyesore so I decided to go with Professionally Installed Epoxy with lots of guarantees and assurances. Immediately after the installation it looked fantastic, however, after about six months, the "chips" began and within a year or so the flaking / chipping had become a mega-mess.
Enough was enough so after a couple years of the Epoxy Chips Disaster, I had the entire Epoxy Floor removed and Porcelain Tile installed. Ten plus years later . . . the Porcelain Tile continues to look and perform flawlessly. No Chips, No Cracks and Flushing / Cleaning is a Piece of Cake.
I sure hope this helps . . .
I have thought about doing exactly this. Looks nice. Easy to clean.
I've used a racedeck type plastic tile before. It worked out really nice and made the ugly floor look better. However it was cheaper than epoxy and unlike epoxy you can take it with you.
Cheaper then epoxy? On the low end(from race deck) a 12x12 tile is $3.50. A Standard two car garage (20x24) will need 480 tiles. That's about $1700, it might be a little cheaper when you buy in bulk. A standard epoxy kit costs about $100, you will probably need two for a two car garage.
We had a brand new house, with a fresh concrete floor. 3 years, and we have not had any chipping or flaking at yet. While I would love a tile floor, but there are a lot of better ways to spend that kinda money at this point.
Unfortunately, NotNamed . . . my experience with Epoxy was anything but positive.
Granted, my home was approximately 15 years old, the standard Two-Car Garage Floor was an ugly eyesore so I decided to go with Professionally Installed Epoxy with lots of guarantees and assurances. Immediately after the installation it looked fantastic, however, after about six months, the "chips" began and within a year or so the flaking / chipping had become a mega-mess.
Enough was enough so after a couple years of the Epoxy Chips Disaster, I had the entire Epoxy Floor removed and Porcelain Tile installed. Ten plus years later . . . the Porcelain Tile continues to look and perform flawlessly. No Chips, No Cracks and Flushing / Cleaning is a Piece of Cake.
I sure hope this helps . . .
Hmm hadn't considered tile. But I could achieve the checkered look with that too. Easy enough DIY too.
I'd just use a water based poly for concrete. Extremely easy to work with, no stink and it dries very fast. Reapplication is very easy and fast too. We have it on our wood floors, it's not as durable as oil based poly but has held up very well.
I have the 2 part Epoxy in my new house. It has been great. I love it, no complaints. Stay away from the stuff they sell at Home Depot or Lowes. It's usually a water base coating, it does not last long and peels up. (I learned this the hard way at my old house) The new stuff I got was commercial grade 2 part Epoxy mix. This is same stuff they use in auto dealership, airplane hangers , warehouses, etc. It wasn't too expensive either. It was about $350-400 in materials for my 3-car garage. And I applied it myself, took a few hours. Came out great, I am happy with the results
I also thought about doing the race deck tiles (or similiar) But I was concerned about motor oil , dust, dirt getting between the cracks and underneath. I work on my cars in the garage and sometimes spill oil. It's easy to clean with my epoxy floors.
Hmm hadn't considered tile. But I could achieve the checkered look with that too. Easy enough DIY too.
As for DIY, NotNamed . . . you are much "braver" than I am.
I had both the Epoxy and then a few years later the Porcelain Tile (recommended over Ceramic Tile due to durability and color all the way through) Professionally Installed . . . the total cost was only about 20% more for the tile.
A small investment considering the durability and performance over the years.
Yeah I've tiled kitchens and bathrooms before with complicated cut outs. The garage is just a big square. No problemo. Slap down the thin set. Lay tile. Grout. Done.
Unfortunately, NotNamed . . . my experience with Epoxy was anything but positive.
Granted, my home was approximately 15 years old, the standard Two-Car Garage Floor was an ugly eyesore so I decided to go with Professionally Installed Epoxy with lots of guarantees and assurances. Immediately after the installation it looked fantastic, however, after about six months, the "chips" began and within a year or so the flaking / chipping had become a mega-mess.
Enough was enough so after a couple years of the Epoxy Chips Disaster, I had the entire Epoxy Floor removed and Porcelain Tile installed. Ten plus years later . . . the Porcelain Tile continues to look and perform flawlessly. No Chips, No Cracks and Flushing / Cleaning is a Piece of Cake.
I sure hope this helps . . .
Your tile floor looks great, but my thought is spillage. If you do spill some oil, wouldn't it get soaked into the grout between the tiles?
You would need to seal the grout for sure. That's just a spray can or pen type application.
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