Should I TILE my Garage Floor

[aigel]

I am thinking about tiling my garage floor. I read a lot about epoxy floors and it sounds like a major PITA and risk it won't come out unless you grind the floor. (Mine is >40 years old with oli leaks and grime ... )

The Benefits of Porcelain Garage Floor Tile | All Garage Floors

What does the brain trust say? I have laid tile before and it being a garage floor, I am not too worried about it coming out perfect. The proper rating tile and slap it on in 16x16 or 24x24 should be a fun project!?

Do you think it would hold up to a scissor mid rise lift on top of the tile? Or should i plan on sinking that in?

G

[look 171]

do not install the lift on top of the tile, it will crack the tile. Tile around it after the lift is installed

[aigel]

That's what I figured. Thanks for confirming!

Looks like I'd sink in the lift for a clean look. Unfortunately, unless I put a lift table like Jack O., I will have a hole in the middle of the floor where the lift sits. This is an issue when I would move and / or sell as most people are not interested in a lift.

Maybe I should just give up on the lift in the garage idea. I can buy a nasty old unit and put it in the side yard and just become a fair weather mechanic!?

G

[look 171]

light duty lift? How thick do you think is that slab? Most will cut out for a footing and screw the lift on there, tile and be done with it. when you sell, unbolt and remove lift. Cut screw and tile over that. No one will ever know there was ever a lift there. Just keep some extra tiles. Is the house up in SF or here in LA?

[wdfifteen]

Do you plan to use a creeper, floor jack, roll-around tool box? Seems like rolling these on tile would be a major PITA.

[Scuba Steve]

If you're interested in VCT tile I can vouch for that. A creeper will roll just fine and the only way I was able to damage any of it was when I put the car on jack stands. Using a small piece of plywood underneath the stands kept that from ever happening again.

edit: previous owners had an ATV or small boat in the garage that leaked a little oil. That never caused any problems with the glue or tiles lifting. It was a big part of why I went that route to begin with instead of going with paint or epoxy.

[sc_rufctr]

I hate to be negative but why bother? It's a garage after all.
They're for working in and if you tile the floor all of a sudden you'll be worried about what your doing in there.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Tile looks awesome but is a lot of work to install. Also keep in mind it's one of those projects that YOU will like. When you sell the house you won't get anything back for it since most people won't care whether it's concrete, tile, epoxy or whatever.

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I hate to be negative but why bother? It's a garage after all.
They're for working in and if you tile the floor all of a sudden you'll be worried about what your doing in there.

The only functional difference I noticed before vs. after was that it became a lot easier to locate dropped hardware and I tracked less dust in to the house. The blue/white checker pattern seemed to help brighten up the room a little too but adding lighting would have had the same result.

The person who I sold the house to mentioned something about turning the garage into a sort of man cave with a pool table. He loved it.

[URY914]

It all depends on the type of tile you want to use. Porous is not good=stains.

[scottmandue]

No comment on the tile but... just sayin.
If I were buying a house a lift in the garage would be a huge plus...
Again... Just sayin.

[Iciclehead]

Interested in the comments, I have done epoxy on my garage floor twice, both times professionally done, full shot blast beforehand, full meal deal.

Well, between the expansion/contraction, salt dripping down from cars, normal abrasion from gravel in the tread, neither coating lasted much beyond 5 years.

So, I am planning on tile as well. Most European shops have tile on the floor, and yes, the lifts are solidly mounted onto concrete and not through the tile.

My reading is to use good tile (not the cheapest Home Despot type), use the right thinset and grout and double butter every tile to avoid voids and such.

My only real problem is how to get the wretched epoxy off the parts where it still is and is still stuck!

Dennis

[gsxrken]

Why not go with SwissTrax or Racedeck plastic floor squares, especially if you might move? You could always pick them up and bring them to your next garage.

[plumb4u2]

I purchased my home from a guy who owned a flooring company which was great cause all flooring in my home is top notch however the worse part is that he tiled my garage floor

I see you're in LA so this is not a big deal to you but when my floor gets wet from snow or rain it is a death trap....I ended up covering most of it with outdoor carpet cause I didn't want my wife or kids breaking their necks

I have a scissor lift on mine for my 911 and there have been no issues with tile cracking however my lift is on top of the carpet

my opinion is that I would never tile a garage..I have contemplated covering it with the hard rubber squares but they are $$$

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by plumb4u2

I purchased my home from a guy who owned a flooring company which was great cause all flooring in my home is top notch however the worse part is that he tiled my garage floor

I see you're in LA so this is not a big deal to you but when my floor gets wet from snow or rain it is a death trap....I ended up covering most of it with outdoor carpet cause I didn't want my wife or kids breaking their necks

I have a scissor lift on mine for my 911 and there have been no issues with tile cracking however my lift is on top of the carpet

my opinion is that I would never tile a garage..I have contemplated covering it with the hard rubber squares but they are $$$

I guess my research would suggest that he used the wrong kind of tile. From what I read, there is a vast difference in gloss/surface finish between floor tiles and wall tiles. The ones I am looking at are essentially industrial commercial building floor tiles intended for foyers and lobbies of large buildings. There is a thing called an R rating which measures the amount of slippage up to R19 (the least slippery).

I gather at the higher R ratings, the slipperiness is pretty well non-existent...so that is what I am looking for.

Dennis

[Craig T]

I put porcelain tile in the garage at my last house. I would NEVER do it again.

I went all the way, even having them grind/shave the entire floor to make sure it was perfectly flat. Even the best thin set and tiles will have cracks if the floor has any low spots or foundation cracks. After restoring a 67 Bronco, chips were everywhere from dropping wrenches etc. The chips filled with dirt. I used a pencil thin grout line, but it still looked dirty. It's great if you're just parking cars in there, but for a working shop/garage…Just not practical. Plus, done right its BIG $$$

This house I went with industrial grade VCT in my Mancave. It's much cheaper, much more durable, and I'm much happier with it. Is does get dirt fast, but strips and cleans easily. You need to keep a good floor wax on it. I strip and wax it once a year and it looks great. Hot tires will make a yellow spot on the light color. I put a black section under the car.

Epoxy is terrible. I put that on the garages attached to the house. Fives years now and it looks like crap.

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by Craig T

I put porcelain tile in the garage at my last house. I would NEVER do it again.

I went all the way, even having them grind/shave the entire floor to make sure it was perfectly flat. Even the best thin set and tiles will have cracks if the floor has any low spots or foundation cracks. After restoring a 67 Bronco, chips were everywhere from dropping wrenches etc. The chips filled with dirt. I used a pencil thin grout line, but it still looked dirty. It's great if you're just parking cars in there, but for a working shop/garage…Just not practical. Plus, done right its BIG $$$

This house I went with industrial grade VCT in my Mancave. It's much cheaper, much more durable, and I'm much happier with it. Is does get dirt fast, but strips and cleans easily. You need to keep a good floor wax on it. I strip and wax it once a year and it looks great. Hot tires will make a yellow spot on the light color. I put a black section under the car.

Epoxy is terrible. I put that on the garages attached to the house. Fives years now and it looks like crap.

I checked into VCT tiles a while ago, my concern was up here where there is snow/ice/salt drippings from the cars and lots of road grime that it would just sit on the concrete under the VCT tiles and ruin the concrete just out of sheer exposure.

The grout issue is one that appears to be fixable by both using a dark grout and secondly putting a really good industrial grout sealer on it so that the dirt can't stick. Near as I can tell it is a silicone-like product that just prevents the grime from sticking to grout, does not stick to the tiles at all and so does not make them slipperier.

Your thoughts on that? Any issues with that kind of thing from your end?

Dennis

[porsche4life]

Check out the swisstrax garage tiles. Easy to put down and pick up. That's what I'm going to do in my garage when I get around to it.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Check out the swisstrax garage tiles. Easy to put down and pick up. That's what I'm going to do in my garage when I get around to it.

And what if you spill something on this? How do you clean it? Looks great, but I'd be afraid doing extended projects on it.

G

[aigel]

I want to get a scissor mid-rise lift. Like this one:

https://excel-equipment.com/titan-6-000-lb-mid-rise-scissor-lift.html?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Excel%20Shopping&gclid=CLuSp9eS4sMCFReTfgodXTwA7g

I guess these generally have one side fixed and held down by the weight of the vehicle, while the other side slides on rollers. I can see that this won't be too pretty on a tile floor with grout.

G