Q for you guys with vinyl tile garage floors

[CarreraS2]

q

[david914]

You trowel on adhesive made for VCT. Believe me, it won't come up unless you REALLY work at it.

[jester911]

The floor must be prepped properly. No oil, water, dirt, loose concrete etc. The adhesive is troweled on very thin. You have to wait until the adhesive feels almost dry to the touch, similar to contact cement.

When the adhesive is set up properly and you stick the tile it will not come up.

[84porsche]

The bad part about vinyl tile floors though is that when you drop tools or anything it can dent the tiles. They also scratch very easily. I have placed this type of tile for a company that I used to work for. The surface must be clean and level as these guys have said and you should be fine. Also the adhesive drys fast so once you place it you have a few seconds to move it. If you want to remove it, get a torch and heat the tile to remove. You can remove easily under heat with a trowel.

[david914]

Originally posted by 84porsche
The bad part about vinyl tile floors though is that when you drop tools or anything it can dent the tiles. They also scratch very easily.

That's the bad news. The good news is...

Originally posted by 84porsche
If you want to remove it, get a torch and heat the tile to remove. You can remove easily under heat with a trowel.

Fairly easy and VERY cheap to replace. Don't think you're gonna find that with just about any other finished floor option.

[widebody911]

I only had one tile problem, which is right where the right rear tire hits the floor when the lift comes down. I must not have had that spot as spiffy clean (and I'll admit there were a few spots like that ) so when those 315/35 with Kumhos came down de-cambered, and tried to slide over the tile, one side got traction, and caused the tile to subduct it's neighbor and caused a rift in the next one over. That's the only problem I've had with mine. I can live with the little incidental scratches and whatnot.

[Emission]

Originally posted by jester911
The floor must be prepped properly. No oil, water, dirt, loose concrete etc. The adhesive is troweled on very thin. You have to wait until the adhesive feels almost dry to the touch, similar to contact cement.

When the adhesive is set up properly and you stick the tile it will not come up.

What he says!

Mine are waaaaay stuck to the floor. I jack cars on mine all the time (even the Porsche) and have never seen even a millimeter of movement (of course, I roll the car once it is dropped - no sense pushing my luck).

I have Armstrong VCT (Vinyl Composite Tile) and used Armstrong adhesive. I have a friend who mixed epoxy then put down his VCT - those mothers are stuck forever!

[afterburn 549]

While were on the topic where is a good place to buy them??

[Emission]

Originally posted by 84porsche
"...Also the adhesive drys fast so once you place it you have a few seconds to move it."

Think contact cement.

You trowel the glue ever so thin... then let it dry (30 minutes or so). Drop a tile... and it sticks.

Like 84porsche says, you can pull tiles up in the future as the glue never really "sets" solid.

Mine have tiny scratches all over them, but it isn't a showroom.

[Emission]

Originally posted by afterburn 549
While were on the topic where is a good place to buy them??

Home Depot.

Armstrong Tile and Glue (and tools too).

[Jeff Alton]

How do these stand up to jackstands and such? Do they seem to wear well?

Jeff

[Emission]

Originally posted by catca
How do these stand up to jackstands and such? Do they seem to wear well?

Jeff

Anything sharp will permanently dent/chip the tile. They can take a lot of compression (jack wheels or rollers), but not sharp weight (jack stands). I have 12"x12" pieces of wood I put under my jack stands before I lift. Other than that, I don't take any other extreme precautions...

They wear amazingly well. In fact, you can't really see any wear (from abrasion, etc...), just surface scratches that can be buffed out (or waxed over).

My only complaint is that they are a bit slippery when wet, and that some tire compounds will leach chemicals and discolor the light (white) tiles. I just put up with it as the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

[Jeff Alton]

Great, thanks.

Jeff

[Emission]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
So the tiles that you bought - did they have sticky on the back of them already, or were they just bare, clean tiles?

The only ones that I found at Home Depot were ones that had peel off backings on them, and some kind of glue on them already. Peel and stick stuff.

Did you use extra glue on those, or what?

You don't want those. You want the kind that are smooth and you need to glue down. Here is what I used:

Armstrong Imperial Texture VCT:

#51910 (black)
#51911 (white)

Armstrong Glue S-750 ~ $13 per gallon (Each gallon covers about 10 feet by 20 feet)

[Emission]

Here, try this. This is an article I wrote for our local Porsche Club re VCT flooring:

http://www.schnellauto.com/reference/vct.pdf

- Mike

[Jack Olsen]

VCT looks pretty cheap and easy. However, I have an 80-year-old concrete floor that probably doesn't have a functioning moisture barrier underneath it.

How do the VCT tiles handle moisture? My garage floor is never visibly wet or damp, and I live in the dry Southwest. But I know concrete is porous...

[dweymer]

Jack,

Take a piece of clear plastic(2'x2') like painters tarp about 2-3mil, and tape it down over your floor with duct tape. Let it sit for 36 hours and check for condensation on the inside of the plastic. If there is none, you are good to go.