A productive weekend and pictures of my new garage floor

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

Picked up an old catalytic converter 2 weekends ago at the swap meet. Oh Haha and I removed the a/c and insides of the old cat. On Saturday we went over to wcc's and installed the hollowed out catalytic converter. I was a bit concerned with reusing the old O2 sensor and what I had read about back pressure, but the 911 is running better than ever. It gets going like a rocket.
I also decided to finally buy some rackdecking. My garage floor is cracked so VCT was not an option. Also it looks like a vapor barrier was not installed when the garage was build because the floor gets darker when it rains. The high clay content of the soil and the farm a few floors down that regraded their land to slope in our direction does not help either.
Anyway, when I got home on Saturday from wcc's, my wife and son had already emptied out the far bay of the garage. A few hours later, the floor was in. I decided not to tile under my bench and ended up having enough to get a couple of feet into the near bay. I had to use the free sample they sent me to finish the final row. In case you are wondering why there is an alloy colored tile in the midst of black and white.
My four year old really went to town with the rubber mallet. He took a couple of breaks to watch tv and chase the dog around the yard, but he was a big help

We will probably get more racedecking this summer to finish the near bay. I am keeping an eye out for it on ebay.

Zef · Zef's Garage

Cool garage....I like the pic with son seated in the wheel.

mack6820 · 05-05-2008, 04:37 AM

very nice. Are the floor panels heavy? I wanna do that to my trailer.

WPOZZZ · 05-05-2008, 04:39 AM

I like it! Are those Carlsson or Lorinser wheels?

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Looks good - I like the flooring = it's very easy to clean.

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

I like it! Are those Carlsson or Lorinser wheels?

They are Lorinsers. They are for my 300SEL. I am doing the top end right now. I could not find AMG monoblocks with the right offset. Those wheels showed up on craigslist a few miles down the road from me. Hopefully I will have that car back on the road this summer.

The tiles are pretty light.

Jgordon · 05-05-2008, 06:48 AM

Did you think about going epoxy? My garage floor looks like that, with some lower points and I'm hoping the epoxy would flow a bit and help level it. I guess if I mix it thinner it might. Anyway, did you go in that direction at all?

Floor looks great, as does the car. Nice man cave with the heavy bag, tv, peg boards and porsche.

Wickd89 · 05-05-2008, 07:01 AM

Nice floor.

My problem with having a nice floor is clean up. Previous owner did a checkered floor with regular Armstrong tiles but I can't keep it clean....
Anybody know how to scrub a dirty garage floor?!

Jack Olsen · 05-05-2008, 10:28 AM

Looks great!

Jgordon, epoxy is not an option if the concrete has any moisture issues at all. Older concrete often doesn't have a vapor barrier underneath it, or has one that's no longer effective. You can test your flooring with plastic sheeting over the concrete to see if moisture is coming through.

Oh Haha · 05-05-2008, 12:53 PM

Looks great, Mike.

Now that you're "experienced", you'll need to come over when I get mine and help with the install.

DW SD · 05-05-2008, 02:16 PM

I've been contemplating what to put down in my garage. Looks nice!

what happens to that floor when you spill oil? Does it run between two tiles?

Is it spongy? Could you move large machines on casters on it with the floor compressing? I have some heavy wood working gear that I need to be able to roll.

How much is it per sq foot?

Will it be easy to keep just the white tiles clean? I want a uniform color. Will oil stain the white tiles?

Doug

DanielDudley · 05-05-2008, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Olsen

Looks great!

Jgordon, epoxy is not an option if the concrete has any moisture issues at all. Older concrete often doesn't have a vapor barrier underneath it, or has one that's no longer effective. You can test your flooring with plastic sheeting over the concrete to see if moisture is coming through.

Jack there is a product called Radon Seal that is a solution that soaks into your concrete and increases its resistance to water vapor. I believe it can be successfully used a a pre treatment for painting a concrete floor with no vapor barrier. I am going to go this route later this season.

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Looks great, Mike.

Now that you're "experienced", you'll need to come over when I get mine and help with the install.

My rubber mallet is at the ready. Just tell me when

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by DW SD

I've been contemplating what to put down in my garage. Looks nice!

what happens to that floor when you spill oil? Does it run between two tiles?

Is it spongy? Could you move large machines on casters on it with the floor compressing? I have some heavy wood working gear that I need to be able to roll.

How much is it per sq foot?

Will it be easy to keep just the white tiles clean? I want a uniform color. Will oil stain the white tiles?

Doug

The seal between the tiles is good. I had some oil spill on a couple of white ones and it wiped right up. I picked 92 square foot from an ebay auction. Some of those tiles have stains. I cleaned most of the junk of them, but those need a bit more elbow grease. They do not feel spongy and my jack moved fine over it.
I bought the rest of the tile from Racedeck (Snaplock Industries). They wanted $4.15 a square foot, then $3.85. I asked them if they could get it down to $3 a square foot and they agreed without any hesitation. Shipping was a bit expensive. A bit over $100.

efhughes3 · efhughes3's Garage

Nice choice of flooring!

Here's my new garage with RaceDeck as well. I really like the stuff. My buddy in Tx had epoxy put down in his new garage. He's now having it done a second time. I'm kind of glad I didn't have the time to do epoxy before moving in...

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

Looks good.

Wayne (Oh haha), Bill (wcc), and Randy come over last Saturday and helped me hang some cabinets. It looks a bit crowded in these pictures, but it is way better than is used to be. I am thinking about putting in a ceiling. Right now a lot of dust falls in and lands on the cars. The only problem are the shop lights. I had to place them about the rafters so the garage doors could still open.

billybek · billybek's Garage

Cabinets look great. Nice to be able to see what is where.
Were they salvage or did you have them built up for the shop?

Oh Haha · 06-06-2008, 05:30 AM

Looks great, Mike!!

See, I told you would find use to the empty space on the far right of the cabinets.

cantdrv55 · 06-06-2008, 05:36 AM

Ed,

Are you able to drive your 911 over the scissors jack without a ramp?

Quote:

Originally Posted by efhughes3

Nice choice of flooring!

Here's my new garage with RaceDeck as well. I really like the stuff. My buddy in Tx had epoxy put down in his new garage. He's now having it done a second time. I'm kind of glad I didn't have the time to do epoxy before moving in...

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by billybek

Cabinets look great. Nice to be able to see what is where.
Were they salvage or did you have them built up for the shop?

They are salvage.

Wayne,
You were right. That far right spot was perfect for the wrenches. Rear of the 911 usually sits right there and will again as soon as I get the cylinder head back in the 300SEL.