I'm trying to decide the best solution for garage flooring available to me. I'm renting right now so keep that in mind. Ideally I'd like to spend somewhere around $300 to cover my 2 car garage, but I understand that may not be possible to get something worthwhile for that price. The real question in my mind is what some of the advantages/disadvantages are to both tile and paint - as well as who here has had good/bad experiences with either.

Brian

I'd go with a garage floor paint with a slip guard added to it. Tile is too suspectable to chemicals and will retain marks that heavy things (Tool Box Stanchions, work bench legs, etc..). Tile is also subject to peeling up and breaking. Floor paint is definately the way I'd go.


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Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 07-20-2006).]

I would leave it natural. If you paint, it flakes/wears and has to be redone, especially if subject to winter salt water. Tiles break/come off.

Good point, I considered saying that, but that wasn't his question. He could always jackhammer all the concrete out and thn re=pour some of the shaded or colored concrete. Might breadk the budget though.

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Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

There are at least a couple products out now that are either epoxy or urethane type products that will not easily be removed, damaged, etc. I don't know what they cost. They are made specifically for that use and I would think jacking etc was thought into making them. That said, You'd probably still want to avoid crappy jacks and stands with sharp corners on the bottom.

Any sort of tile is right out. The only thing that might hold up any length of time is comercial duty stuff for stores etc and even that won't take much when you start parking cars on it. And it's bloody expensive. That grade of tile can be a couple dollars or more per sq ft. After the tile went down you'd have to apply a sealer over it, which makes it even more expensive. It likely would also make for a very slick floor when wet.

If the concrete is clean, or can be cleaned, you least expensive option may be to just seal it with something made for the job. That will keep it from getting stained, cut dust, and make it easier to clean up. There are sealers made for specifically for concrete floors/driveways. Such a sealer usually lasts years in anyplace not exposed to the weather.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurasic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

I just did this to my garage. I had 1100 sq feet to cover so I was looking for something the would last, but not break the bank. The "in" thing is the epoxy paint that has the flakes and then you clear coat. They look awesome and that is what I intended to do, but it was the most expensive option. I also was going to add a new window, a 6' double door and build a half wall to section off the back of the garage (to be used as a shed) from the Fieros.

I decided where I could save a couple hundred bucks was to go with an Epoxy paint made by Behr. It is slate gray in color and it came out great. We used a scaling and cleaning solution first. This preps the cement in order to accept the paint. We then put on a coat of primer, followed by 2 coats of the epoxy paint. It took an entire weekend to do, but it was well worth it.

I will try to remember to post some pictures soon.

Have you considered polishing your concrete?

http://www.concretedecor.net/Abstracts/CD103_Polishing.cfm

Mom was going to do it to her house floors, it comes out looking like marble. turned out her floor was too old and porous to do it without pouring a new floor above it.

I worked in a few factories that had it done and they looked amazing even after years of abuse.

Just google polished concrete, or similar stuff

Brad

Thanks for all your replies. Since I'm renting I'm hoping to get the landlord to help cover some/most of the cost for providing them with some sort of floor protection (especially since I'm doing a 3800SC swap in it). I have seen the epoxy floor products, but not seen any up close and don't know how they would last with things like jacks, jack stands, etc. I imagine that even that level of protection is better than nothing - especially since I don't want to have to pay any money for damaging their floor when I dump brake fluid all over it (not that I plan to). I think I'll continue to try and convince them to help me put an epoxy-based paint down. If they agree, I think I'll go with www.floorchips.com because they sell the entire package with everything you need. Thanks again for all the responses.

Brian

I was at a Sam's Club yesterday and saw rolls of floor covering for garages that were if I remember correctly 9'x20'. They were supposed to be car fluid resistant and sold for about $150.00 per roll. I'm sure more info would be on their web site.

[This message has been edited by rodmcneill (edited 07-21-2006).]