I'm in the process of building a home and was curious what you guys have coated your garage floors with. I'm debating on the epoxy route, just staining the concerete and the RaceDeck style floor tiles. I'm turning the garage into my "Man Cave" so if you have pics please share em! I'm looking to see who's done what with the space they have. This is where we spend the majority of our free time, post some pics and show off your set up!

 

Can't do pix, but, I went Race Deck tiles. Happy with them. Never saw a painted or epoxy floor that didn't wear out, peel or scratch. I love polished concrete but too slippery for garage.

 

I have racedeck flooring and it's great. However, I did notice that you're from the twin cities, I believe. I can't imagine having the racedeck flooring in a location where you are driving in with snow and ice on your cars. If it's just for your workshop area and won't be subject to the snow, it would be great. Very comfortable to walk and work on, and looks great as well.

 

I have epoxy in both my Michigan and South Carolina homes. I did my Michigan home myself and the SC home came with it. Both pretty much the same and "rock solid" if you ask me. I have no experience with race deck so no opinon what so ever. I really like the epoxy with flake although.

 

Well, the site won't take pictures this morning, but I recently covered my 6 year old painted floors with Racedeck style floors. I'm glad I did it & wish I could show it here. The plastic tiles cover the floor in about a half day plus time to cut in the edge tiles. The time for that depends on how complicated your area is. Our car garage took about another half day. The bike shop took a full day due to benches, angles, etc.

The tiles are tough, but easy to install or remove. I've popped a couple out just to demonstrate for people. They allow you to pick colors & patterns without the hassle of taping paint designs on your floor.

I used a company called "Big Floors". Ordered online, good prices, quick, free shipping, great customer service. They have a design program on their web site that lets you see what your design will look like before you order. I'll probably never have bare concrete floors again.

 

I have both and live just outside of the cities so if you would like to come over I can show you both and look at my bike shop to get ideas.
PM me and we can connect.

 

these are tiles from "floor junkies" they were 1/2 the cost of racedeck (which I had installed once at a neighbors home)


in the summer, I get afternoon sun directly into the garage. because of the weight of the lift, I get a "bubble" in the middle of the floor. I tried cutting expansion holes for the posts with no luck. I won't do tiles again. I'll go epoxy in our next home

 

I went the epoxy route. Had a professional painter do the job. My garage was all new concrete, and I don't think our painter prepped the floor correctly.

It's blue with silicone sand, and a clear coat epoxy over it all. Three coats of epoxy all together. It chips all the time. I paid $1200 for my 3 car garage floor, and it looked amazing at first, but it hasn't held up well. It's about 4 years old now.

I would have been better off with just floor paint that I could have done myself for a couple hundred bucks. I may look into some tiles sometime in the future...

 

I got most of my information from http://garagejournal.com/forum/ After that I talked to a few of the "concrete professionals" in the area. The 2 part epoxy paint with flakes started between $4.50 & $5.50 a sq.ft. Add in removing old paint, grinding, cleaning, patching, the price went up. Then you had to stay off the floor for at least a couple of days (probably a week).

The tiles cost between $2.11 & $2.25 a sq.ft. Shipping was free & took less than a week. Installation on the worst floor was a matter of sweeping, & laying the tiles. The most complicated of the two garages took 2 days, but I never completely vacated the garage.

Two garages roughly 450 sq.ft. each would have cost around $5000+ in epoxy & I would have been out of each garage for about a week. The same two spaces cost me between $1800 & $2000 total & I was never out of either garage. If I damage a tile or two I can simply replace it in about 60 seconds.

I liked the painted floors because they were easy to wipe things off of. The problem was that they showed every crack, scratch, etc. The new tiles are easier to clean, don't damage any easier, & are replaceable if I do get some damage. All at a lower cost.

 

I have gone the epoxy route several times. The key is preparation. If you have an older floor with any oil stains then it is an absolute must that the floor be well cleaned with the appropriate products which are usually part of the epoxy package your purchase. Next diamond grinding the floor ensures the epoxy has the best surface to adhere to the floor.
It's not difficult but it is time consuming and generally a spring / summer project as you need the warmer temperatures for good drying. If you follow all the steps provided by the manufacturer your floor will be very durable and the finish long lasting.
I recommend you go with the flakes as they provide a slip resistant surface. Some people use a light coat of sand but I don't like the feel of that floor and it is a bit more challenging to clean.
Another great feature of epoxy is that it is easy to clean up and the inevitable oil spills wipe up easily. Garagejournal.com is a great resource as pointed out by Jinks.