[Canaletto]

I've always owned older homes with old garages with cracked and stained concrete.

Now, though, I've just bought a newly built house with a pristine garage. I don't think a single car has actually been inside of it yet.

So, I'm thinking I should put something on the floor to keep it pristine. But I'm not sure what: Racedeck, epoxy, ceramic tile,...?

I live in the Midwest, so there will definitely be snow and ice dropping off cars in the winter.

I don't mind spending a bit of money to do it right (but, hopefully, not like $10K or anything).

 

[CSRPenFab]

I’d vote for RaceDeck FreeFlow tiles. I’m in Idaho where we deal with snow and slush and this stuff works great. I’ve got 1,000 sq feet in my garage and a few neighbors who paid big $$ for epoxy floors are considering covering it up with RaceDeck. Head over here: https://www.garagejournal.com/ and join. Then call RaceDeck and ask for the Garage Journal discount. Great deal and brings it down to around $3 a sq ft with free shipping.

 

[LuckyDogg]

Just finished a new garage build in November so very curious for the suggestions in here. 👍🏻

 

[puma1552]

I think ceramic/porcelain tile would be great, personally. Assuming you can get something slightly grippy that won't be slick when wet. Probably what I would do if I had a perfect slate to start with.

 

[Harold]

That stuff doesn't trap salt? I would be worried here in NH as they use so much salt , roads are white.

Several years ago I first tried epoxy on my dads garage. Used silica for traction, otherwise slippery when wet. Stuff I used was not UV stable and the gray turned to tan over several years. Was about $500-600 in materials. I kinda wanna try tile on my floor , but would have to have someone install it.

OP, looks like your garage door is not insulated? You can do it yourself. When my dad lived in ND we used styrofoam sheets , trimmed to fit in the large sections and expandible foam in the boxed sections of the door. His garage was heated so we needed to do something.

 

[ghost03]

Probably in the minority here but I prefer the raw concrete surface. I know all coatings aren't equal, but we had some sort of coating on a house we bought and rolling the heavy stuff around (tool cart, engine hoist, etc.) would de-laminate it. Plus concrete [slowly] let's moisture past, but many coatings don't, so you risk trapping ground moisture in the slab which would wear the concrete faster and can even potentially create mold issues.

 

[mhjett]

I’d vote for RaceDeck FreeFlow tiles. I’m in Idaho where we deal with snow and slush and this stuff works great. I’ve got 1,000 sq feet in my garage and a few neighbors who paid big $$ for epoxy floors are considering covering it up with RaceDeck. Head over here: https://www.garagejournal.com/ and join. Then call RaceDeck and ask for the Garage Journal discount. Great deal and brings it down to around $3 a sq ft with free shipping.

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I'd like to do something to the bare concrete in our garage but still haven't decided what yet. I do like the idea of self-draining tiles... Do you wash cars inside the garage? I do, especially in winter, so drainage (above and beyond melt from the cars) is important.

 

[6cylVWguy]

I went through this decision process over the last year. I looked at various plastic tiles and cement coating. For me, the lift I have made it a challenge for how to install the tile and still be able to operate the arms on the lift. In the end, I went with a floor coating. I had 5 companies come out and tell me about their approach. They were all a little different. Some used old school epoxy, some used newer polyaspartate/urea, some combined them (1 coat epoxy and a second coat poly). Another used water sealant with some type of anti-slip clear coat. I went with the full poly setup and have no regrets. It is a little slippery when it gets wet. But the coating has proven durable and easy to clean.

 

[300_munkeys]

I got quotes to do the fancy epoxy with diamond grinding the surface, etc. It was thousands of dollars but can't remember how much exactly. Iirc there was a thread here a while ago I probably posted the quote I got but I'm pretty sure $3k+ for a 3 car garage.

My garage was bare concrete in a house built in 2005.

I got a handyman to do the home Depot epoxy for around $600 total including materials and I'm very happy.

Oil and other fluids clean up easily and don't stain, and the floor looks much better. I'll see if I have any pictures. If not I'll try and take a couple later.

I opted not to put the flakes in. Although it looks better, it can make finding hardware difficult when you drop a nut or bolt.

 

[CSRPenFab]

I'd like to do something to the bare concrete in our garage but still haven't decided what yet. I do like the idea of self-draining tiles... Do you wash cars inside the garage? I do, especially in winter, so drainage (above and beyond melt from the cars) is important.

I don't wash cars in my garage since I have a nice unlimited wash place right down the street. However, RaceDeck Freeflow works great for indoor washing. Any liquid flows right through. Any salt/mud/slush residue is easily dealt with by hitting it with a shop-vac and pressure washing if needed. My large roller box rolls just fine on the tiles. This is my 4th garage with RaceDeck tiles, but first one with FreeFlow. The others were all in CA where solid tiles worked just fine.

 

[puma1552]

Question re: RaceDeck free flow.

If you lived in a salt state, wouldn't it be better to not have a bunch of grooves you have to suck the crap out of every spring? I feel like it would be far, far more efficient to just have the solid tile so you can just sweep/squeegee the junk as needed and easily clean/mop the tiles. I couldn't imaging going around tile by tile and trying to suck all the crap out...I'm betting you can't really get it all either. Plus even if you do, you can't really get the tiles very clean as you can't really get the sides of each rib/groove that well.

The free flow seems like it would be fine if all you had was water, but a disaster if you were dealing with sand/salt. But even with water, at some point you'd probably have to pull the entire floor up to get dirt and dust building up under it, no?

I guess the angle I come from is that whenever I'm sweeping all the salt and sand and junk off my concrete slab, never have I ever wished I had a grooved/pourous floor for the stuff to sink down into. If anything I wish the slab I had was even smoother than it is.

 

[CSRPenFab]

Question re: RaceDeck free flow.

If you lived in a salt state, wouldn't it be better to not have a bunch of grooves you have to suck the crap out of every spring? I feel like it would be far, far more efficient to just have the solid tile so you can just sweep/squeegee the junk as needed and easily clean/mop the tiles. I couldn't imaging going around tile by tile and trying to suck all the crap out...I'm betting you can't really get it all either. Plus even if you do, you can't really get the tiles very clean as you can't really get the sides of each rib/groove that well.

The free flow seems like it would be fine if all you had was water, but a disaster if you were dealing with sand/salt. But even with water, at some point you'd probably have to pull the entire floor up to get dirt and dust building up under it, no?

I guess the angle I come from is that whenever I'm sweeping all the salt and sand and junk off my concrete slab, never have I ever wished I had a grooved/pourous floor for the stuff to sink down into. If anything I wish the slab I had was even smoother than it is.
[/QUOT
Perhaps. Not much salt to deal with here in Idaho. Mainly slush, sand, and Mag c

Might be an issue with salt, not sure. No salt here in Idaho, mainly slush, sand and Mag Chloride drippings. The beauty of Free flow is that there's no puddles in the garage as your car defrosts. It all drains through and runs out of the garage. 5 mins with my pressure washer and any lingering residue is gone. Neighbor who has the fancy epoxy floor has a garage that looks like a hot mess. He sweeps it out, but it's a muddy mess.

 

[Hostile]

We had our floor professionally coated by the local rep for GarageExperts.com. It was about $2500 and our garage is roughly 22’x20’. We’re very happy with it.

 

[mutcth]

I would get the concrete polished. It worked surprisingly well at my previous employer's large garage.

 

[sTTaydown]

I second racedeck flooring, one thing we found was we were able to take it with us from prior house (Excluded it in the sale due to hot housing market 😁 )

this is a photo of before and after we put it in our second house and flooring is now 5-6 years old. (5 in old house garage and half year here)

it wears great, stands up to the slush and salt from canadian winters and is just a simple wash off with a hose and some simple green.

 

[sTTaydown]

I would get the concrete polished. It worked surprisingly well at my previous employer's large garage.

Polished concrete is slippery as hell especially if you have snow on your shoes…

 

[crashmtb]

Get the concrete sealed, then put racedeck down. Or, polyaspartic coating Find a local company that does industrial buildings or aircraft hangars.

 

[hedonit]

I second racedeck flooring, one thing we found was we were able to take it with us from prior house (Excluded it in the sale due to hot housing market 😁 )

this is a photo of before and after we put it in our second house and flooring is now 5-6 years old. (5 in old house garage and half year here)

it wears great, stands up to the slush and salt from canadian winters and is just a simple wash off with a hose and some simple green.

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Wow that's a transformation. I have an oversized 2 car garage that needs some work. Before any of these luxuries I need to put on a new roof. Before a new garage roof, I need to refinish my kitchen lol.

Anyone try textured exterior concrete paint? I used it on my basement stairs and it's a completely non-slip. Might be a solid option if you don't want to drop too much cash.

You could also use a textured additive with whatever sealer/paint you want.

 

[Harold]

Problem with most paints as I understand it, is warm tires will lift the paint off eventually.

 

[sTTaydown]

Wow that's a transformation. I have an oversized 2 car garage that needs some work. Before any of these luxuries I need to put on a new roof. Before a new garage roof, I need to refinish my kitchen lol.

Anyone try textured exterior concrete paint? I used it on my basement stairs and it's a completely non-slip. Might be a solid option if you don't want to drop too much cash.

You could also use a textured additive with whatever sealer/paint you want.

thanks, since then we’ve finished the door trim and added furnace above the door on the left.


I looked at paint for an old garage but felt it wouldn’t hold up to the heat that tires have after a summer drive and begin to peel up, have thought about it for the concrete stairs though 🤔