Garage Floor Coatings

[ciaranob]

The brand-name products (SwissTrax or RaceDeck) have interlocking channels which drain the water towards (downslope, garage front usually). There’s nothing for mold to adhere to - the plastic tiles are smooth, and the garage floor is (usually) sealed concrete.

One of my pet peeves in the winter is dragging in frozen, dirty slosh which then just piles on the floor. With these tiles, all that drains out, and every month I run the shop vac over the worst areas. In the summer I’ll split the cover in 2-3 columns per bay, drag them out and pressure wash the garage, as well as the tiles.

For me, the biggest win is that the garage always looks clean; I’d broom it once a week before and it would look dirty within days (pine and fir needles).

Ha, identical maintenance schedule although w/o the snow and ice and prob less freq overall

 

[Scandinavian]

Has anyone installed porcelain tile floors? Similar to what the dealerships are installing in their service centers?

Not sure if this is what you are looking for. I have ceramic tiles that we put down in the garages. They are easy to keep clean and do not soak up any spillages. Hoover regularly when needed and wet cleaning once or twice a year.

 

[Tiptoe]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for. I have ceramic tiles that we put down in the garages. They are easy to keep clean and do not soak up any spillages. Hoover regularly when needed and wet cleaning once or twice a year.

Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking. Thank you for sharing! I was/am concerned about the weight of the Taycan on these tiles, especially as the car pulls on and off them.

 

[Scandinavian]

Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking. Thank you for sharing! I was/am concerned about the weight of the Taycan on these tiles, especially as the car pulls on and off them.

I have had the Taycan in there for several wheel changes. Also Cayennes and Range Rovers.
No issues at all with tiles breaking or edges damaged.

I guess all of this depends on the support under the tiles. I know that the guys here put in a concrete layer with some reinforcement iron bars mesh. Quite common use here in France. And then some more concrete. And the two garages have been in daily use for about 12 years in total now. The floor when cleaned looks like new still.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for. I have ceramic tiles that we put down in the garages. They are easy to keep clean and do not soak up any spillages. Hoover regularly when needed and wet cleaning once or twice a year.

That looks very nice, but the cost of tiling a garage would probably be prohibitive in the US (i reckon .5 to .6 2020 Taycan 4s). And I’d worry all the time about dropping a wrench or dragging a floor jack.

Forgot to mention: the SwissTrax flooring can feel in uneven places as a plasticky, floating surface (which is exactly what it is).

 

[Scandinavian]

That looks very nice, but the cost of tiling a garage would probably be prohibitive in the US (i reckon .5 to .6 2020 Taycan 4s). And I’d worry all the time about dropping a wrench or dragging a floor jack.

Forgot to mention: the SwissTrax flooring can feel in uneven places as a plasticky, floating surface (which is exactly what it is).

Wow that sounds extremely expensive!

The two garages are one for a single car plus the one in the picture that can fit two cars, before I installed cupboards etc. And I paid about 5000 Euros for the laying plus 1000 for the tiles. If you can get a Taycan so cheap, please send me one!

I have not had any problems when dragging a floor jack or jacking any car. Use it twice a year to shift winter tyres on/off. Dropping small spanners including a torque wrench has gone well so far, touch wood. But I guess a big heavy spanner could do damage. If it happens the guys told me they can come and just replace that tile. I got a dozen or so spares?

Very pleased with this and super easy to keep clean. Essential when polishing and applying ceramic coatings.

 

[SuperAman]

I’m getting quotes of around 4k for polyethylene coating and pricing out swisstrax / race deck at around 3k here in Canada, is there an actual advantage of one over the other? I figured these tiles would be significantly cheaper but it’s coming in at closer in price than I expected.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I’m getting quotes of around 4k for polyethylene coating and pricing out swisstrax / race deck at around 3k here in Canada, is there an actual advantage of one over the other? I figured these tiles would be significantly cheaper but it’s coming in at closer in price than I expected.

RaceDeck has occasional sales with pretty significant discounts; SwissTrax - not so much, 1-2/year with a modest price cut. With either, I’m told that calling and speaking with an agent can yield better prices than advertised on their websites.

A big advantage (for me) with plastic tiles is that you can do partial coverage, and work around “furniture”; Ive got a decade of shelves/cabinets/crap accumulated in the garage, which makes a whole-floor prep+coverage extremely impractical. For new construction (or the clinically tidy), this is obviously not an issue.

 

[SuperAman]

RaceDeck has occasional sales with pretty significant discounts; SwissTrax - not so much, 1-2/year with a modest price cut. With either, I’m told that calling and speaking with an agent can yield better prices than advertised on their websites.

A big advantage (for me) with plastic tiles is that you can do partial coverage, and work around “furniture”; Ive got a decade of shelves/cabinets/crap accumulated in the garage, which makes a whole-floor prep+coverage extremely impractical. For new construction (or the clinically tidy), this is obviously not an issue.

Very valid point! Fortunately we only moved in a couple years ago and haven’t accumulated a lot in the garage but I still wouldn’t know where to put any if what’s in there during application of a coating. I’m guessing I could get away with moving things around in the garage while placing the tiles and wouldn’t need to remove everything all at once

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Very valid point! Fortunately we only moved in a couple years ago and haven’t accumulated a lot in the garage but I still wouldn’t know where to put any if what’s in there during application of a coating. I’m guessing I could get away with moving things around in the garage while placing the tiles and wouldn’t need to remove everything all at once

Cool thing about the tiles is that you can cut around areas that are fixed/built-in.

Note that RaceDeck has 2 tiers - the upper one (FreeFlow XLC) is comparable in quality with SwissTrax’s RibTrax Pro, and what I’d recommend if you work in the garage. Also, if you’re in the US, note that RD uses “standard” sizes (12” or 18”), whereas SwissTrax uses “weird” ones (40cm); this may not be a big deal, but in my case the pattern “drifted” - perfectly aligned with the first garage door opening, and visibly off for bay 3.

 

[SuperAman]

Cool thing about the tiles is that you can cut around areas that are fixed/built-in.

Note that RaceDeck has 2 tiers - the upper one (FreeFlow XLC) is comparable in quality with SwissTrax’s RibTrax Pro, and what I’d recommend if you work in the garage. Also, if you’re in the US, note that RD uses “standard” sizes (12” or 18”), whereas SwissTrax uses “weird” ones (40cm); this may not be a big deal, but in my case the pattern “drifted” - perfectly aligned with the first garage door opening, and visibly off for bay 3.

This would just be for our residential garage, but living up in Canada, we track in a ton of snow and rocks, so still not sure whether this is the best or a polyethylene coating. I’m kind of torn about which I think looks better now too!

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

This would just be for our residential garage, but living up in Canada, we track in a ton of snow and rocks, so still not sure whether this is the best or a polyethylene coating. I’m kind of torn about which I think looks better now too!

It probably comes down to use cases; with "open" tiles the floor looks cleaner, but the dirt is there (underneath). With "closed" flooring, you always see it, and it's a forcing factor to clean the mess.

I got mine precisely for the wintertime mess; snowmelt/water trickles under and out of the garage, as it should. However, on those particularly sloshy and muddy days, the dirt piles up on top of the tile, and it's a bit of a pain to clean. Only happened once so far, but you may see this more frequently. There is a YT channel (Canadian dude with a garage/car cleaning business) which details (heh) aspects of garage life with plastic tiles in Canadian winters.

 

[SuperAman]

It probably comes down to use cases; with "open" tiles the floor looks cleaner, but the dirt is there (underneath). With "closed" flooring, you always see it, and it's a forcing factor to clean the mess.

I got mine precisely for the wintertime mess; snowmelt/water trickles under and out of the garage, as it should. However, on those particularly sloshy and muddy days, the dirt piles up on top of the tile, and it's a bit of a pain to clean. Only happened once so far, but you may see this more frequently. There is a YT channel (Canadian dude with a garage/car cleaning business) which details (heh) aspects of garage life with plastic tiles in Canadian winters.

Any idea what his yt channel is???

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Any idea what his yt channel is???

𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗫 | Tackling my Swisstrax Floor after Three Months of Brutal Winter Weather - YouTube

 

[SuperAman]

𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗫 | Tackling my Swisstrax Floor after Three Months of Brutal Winter Weather - YouTube

Thanks a lot!!

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