Garage flooring..... Costco Style-

[lip277]

Anybody familiar with this (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?prodid=11038308&cm_mmc=MotoFloor _99-_-Hardware-_-63-_-Hardware_99) product from Costco?

I'm getting to the point of doing the interior of the shop and wondered if it was any good....???



http://forums.carmudgeons.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=288



Just curious if anyone has any experience with it- It's an 'on-line only' product, so I can't get a look at it in one of their stores.

Thanks

[ff]

No experience with the product, but someday I'd like to do the same to my garage floor. I'd most likely go the plastic tile route too, as it would be a more permanent installation than the liquid coatings that you can lay down.

[Pinecone]

Actually ALL forms of tile will eventually lift.

U-Coat-It (www.ucoatit.com) is the only home applied product that is actually guaranteed as lifting and peeling. Great stuff, very tough. I like my floor done with it.

[ff]

I'm pretty sure this is just a floating floor system, so lifting won't be an issue. The tiles just snap together, and sit on the floor.

[Fair!]

This website, GaragaeJuinkies.net (http://www.garagejunkies.net/forumdisplay.php?f=1), has several threads discussing this Cosco snap tiling as well as many other flooring options. Great resource for good ideas and pictures to help us make our own pimped out Gearhead Garages. :bigpimp:

There's also some good discussions of garage finishing, automotive lifts, flooring, etc., on Corner-Carvers.com (http://corner-carvers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9).

:thumbup:

[lip277]

I'm pretty sure this is just a floating floor system, so lifting won't be an issue. The tiles just snap together, and sit on the floor.

Correct. It just snaps together and sits there.

My question is how 'nicely' it sits there. :lol:
And what issues it may have later.

No big deal - I have till the end of the week to take the plunge.
:scratch: I figure I will need at least 6 tp 8 boxes - So it isn't going to be cheap.

[lip277]

http://www.garagejunkies.net/forumdisplay.php?f=1

The web forum above, GaragaeJuinkies.net, has several threads discussing this Cosco tiling as well as other options. Great resopurce for good ideas and pictures to help us make our own pimped out Gearhead Garages. :bigpimp:

Hey - Cool-

Thanks

:thumbup:

(I'll look at it later)

[bren]

It looks like you have a working garage. I don't believe those tile systems are what you want. Last I heard none of them recommend jacking or jack stands as it will damage the tiles.

[lip277]

Well - It's a partially working garage. Right now it's more of a mess than anything (when that pic was taken it was actually pretty clean :lol: )

I might pass on the issue not from a physical standpoint but from a cost issue. I could but really don't want to spend the dollars. It's going to cost me ~$800 just for the plywood for covering the walls. It will also cost me ~$300 for interior lights, ~100 for misc electrical, ~$3,000 for cabinets and so on.....

:?

Yeah - I know. I'm nuts.

:lol:

[ff]

You can do the walls in sheetrock for a lot less $$$ (~$8 per 4'x12' sheet, last time I priced it) . That would also, obviously, brighten things up in there compared to plywood.

[Rob]

My parent's next door neighbor got this system and he loved it, right up until some of the other neighbors decided to get professional epoxy jobs done with the flakes or whatever to make the coating look like granite. Now he feels like he missed out.

The plastic floors aren't cheap, you can't work on them all that easily, fluids can drop below them - all reasons why an epoxy coating is a much better choice, imo. Assuming you change your own oil, of course.

Having said that, the Costco system appears to be really, really inexpensive compared to other options.

[lip277]

You can do the walls in sheetrock for a lot less $$$ (~$8 per 4'x12' sheet, last time I priced it) . That would also, obviously, brighten things up in there compared to plywood.

I'm going to be firring in 'walls' between the poles (as this is a pole building). I'm going to put in studs and some rear support but will rely on plywood to allow me to hang whatever I want wherever I want and provide a good rigid wall. I can't recall how many sheets I need but it would be 8' sheets sitting on end. I just gotta get to doing it.

The cabinets I installed in the house garage were from Slide-Lok (www.slide-lok.com). I'm probably going to put in a nice package here as well. I just don't know how far I want to take it.

[Fair!]

I am still on the fence with regard to epoxy flooring. Some swear by it, others curse it for peeling up onto hot tires. Need to research this stuff. Pro: Looks very pimpy, easy to clean (mop), very reflectiver to light. Con: It ain't cheap! $2-4/sq ft.

Cons: Cosco plastic tiles can capture dirt underneath. How will you ever use a jack or jackstands? Pros: Fairly cheap. Look nice, and you can make nice patterns.

Some folks use some sort of industrial flooring that is made up of "crushed marble" flat tiles. They are semi-flexible, you can wax and mop them, and they seem to hold up well with "compression abuse". Scratch one badly? Pry it up and slap on a new one. Black and white checkerboard pattern would look nice. You have to glue them down, though, which seems like the downside. More research on these soon...

[Pinecone]

U-Coat-It is guaranteed against peeling and lifting. And I have had NO problems with my floor. Cost was under $1 per square foot, about 60 cents pe square foot IIRC.

The cheap systems do peel.

[Fair!]

U-Coat-It is guaranteed against peeling and lifting. And I have had NO problems with my floor. Cost was under $1 per square foot, about 60 cents pe square foot IIRC.

The cheap systems do peel.
Great info, thanks.

U-coat-it... sounds like a do it yourself deal. How long you had it? How hard was it to apply? Do you use jack stands/kack on this surface? Does it reflect well? How about clean-up? 2 part epoxy, right? Got some pics????

You opened a can o worms now. :D

[Pinecone]

I installed it some 3 years ago. It is do it yourself. Not hard to do, just follow the directions. Only caveat is that the paint goes a LOT further than you think, I applied the first coat WAY to thin.

As for toughness, I DRUG a steel shelving unit, loaded, across the floor. It left a mark, which was paint from the shelving unit, which came right up. I haven't used jack sands (I have a lift) but we have used a tranny jack and a tripod support to hold up the engine. Even the install of the lift didn't do any damage to the surface. Brake fluid doesn't lift it.

Clean up is pretty easy, as it is water based. Rinse out the bucket and trow away the roller cover. Or for a few bucks ore, buy some extra 5 gallon buckets and throw eveythng away.

The kit comes complete with everything except acid for etching and a roller extension handle.

Garage pics were up on BF. I went with light gray, NO flecks as this is a working garage.