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Tip: Shop Floor Covering Options

DeltaRomeo

doug reeves: unfluencer
Staff member
Matt Johnson’s recent post on his insanely wicked shop setup got me thinking (again) about making my garage slash aircraft factory look more presentable. The logical first step is to paint the floor like some of the higher end aircraft hangars, but that process involves moving everything in the garage somewhere else for a few days (not going to happen) and spending many, many hours lifting oil stains with muriatic acid and water (not going to happen).
So I got to thinking about the advanced interlocking floor tile solutions, namely www.racedeck.com.

Pros and Cons as I see ‘em:
· Pro: Keeps soles of feet warmer in winter (standing up off concrete)
· Pro: No fumes while installing (or several weeks later)
· Pro: Can install over several days if needed, moving stuff around in the garage as needed.
· Pro: Flexible design (checkerboard, etc).
· Pro: 100% Made in the USA (in Salt Lake City)
· Pro: I can get a logo melted into the floor <g>.
· Pro: Oil stains wipe up with some 409 and a rag.
-------------------------------------------------------

· Con: Costs more than epoxy paint process.
· Con: You lose a half inch of vertical garage space.

Now the questions for the RV folks:
· Anybody using one of these floor setups in your garage slash aircraft factory?
· If so, would you do it again? Do oil drips wipe up easily? Is if ‘fairly’ easy to install.

Some pics I grabbed out of the gallery section of racedeck.com to help generate ideas.

29uzhnd.jpg

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floor_2.jpg
I have a call into RaceDeck.com for a price quote and sample square. I’ll keep you in the loop.
 
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Looking forward to getting a price on this kind of stuff..

I'll be building a shop for the -9. probably this summer, and I was looking for flooring option. I'll have 600ft/sq to fill :)
 
I too have thought long and hard about flooring options. There is just something about a cold bare concrete floor that keeps a garage from elevating into something more(at least in the eyes of most men). Along with wanting to build a plane I do alot of woodworking and have some pretty heavy items on mobile bases. I'd be curious to know how hard the material is and or if this racedeck stuff is pretty soft. Keep us in the loop on the cost as well.
 
I have gotten a quote from these guys in the past and if I remember correctly, I could build another garage for about the same price.
 
Shop Floor Covering Options

I looked at these as well and was not impressed. I have an epoxy primer poly urethane topcoat on my hanger floor and it's been fantastic. My 42x33 foot hanger ran about $600. I would recommend white for light reflectivity and it's easy to keep clean - blow or mop as you go. The referenced shop is about as perfect as you can get. Only change I'd make is the, I think, T5 flourescent lights (a lot of folks are changing out MH for these).
 
I can't speak to the racetrack product, but I do have quite a few of foam floor squares that I picked up at Costcos. Just about everyone carries some similiar products.

It comes in 2' squares and can be easily re-arranged. This has become a must have for me. As my RV-10 has progressed, I've moved tools, aircraft, benches, etc around the garage multiple times.

I can tell significant differences when I'm working on the foam flooring as oppose to the conrete floor. I get fatigued much quicker on the concrete floors.

It doesn't cost anywhere near as much as the epoxy or dedicated flooring like racetrack, but it does resolve the fatigue and concrete insulation issues. IT also doesn't look as nice as the other solutions either.
 
Doug,
I just submitted a design too for my T-hangar. I have a 42' door, 32' deep, but I didn't plan on going all the way to the back wall. I'll report what I get for a quote.

Scott
 
There's that one company that has a booth at Sun'n'Fun.. sells these interlocking plastic floor tiles.. they were right at $4/sq.ft -- that can give you an idea of what to expect..
 
I opted for the epoxy floor

at the hangar. I had a ridiculous amount of oil stains resulting from several years of hangaring two T-6's. After moving everything out, and yes it was a hassle, I worked about one week grinding the floor to partially remove the oil stains and then using acid on the balance. I put down a clear epoxy primer and then a gray base/build coat and the finish coat of epoxy with UV inhibitors. When the rolling of the coatings begins you are on it until it's done. It turned out beautiful, brilliantly shinny and smooth. Let me tell you, that was a year ago and I would do it again. I have enjoyed building my project on a clean floor that only needs an occasional mopping to restore it's shinning beauty. Fuel, oil, MEK, thinner does not effect it. Cost? I used a Sherwin-Williams product from their industrial division. It ran me about $1.15 a square foot. I discounted my labor. The floor grinder ran about a hundred bucks. So, If you are thinking about it, I would recommend it. It's worth the time and trouble.
 
Epoxy

I think epoxy flooring is the best option with the rubber foam mats in standing areas. The race track flooring is very cool but extremely expensive.

Regarding epoxy flooring, I highly recommend investing in a professional company to do it. My 40x40 hangar and 2 car garage was about $4K for two coats of professional grade epoxy. Some of the stuff for home install is really cheap and won't hold up to the rigors of what we do.

Pay now, pay later situation.
 
tile floor

I used Swisstrack tile on my hangar floor at about $4 per tile.

I get tons of complements on the looks and I put it in myself over a couple weekends even with stuff in the hangar like Doug hopes to do.

It does have some properties I don't care for.

I get lots of static shocks touching the plane, wall switches or anything else metal. Haven't found a way to ground it.

Walking on it is kind of noisy too. It makes a sound similar to wearing metal golf shoes on concrete?

My fuel vents leaked over a weekend and melted about a dozen tiles, I know they say that can't happen but it did in a hot hangar with the leaked fuel.

It went down easy, looks great but it isn't perfect and costs about the same as epoxy coating.

The main reason I didn't go epoxy was I rent this hangar, why improve someone elses property? I can remove the tiles when my lease is up, can't do that with epoxy.

For my home garage, I will do epoxy when I build the garage this year.
 
I used the foam locking 2' squares from Sears...Costco colors were um let's say a little to "bright" for me. I really think they worked well to preserve feet and back during long hours of standing and now they live in the hangar since the build is done. Worth the 50 bucks or so they cost. And if Old man Leffler endorses them you know they're good!! ;)
 
DANGER WIL ROBINSON!

I get lots of static shocks touching the plane, wall switches or anything else metal. Haven't found a way to ground it.
My fuel vents leaked over a weekend and melted about a dozen tiles, I know they say that can't happen but it did in a hot hangar with the leaked fuel.

This sounds like an accident waiting to happen. What happens when you reach for the fuel drain and get that "spark"?
 
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another option

There was a guy at Sebring doing a demo of a UV cured (Instant) floor coating called Rapid Shield you might look into. I thought the concept was great, he can do a small shop in a few hours, no muss no fuss and no fumes:D It is cured instantly by using intense Ultraviolet light. He said the cost was around $3.50 sq ft.

Check it out

rapidshield.com
 
I've used both the RaceDeck brand product as well as the cheaper MotoFloor brand that RD manufactures for Cosco. The MotoFloor brand is normally priced at Cosco around $2.50 per square foot and they often run sales that brings the cost down below $2 / ft. (ironically the product is on sale at Cosco today).

I haven't experienced the static shocks that jimpappas mentioned, but this type of flooring can be a bit noisy to walk on as he described. I have spilled my share of fuel and oil on the flooring without a problem and it does clean up easily with products like 409, Simple Green, etc. One issue regarding spilled fluids to consider is that when liquid passes between the tiles, it is going to be trapped underneath the flooring unless you remove a section and clean it.

I think overall it is a nice alternative to epoxy. Like anything, there are some pros and cons.
 
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The CEO of RaceDeck posts on the Cobra forum that I am a member of and he said that Costco is running a sale of his product at $1 a square foot. As mentioned above, it is not the exact same product but it is manufactured by Racedeck. Below is his post:

We just got word from one of our larger customers, Costco... about a 1 day sale they are having...thought some of you who are looking for a crazy good deal would be interested on this inside line.

MotoFloor will be on sale Tuesday, January 26th on Costco.com's Deal of the Day. This is a one day promo. MotoFloor will be $30 off per box. go to http://www.costco.com and search for MotoFloor

As most of you know we also manufacture flooring for a few international companies like Costco and Harley-Davidson.
__________________
Jorgen Moller /CEO
RaceDeck Garage Flooring
800-457-0174
Proudly Made in USA
http://www.racedeck.com


Personally, I prefer sealed and polished concrete over any coatings. No matter what you use, it will eventually discolor and may come up in spots. With sealed concrete, there's less worry to keep that "spotless" look. I will say that it is slick as snot when wet so that's a negative.

I remember a comment someone passed on to me when I was researching what to do with my hangar floor. He said something to the effect that when contractors came to the house to work on something, if they saw the garage floor painted, they automatically raised their price because they figured the guy living there was OCD and would be a pain-in-the-rear to deal with.

Gettingstarted001.jpg
 
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Doug ,
You are welcome to come by and look at my install.
I did my garage about a year ago, the floor has held up well and I have a car lift in the garage.
2 cons:
Its noisy to walk on.
If you turn your tires while not moving it will pull up the tiles.
2008055.jpg
 
static

Mel,

You got it, that is a major risk and I take great care to touch another surface before and while touching anything near fuel caps.

I get the static in winter with floor heat as well as summer and humidity.

Not sure what is causing it, might be the shoes but I need to find a solution before it becomes a problem.

They are great for appearance, clean up, the ones that got ruined were easy to pop out and replace, you can change the design, lots of pros.

Only those couple negatives to work out.
 
A question for those with the lay-down-plastic-tiles:

Do you have any issues with the wind lifting the tiles that are near the garage / hanger door??
 
levelling?

For those that have experience with epoxy, has anyone had to level an uneven concrete floor before the final finish? What works?
Bill Brooks
Ottawa
Canada
RV-6A finishing
 
I have Race Deck

There are three significant reasons I like the Race-Deck floor:

1 - It is much warmer than concrete (important in the winter for us Canucks)

2 - It is much easier to stand on - less fatigue - than concrete

3 - It doesn't damage any of the drill bits, dies, etc that I have dropped on it


The negatives I have found are:

1 - When the sun hits the dark pieces it expands to the point of "bubbling" the floor, but contracts again when in the shade

2 - It is not easy to clean, white especially shows the dirt

I would definitely use this flooring again in a workshop, don't think I would use it in a hangar.
 
I have also thought about using some sort of interlocking floor material in my shop since it has a concrete floor. However, I have decided not to use any such product because it is expensive, gets torn up, and it is not easy to clean.

Instead, I just use old carpet because it is cheap (in my case, it has been a free item every time), helps reduce fatigue, and disposable should it become too damaged and/or dirty to use any further.
 
I got a response from RaceDeck and it came to $2.99 per sq ft. The same product at Lowes is $4.22 per sq ft. I think it looks great, but with just over 1000 sq ft in my hangar, it is pretty expensive. I've built 10 T-hangars (so far) at HAO and may use it in my own hangar as a demo, but doubt very many of my buyers will do the same. I had my old hangar epoxied about 8 years ago and it still looks good. That cost about $1000 back then to have someone else do it.

Scott
RV-8 FB
 
Anyone thought about ceramic or porcelain tiles?

One of my neighbors has ceramic tile in his garage and it sure looks nice. It's pretty durable too. You just have to make sure you put sealer on the grout. You can get Class 5 tiles for less than $2/ftsq.

Another option would be quary tiles.

The only downsize I can see is the installation labor but I'm a DIY guy (hey... building a plane ;) ) . I have the time.
 
Tile

Anyone thought about ceramic or porcelain tiles?

One of my neighbors has ceramic tile in his garage and it sure looks nice. It's

I'm fortunate to live at an airpark with a residential and commercial side. Several of my neighbors have done Satillo tile in their hangars. One is 7500 sq. ft. It is beautiful. On the commercial side a couple of 10,000 sq ft hangars have been tiled. Very nice.

I'm not sure if I'd tile if I were building though. It can chip and the grout can stain.

Epoxy is the most durable and impervious to stains.

Fun discussion!!!!
 
Epoxy floors are nice. Another option is Acid staining. We use Columbia Industrial paint at the Hydroplant. It holds up very well, except the rocks and sand embedded in shoes wear the high traffic areas after a few years.

Being financially challenged, I had 2 choices:
1. Build a "state of the art" shop
OR
2. Build an airplane.

So I picked #2 and am building in my wood heated dirty pole barn. No paint on the floors or the walls. here's an old photo, it's dirtier and fuller now.
RV7113.jpg

Living on a gravel road will scar anything coating you put on the floor.

It's 8*F outside right now, but I just shoveled a path to my 70*F barn...Baffles here I come.;)
 
Anything is better than raw concrete!!!

I've thought about using the industrial linoleum tiles (think supermarket floor) lots of colors to chose from and depending on where you buy them, less than $1 sq ft. (if you do it yourself)

Cleaning is easy if you seal them after install and they have a rough non-skid version as well.
 
Bill

For those that have experience with epoxy, has anyone had to level an uneven concrete floor before the final finish? What works?
RV-6A finishing

A product out in the Canadian market for leveling/smoothing existing concrete
floors is a product called FlexFlow. This product is in powder form and is mixed with water
with a power mixer to a pourable consistancy. It's a cementious acrylic polymer and is designed to bond
to cement and secure plywood subsrtates. It feathers to 1/8" easily and finds it's own level once poured.
Great product, find it (and other products like it) at building suppy locations and ceramic tile outlets.
Retails for around $50 per 50 pound bag. Epoxy coat after four weeks.
 
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CVT From Home Depot

I used CVT (Composite Vinyl Tile) from Home Depot. It is very inexpensive (about .69 sq) and very durable. It is the same material used at many car showrooms and doctors offices. It is also very easy to clean and maintain. The only downside is it can be slippery when wet.
 
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