Tiling my garage........cuz I'm afraid of epoxy!

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by Sapper12b

Ahhhh .... That's on my list of things to do, since I own a garage now. I'll talk to you at one of the shows or meetings for advise .

I got some really good advice.......have a pro do it!! lol I went and found the materials, and priced it out......I was in the process of building my new home at the time, so I had my builder give me a bid using the same materials. once he gave me the bid, it was a no brainer, I have the pro do the work.

[moserbe]

Are you planning on using a floor jack or jack stands on the tile?

[OUR72GTO]

Without a mesh under that you may have cracked tiles wherever there was a concrete crack or stress point. Have you seen how shopping mall floors crack when they place cars in them?

[cvp33]

Originally Posted by moserbe

Are you planning on using a floor jack or jack stands on the tile?

If I do it would only be with a pad under it or in my driveway. My days of serious wrenching are over I'm afraid. Oil, diff and trans fluid changes are pretty much all I tackle these days.

[cvp33]

Originally Posted by OUR72GTO

Without a mesh under that you may have cracked tiles wherever there was a concrete crack or stress point. Have you seen how shopping mall floors crack when they place cars in them?

No I haven't seen that. The thinset is the critical piece. Any hollow parts in the thinset will be exploited quickly. The tile itself has a PEI rating do 4 so commercial/industrial grade strength. Think car showroom, nice hotel drop off areas, etc.

Like I said I fully expect that I'll have a few broked tiles as I'm just not that good. I'm decent, but no pro. Once they break, I'll chisel them out and replace. No biggie.

[heymatt]

I'd have done the checkerboard lineoleum to avoid the cracking. If I was afraid of epoxy

[cvp33]

OK, all the whole tile is down and I cut all the pieces for the left side tonight. I believe I can get all the cuts done tomorrow after work, leaving Wed - Fri to mortar them up and finish. Sat/Sun will be for grout and trim.

Day 1 = 109 tiles in 3 hours
Day 2 = 72 tiles in 2 hours (got home late)
Day 3 = 140 tiles in 3 hours (wife and I are starting to get a system. It's called just hand me the tiles and I'll lay them myself.)
Day 4 = 170 tiles + 24 cut tiles in 6 hours

480 down and 51 to go!!!

[DesertCamaro]

Originally Posted by cvp33

OK, all the whole tile is down and I cut all the pieces for the left side tonight. I believe I can get all the cuts done tomorrow after work, leaving Wed - Fri to mortar them up and finish. Sat/Sun will be for grout and trim.

Day 1 = 109 tiles in 3 hours
Day 2 = 72 tiles in 2 hours (got home late)
Day 3 = 140 tiles in 3 hours (wife and I are starting to get a system. It's called just hand me the tiles and I'll lay them myself.)
Day 4 = 170 tiles + 24 cut tiles in 6 hours

480 down and 51 to go!!!

Looks good! I say screw the garage, time to move in the pool table and big-screen = Man Cave!

[Envy]

Originally Posted by cvp33

Decided to stagger the tiles to avoid the inevitable crooked grout line. With 21' to span front to back it would be too easy to lose the line, staggering lets you off the hook.

The epoxy looks really nice on a garage floor...but I'm not a fan of the ceramic tile at all...it just looks weird...like maybe you unconverted the garage at some point.

If you want "to avoid the inevitable crooked grout line" you're supposed to pop a straight chalk line on the floor before you start. I can see that your staggered line is off by a couple inches and even when laid staggered...straight tile lines do matter.

And FWIW...I would also add some kind of threshold to the first row of tiles at the entrance because the pressure of the cars going on and off will cause the edges of the tile to start cracking and chipping away pretty quickly.

[KeepItShut]

Anybody care to share a roundabout price to epoxy a two car garage?

[mp51998]

Originally Posted by KeepItShut

Anybody care to share a roundabout price to epoxy a two car garage?

I think I paid about $150 for the kit (Rustoleum?) at Lowes and did it myself. Pretty easy.Tthis was about fours ago and its holding up well. No chipping or peeling.

[Scrappy Doo]

My new house just got done. I'm going to epoxy in the spring though.

[NYJets77]

Originally Posted by cvp33

No I haven't seen that. The thinset is the critical piece. Any hollow parts in the thinset will be exploited quickly. The tile itself has a PEI rating do 4 so commercial/industrial grade strength. Think car showroom, nice hotel drop off areas, etc.

Like I said I fully expect that I'll have a few broked tiles as I'm just not that good. I'm decent, but no pro. Once they break, I'll chisel them out and replace. No biggie.

have you been buttering the tile backs?

[cvp33]

Originally Posted by NYJets77

have you been buttering the tile backs?

No, not at all for this application. I'm using a 1/4" inch trowel and epoxy thinset. The old days of tiling you "back buttered" tile for superior adhesion filling in the anomalies in the tile. I've never back buttered with epoxy thinset as the adhesion is really not my worry anymore. Even thinset and level tiles are my fear with this job.