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Shed / Garage Floor Tiles

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Posted by snuggles2010 (My Page) on
Tue, Aug 7, 12 at 0:01

I have a tool / storage shed in SE Wisconsin - no ac, not heated, stores lawn and garden equipment. The floor is pressure treated plywood and is stained white.
I wanted to have a nicer looking floor with the additional thought of trying out garage tiles in the small space of the shed to decide if I want to do it in the garage and basement workshop when I can afford it.

I was considering floor tiles like RaceDeck, FastFlor, and ArmorGarage.

I get just a ton of complete opposite information that it is very confusing.

First up is Armor Garage. http://www.armorgarage.com/armortilelight.html
Theirs is a waterproof dovetail type tile. Some say these are awesome for use in a shed or garage as they are durable and sweep clean. They supposedly breath enough so water evaporates so as not to cause moisture issues between the floor and tile. Asking them directly about snow and ice tracked in, they claim their non-vented design is excellent for this and will not trap moisture and ice. They tell me they are superior to the vented tiles by their design and not creating voids like vented tiles let snow, ice and salt hit the floor where it will cause damage.

Second is RaceDeck. http://www.racedeck.com/freeflow.html
They suggest using their vented tiles for shed or garage application because moisture does not get trapped and flows freely. They claim a floor like Armor will trap moisture and damage the floor plus the snow, ice and water on top will be dangerous. Others say this is silly and the solid tiles of Armor are superior as they help prevent the moisture from reaching the floor.

Lastly, is FastFlor. http://www.fastflor.com/garage_tile
They are probably in the middle, not really completely open vented, but claim moisture flows through and evaporates. I hear the same set of pros and cons as the Racedeck vented as these.

A nice looking, durable floor is important, but more importantly I don't want to create problems where I don't have any today - ie, moisture, mold, mildew, cracking or other damae, etc.

My problem is I'm confused if vented or non-vented is the choice. Arguments are 50/50 on each side.

On one hand the vented makes sense as at least some moisture in a garage, shed, or basement comes from the ground up and this allows it to evaporate. On the other hand, letting the road salt flow freely and collect on the floor certainly seems damaging.

On the third hand :) , non-vented seems like they would resist the salt flowing down, but may very well trap moisture from the ground up.

Everyone seems to say these types of floors are superior to other typical methods like epoxy and such, yet this issue doesn't seem to get addressed fully.

Anyone with viewpoints or experience with the products or additional thoughts?

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RE: Shed / Garage Floor Tiles

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My next door neighbor had racedeck flooring. He hated it...then sold it on craigslist. His problem was, although his floor look fine, when it was wet it had low spots...and it would drain out the door is some area, other areas drained to different spots. When he put down the race deck it was all good until the first time he had to wash out the garage. He would use a wet vac and suck the water out of the seems, other wise he would be walking around a day later after the weekend to leave for work and the water would shot up like a big water gun and get his paints wet! That is the only reason why I know if it. If he was on here all he would have is cuss words to say about "floor Tiles". That's just what I know, heard, and say about them. I don't have them.

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RE: Shed / Garage Floor Tiles

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I would not put down any of the garage floor tiles on top of a wood floor as they all will allow some moisture through the seams and will then trap the moisture underneath the tiles. I would suggest looking at one of the roll-out types of flooring. If you can get a piece wide enough for your floor, you will have no seams and should not get water underneath of it. They are much easier to clean as well.

I have had Racedeck tile in my garage and would only recommend it for a show type of area, not a working area. I will be going with epoxy for my next garage floor covering.

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RE: Shed / Garage Floor Tiles

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I have Racedeck over my concrete garage floor and I love it....!!!
Since your floor is pressure treated plywood you should be fine laying Racedeck over it.
Do some research on epoxy floors and compare the two, I did and it made all the sense in the world to go with Racedeck, it's just too difficult in my opinion to get an install that won't leave you with problems which creep up in the future.

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