Shop flooring recommendations

[SchralphMacchio]

Any recommendation materials for covering hardwood for a bike/ski/gear random stuff workshop area?

I just moved into a house where the 2-car garage was converted into a recreation room w/ hardwood floors ... this will become the new gear room and workshop area. The hardwood is pretty nice and I don't want to risk spilling suspension oil, brake fluid, grease, dirt, wax etc. all over the place. I live in a super rainy area so I don't have the option of working outside.

I've considered interlocking rubber but I am really worried that won't work well for liquid spills.
Any recommendations for something that can be easily ordered, cut, and rolled out?

[Anospa]

I don't really have any great alternatives, but interlocking rubber is great but like you feared, doesn't do well with spills by any means.

I try to put down other stuff when working on anything with probability of spills. The ones I got do not handle dirt well either, have to mop it pretty aggressively to get them clean.

[jm2e]

I would totally try one of these.
https://www.costco.com/garage-flooring.html

[XXX-er]

I tune skis and do a little teching in my 2nd bedroom for protecting the HW laminate I just put a 4x8 sheet of partical board down under the bench insted of spending 20K to build a garage where I wouldn't want to be anyhow at -15C but I don't bring nasty liquids up there

the partical board is mostly to absorb hits from dropping shit

[::: :::]

rollout a layer of 6mil polyethylene or tyvek & tape the seams

then, do your rubber tile on top

it won't help the fact that it collects liquids, but it might defer some of the damage until you can pull tile and correct the spillage

or

find a roll of vinyl flooring (or marmoleum if you're green) and work on that & clean up spills as you go so it doesn't escape your work surface. I believe it comes in 79" wide rolls.

[SchralphMacchio]

Seems like vinyl is most cost effective for my purpose ... rubber rolls seem to max out at 4' wide, vs being able to yet 7.5' or 9' wide for vinyl rolls.

I think a 7.5' x 17', or 9' x 20' vinyl mat would do the trick. Maybe go heavy thickness for best chance of it staying flat. Set up my work bench right on top. Clean - sweep and mop - as I go.

Any thoughts on diamond vs. coin texture?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/G-Floor-9...20SG/203450755

https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/ga...tro-rolls.html

Thanks for the Costco link, though the reviews are not great about the consistency of that product and it doesn't stay flat. Thankfully my shop isn't sun exposed and doesn't have huge swings in temperature so I think that will help w/ stretching and wrinkles.

[3PinGrin]

Horse stall mats, seal the seams with Sikaflex 227. That's what we used for our home gym. Heavy duty, cheap, durable.

[SchralphMacchio]

I ended up ordering this guy:
https://www.garagefloor.com/product/small-coin/

I read somewhere that the textured small coin provides good traction over the large coin pattern.

The room is actually exactly 24 feet deep, so hopefully no trimming is required. I'm hoping for a very simple install, and wondering whether I need to tack down the edges or not. Will report back!

[TahoeJ]

Report back and let us know what you think. I was looking at the same product but would love to hear first hand feedback.

[SchralphMacchio]

Bumping this ...

So I got the flooring about a month ago and I've been very happy. Overall, $350 well spent in my mind!

Sorry about the sideways images, I was being lazy with my TGR uploads.

Just a short summary of what I like, what went well, what didn't go well:

I like:

• Cleanup of sawdust, plaster dust, spills etc is very easy ... I sweep or vacuum, but that doesn't get everything. Then I wipe with a wet rag and it gets everything else clean. I haven't tried ski wax yet, but soon ...
• I have no need for subflooring material or adhesive, it just lays right flat and stays in place very well ... you can kind of kick it with your foot to get it to move a bit if needed, but it stays put when walking around on it or dragging things on it.
• I have no need for molding or tape on the edges, they are low profile and I have never tripped on them.
• Traction is great, and my wheeled tool chest rolls around just fine.
• I think it looks pretty good for its purpose.
• No smell after a few days or a week ... vinyl smell before that.
• I am no longer concerned about dropping sharp or heavy tools on the floor
• So far I have no dislikes

What went well:

• Fedex delivered the roll as an 8' long x 15" diameter roll, wrapped in plastic wrap. I left the wrapped roll out in the sun for an afternoon to warm up, then my wife and I laid it out, it rolled very flat with no real air bubbles or curls. The 24'x8' flooring section is about 100+ lbs so you need 2 people with work with it.
• I used heavy duty shears to trim areas as needed, seemed to work okay.

What didn't go well:

• My fault, I left part of the floor partially folded over because I wasn't ready to trim it that day. After I trimmed it, 2 weeks later, and when I unrolled it back out, part of the floor was curled up as visible in the left side of the third image. However, easy fix: I used a ski waxing iron (with shipping paper underneath) to heat up the floor, then I put some heavy boxes on top for 3 days. After I removed the boxes, the curls were gone and the floor was perfectly flat.
• I didn't clean the underlying hardwood floor *perfectly* so a few grains of rock or other debris were very noticeable as small bumps on the vinyl floor. I re-rolled up the entire vinyl floor, swept the grains/debris back out, re-rolled and the floor was perfectly flat.

[TahoeJ]

Sweet, pretty sure I need to do this for half of my garage.

[SchralphMacchio]

^ Tahoe or Sonoma? I think a few hours of sun in air temps at least 60F really makes the install go well. If Tahoe, do it now while you can find a half-sunny day to let this thing warm up and soften up. Delivery was about 5 days from Colorado.

[TahoeJ]

Sonoma for now... maybe Tahoe eventually, could be nice in the winter.