Flooring Solution: Vinyl?

[Joseph Ragsdale]

I'm looking for a flooring solution for my workshop. I had a decent concrete floor, but now I have something else that looks pretty terrible...

I currently have an epoxy coated floor that I tried to coat twice. Once with an inexpensive Rustoleum product and the second try with a more expensive EpoxyCoat product.

I didn't prepare the concrete properly the first time, so the Rustoleum epoxy coating failed immediately. I removed the old coating and diamond ground the concrete to prepare it for a second coating.

Let me tell you, the equipment to diamond grind concrete is expensive. There's no doubt in my mind that the floor was prepared for epoxy on the second attempt.

Much to my aggravation, while the EpoxyCoat coating was curing, hundreds of little bubbles formed. So I ended up with a floor that is rock hard, but looks like crap thanks to all those little bubbles. Additionally, I have fiber reinforced concrete, and what I assume is that the diamond grinding made hundreds of little fibers stick out of the surface of the floor. The epoxy made these fibers rock hard, so walking across with floor with bare feet is rather painful.

So here I am, $1,200 later and my floor looks worse than when I started.

I'm going to take advantage of the Memorial Day discounts offered at local retailers and have a professional install a new floor in my workshop over the epoxy.

I'll probably end up spending over $2,000 on a floor. Lord help me...

Is vinyl an acceptable solution? It appears that I can roll my heavy bandsaw, heavy jointer, and drop tools on it without damaging the floor.

[Matt Meiser]

I think you'd have problems with the vinyl. Dropped itmes are going to damage it and I think stuff will sink in. For example, where our washer sits there are small indentations from the feet.

What I do think could work though is the commercial type tiles, like what you see in retail stores or schools. I believe they are fairly inexpensive too.

One other thing I thought of though is that I wonder if the adhesives are going to stick to the epoxy.

[Joseph Ragsdale]

Sorry. What I meant was those vinyl tiles and not the vinyl sheets that you see in kitchens.

Lowes sells commercial vinyl tiles for 90 cents per tile.

The epoxy is self leveling and did level out the floor some, so the floor is probably a good candidate for tile.

It's not the most attractive, but I can wax it to add protection from stains or paints.

Looks like I found a decent solution.

[Joseph Ragsdale]

According to EpoxyCoat customer service, all I have to do is sand the epoxy with 100 grit sandpaper to create a profile and adhesive will stick.

[Jim Becker]

Seems to me that you might be able to screen off those nubbies that are sticking up through the epoxy...then coat it again. (Try it in a corner somewhere)

[Don Bullock]

...The epoxy made these fibers rock hard, so walking across with floor with bare feet is rather painful...

...Is vinyl an acceptable solution? It appears that I can roll my heavy bandsaw, heavy jointer, and drop tools on it without damaging the floor.

Joseph, those fibers will stick right through vinyl tiles in a matter of days. I installed a vinyl tile floor in my kitchen (many years ago) and was amazed. As far as I could tell the floor was spotless when I installed the tiles. Within a week tiny bits of grit that I evidently missed worked themselves all the way through the tile and left holes where they "surfaced." If you read the directions for the tile it will warn you that the subsurface has to be smooth and clean. You might try a floor leveling compound over the epoxy if it will stick to it. That should be deep enough to cover up the ends of the fibers. I have no idea if the vinyl tile will hold up, but I have seen posts from people who have used vinyl tiles for their shop floor.

[Peter Galen]

I think you might want to look at the interlocking PVC tiles. They stand above the floor on little nubs. They are designed for tools or cars to drive on them. I haven't used them but have heard good things. The fibers would not go through them.

[Brian Elfert]

Those commercial vinyl composition tiles (VCT) should be around 56 cents, not 90 cents each. At least that is what Lowes and Home Depot charge here in Minneapolis.

Check Craigslist for surplus VCT tiles. You might be surprised. I found a floor guy with 11 cases left over from a job. He had posted them for $5 a case, but it had been a few weeks and he just gave me 8 cases for free to get rid of them.

I suspect that VCTs might break if something gets dropped on them.

[Wes Bischel]

As Brian mentioned - VCT is the tile to use. VCT is about 90% limestone with vinyl as the binder. We had (have) it in the shop at my former employer. No issues with weight (solid tire forklifts only left skid marks:rolleyes:) A few things to consider. You'll want a no-slip surface around your stationary tools, and watch how you clean and finish it. It can get slick if you build up too much wax.
With that said, I would agree with knocking down the fibers and giving it another coat. Might be less work in the long run - maybe.

Wes