All, it appears this video has hit a bunch of suggested feeds. A couple of answers to commonly asked questions: "What about the dirt?" I'm telling you. Dirt is a non-event. Think about this logically. The tile is 3/4" of an inch thick. How much dirt would you need to dump on your floor to get that much dirt build up? I vacuum my floors once every few years. "Epoxy, paint, etc is much better." I wish it was. Outside of $12+ sq. ft. porcelain tile, this is the most practical and viable solution for a garage. I've chased this harder than 99.999% of people on the planet. "I work on my cars. What about oil." I do too. The once a year that you spill some transmission oil on the floor, get some paper towels, pop tile up, wipe...done in 30 seconds. All you need to know is here: www.obsessedgarage.com/collections/garage-flooring
Obsessed Garage everything you’ve said and I clearly get the picture you just made every wrong move when you did epoxy. You vacuum your floors every few years?!!! That’s gross man. You clean transmission oil from the bare concrete underneath with paper towel and that’s it? Why not clean it properly when the tile is up? I don’t think you’re obsessed with cleanliness when your tile argument is partly based on how much dirt you can hide vs. actually keeping a floor clean! It costed me $200 to epoxy a floor twice as large as that garage. Just use epoxy in a solid color, and if someone shows up with a roller send them away, because that is the first sign they haven’t a clue what they’re doing. I did mine myself and a friend had a local contractor do his condo (a guy who actually did live up to his warranty when my friend found some bubbles in a corner). It took me about as much work as those tiles in that garage with prep included. BTW urethane on top of epoxy completely negates the advantages of epoxy, and then you really are screwed repairing anything. If you want resilience you add a softener, if it’s too slippery then silica. I haven’t had any of the issues you’ve had repairing anything either. You’re a dealer for Swisstrak, so this is some first person information for everyone else.
Hi Matt, I just installed mine recently and for the sides I find it easier and more precise if you: 1. lay one tile (#1) fully over an already-installed full tile (make sure it's flush) 2. lay another (#2) over tile #1 and slide it towards the wall until flush against the wall 3. draw a line on tile #1 based on tile #2 edge 4. cut tile #1 Viola
LMAO, I was laughing at the first part of the video where it seemed as if your father had absolutely no patience with the video process itself and he just started working as you were trying to explain what you were "about" to do. 🤣
I can't tell you how relieved I was to see you added a piece at the base of the garage door track. The full sense of completion was great to see in a project like this. Well done my man
Definitely will be something I will look into. Floor looks awesome. And some of the negative comments directed toward Matt are pretty ridiculous. If you've seen any of his "obsessive" ways with basically everything, I don't think there's anyway he's going to push an inferior product. You might have found a cheaper alternative that you're happy with, but I definitely trust this guy's assessment.
We used a different, similar product on the floor of our garage in our small hone in northern Michigan. What we achieved was not just a great, no fabulous garage, but an additional room on a house that really needed it. Its a great investment as are baths and kitchens.
Nice floor but the way you keep measuring the edge pieces takes too long, especially if it's a large area. Take two tiles, place one on top of the other and lay them directly over the last tile before the wall. Now slide the top tile towards the wall. The exposed piece on the bottom tile is the piece you need to cut out. That way if the wall is on a slight angle, it will transfer onto the bottom tile. Use a white wax marker. No measuring. This method is for all tiled flooring. Also, instead of cutting around the garage door metal track, place a tile against it and mark the height of the tile on the track. Now cut the track so the tile slides under it. Like when you cut the door jamb and casing to fit a ceramic tile, wood floor etc. I use a metal blade in my Dremel tool. Works slick.
This guy does flooring. Also, he had well under a half a tile at the edges. Instead of having to cut those tiny pieces, he should have moved the black border over a single tile and centered off those. same amount of tile (assuming he cut 2 tiny pieces per tile) and you aren't left with those teeny tiny pieces at the edge.
I love the look of these tiles, especially on the color combo you chose. However I think I would prefer a solid tile that can be blown out or mopped due to the amount of dirt and sand I get in my garage. Also it doesn't look very easy to roll across on a stool or with a tool chest.
So few questions: What about dirt? How do you clean the floor of solid particles that are small enough to fit inbetween the grating? Also, what about when that water heater needs to be replaced? Can that entire section be redone without negatively effecting the rest of the flooring?
Wonder if it’s possible with a good size shop vac to get the dirt without lifting the entire floor I’ve heard him say he vacuums his once a yr or something but not sure the process
People who dislike this video either can’t afford this flooring or can’t dont this with their dad. This is awesome! Will be ordering soon for my new home! Thanks brotha always badass videos
I know this is an older video now and prices have probably gone up, but I think this helped me decide on my garage flooring. Thanks for putting out great content like this installation video and the garage give away videos. It’s really helping me decide on things I want, which need to be precise with how small it is. Close on my first house in about 2 months and it’s only an oversized single car garage, but I want to turn it into a proper spot. Going to have to save up and do Swisstrax and sonicc cabinets like your last garage give away video.
That tidbit of information that the waste amount is the same whether butted up to one side or centered for aesthetics. That was worth the price of admission. Thanks for the video.
This looks awesome, I use my garage for both woodworking and mechanic work. - I wonder how it is rolling around a toolbox? I usually roll my tools to the job... - Floor Jacks and jackstands, I guess I'd have to put a plank under the jack.
Matt, great video. I came over from your videos from VinWiki. I did this in my garage but with a different brand that rhymes with "paceneck". Was a fun project my wife & I did. We too rented the tile cutter from the local HD for a few days as that really helped cutting the pieces needed. Only cost about $50 and I took it back (it wasn't as big as that but was wide enough for the tile. We left a 1/2" on each side and it's been solid for almost 8 years now. It's my favorite part of my house we updated. Went with a full grey floor but added a 2 foot blue and 2 foot orange stripes (offset) with a 1 foot gap. Gulf racing stripes on my floor! It makes walking on the floor in the cold so much nicer.
that seemed to be a terrible lay out, why not centre the floor then measure to the wall and eliminate the small cut by either centering the tile or putting it either side of the centre line
Just a thought would be a good idea to have the water heater suspended from the floor on a base of some sort and at the same time the tank would not be getting cold from the floor. Neat job 👍
I have to agree with everyone else - every time I see products like this. Looks cool for someone who uses their garage to only park their vehicles. I could never see using something like this with the manufacturing and repair work I do inside my garage. The slag alone would melt right through something like this. Not to mention the rust that would accumulate underneath between cleaning too. Looks beautiful otherwise. Nice job!!!
Excellent job. I've been dating back and forth between the Swisstrax and the Husky 18.4 Black PVC Flooring Tile. I live in the NE and figured with the snow and salt it might be best to use a tile that doesn't have vents. I hope that I'm right.
I agree that it looks cool, and the ease of installation is fabulous. My concerns, especially for a guy like Matt who obsesses about cleanliness, is the inevitable dirt and debris buildup under the tiles over time. I know you can pass a vacuum or shopvac over it, and you can always pull up a few tiles to clean any spills, but there will always be dirt under the tiles. The only way to properly clean the floor seems to be to remove the flooring, clean the floor properly, then reinstall. I guess how often that needs to be done is directly proportional to how you use your garage. I have a 4-post lift that I occasionally put on the optional casters so that I can push the lift around my garage, and occasionally I roll it outside to pressure wash and detail suspensions and undercarriages, so I doubt a flooring product like this could ever work for me just because of the lift that is not fixed in one position. Personally, I do not care for the feel or sound of loose plastic pieces under my feet, but to each his own. Hey Matt, with all the detailing that you do the the topsides of cars, do you ever feel the need to properly clean the undercarriages and suspension beyond the brakes and wheel well area? Keep up the good work!
Same concern. I've always had a garage and no matter what you do leaves, dirt and sand always blow in. I've always left my floors plain and I just use a broom and a leaf blower to clean it out every few months. I can see the little grills on this stuff catching all of that with no easy way to clean it out. I'd be curious to see a floor like this 3-4 years down the road too.
@@ObsessedGarage Fair enough, I look forward to walking on them. My garage is in an industrial area on Florida's Treasure Coast with hundreds of garages, where a large number of them are man caves for serious car collectors. Most floors are professional grade epoxy with no issues, some are stained concrete, and a few went with plastic tiles. I have not heard of the Swisstrax brand being used around here, but I will ask around out of curiosity. Assuming I could change my mind about the feel, and how to keep the floor clean, do you think that the harder tiles could support the weight of a 4-post BendPak lift with a car on it? If so, how would you feel about rolling it on the casters (without a vehicle on it, of course)? Rolling may prove difficult due to the reduced contact patch size, depending on the flex of the tiles.
@@ObsessedGarage cant weld on em. Cant jack a car up on em. Gotta remove em to clean the floor. Uncomfortable to lay on. This is a garbage product. You can fuck right off trying to push this shit.
Thanks, I’m doing my best to convince my husband that we want to put this type of garage floor in over epoxy. The Swisstrax is more expensive over epoxy, but the pros outweighs the cost. And at age 63, I’d rather do a little tap dancing with my feet, snapping in tiles, vs scrubbing and rolling on fast drying epoxy, in TX weather. And I don’t like the decorative chips either.! I was wondering how you were going to address the water heater.
Looks great Matt. Keep practicing the install of the flooring. You can do mine when you get it right:) Keep up the great videos. BTW my wife told me I needed to stop watching because I end up buying stuff from you. Don't tell her I posted a comment here. Thanks
I have something similar from RaceDeck. After the winter, the road salt and dirt would trapped under the tiles. The only way to clean it is to pull up the tiles in large sections and put them back after cleaning. If you try to use a air blower to clean the garage, it will create a sand storm. If I have a choice, I would pick the solid tiles.
Great video. I just ordered approximately 800 sq/ft of Ribtrax from the OG Store during the Black Friday sale. This video hopefully helped me somewhat prepared for the install once the tiles get delivered.
its always a pleasure to watch your videos. The outcome of your dad's garage is awesome. Someday I will mine just like it. Definitely I will buy from you.
After almost three years later the floor still looks great. Just vacuum every once in awhile. Yes, I work on cars in here and have spilled fluids on floor (antifreeze and motor oil). No, you are not going to cut metal with a torch (common sense) or braze panels on but pretty much anything else can be done on this. Another common sense move, "If you know you are going to spill get yourself some cardboard the same as you would on any other floor. This is a great upgrade to most peoples home garage but not for the rust bucket restorer.
I’m very impressed with the quality of your presentation and demonstration. Sound is perfect and the honesty is greatly appreciated. I think I will install the tiles versus the epoxy method.
I would never do this because tons of dirt over the years would end up in the holes. Especially where the car tires drive on. This would show tire lines the same as on a concrete floor. Instead of sweeping, you would need to vacuum
You don't need to do any of that. Think logically about how much dirt 3/4" would be. I'm telling you, my wash bay hasn't been cleaned a single time in the 3 years I've had it.
Swisstrax works great in the bottom of a mailbox to keep the mail from getting wet. Also, screw mounted vertically on walls is a great way to keep your hanging tools from banging into the paint.
I bought the tile cutter for 500 or 550 on Amazon then sold it in minutes on the Obsessed Marketplace when I was done with it for $260. It was worth every penny, made install fast on both my garage and cousins
Thanks for a great, informative video... What is the deal on dirt? It just falls into the gaps and now and again vacumn it out? What sort of expansion gap might people fit.. on a garage of that size? Can the whole floor move when a vehicle drives on to it if the flooring doesn't butt up against the far whole? Thanks Mark
Yeah, I'd love this. Would use it to cover my epoxy floor that sure doesn't look good any more. However, I live in an Oil and Gas town and the roads are none too clean. I constantly get tons of sand, mud and gravel into my garage. I can't imagine how a flooring system like this could be kept clean. At least with my epoxy floor, I can pressure wash and sweep.
Another option for centering would be to move the whole thing sideways by half a tile, putting a tile centered instead of a seam. Make the border pattern 1 tile narrower, then have about 1.5 tiles each side instead of one and a tiny sliver. Would still use the same amount of tiles but the larger pieces might be easier to deal with instead of the tiny slivers.
Looks cool, but oil drips and just using a floor jack or even jackstands I feel would damage these, like if you use one jackstand on one corner of a truck, that's alot of weight. Also hosing down the floor to clean it up seems like it'll cause pooling or some retention, maybe mold issues in future
how does that two car garage cost 800? for my single car garage 12x20 its 1100 with out extra. that is with matts 6.80 price per tile. the designer says 160 tiles
@@ObsessedGarage not looking for mistakes. when you say a two car garage cost 800 i looked into the cost of doing my single car and it didn't make sense
@@ObsessedGarage yo who said he's looking for mistakes? The man was just genuinely curious at how cheap it was. Why do you always have to get so damn defensive. Holy shit dude lighten up.
How do we get pricing for garage floor measuring 21' 8 " length by 18 ' 9". Saw your video and was impressed by your detailed instructions. Looking at pearl grey. Thank you
Hey Toby I measured my garage it I have 1106 sq.ft. Of floor. My garage door openings are - 1@ 18 ‘ and the other door opening is 16’. Joe much are we talking about.
Cutting the tile around the edges can be very challenging. You can use $150 BANDSAW and get some professional results. BANDSAW can cut straight and cut circles, so you can get pretty good results. I believe it will give you the best results at the cheapest cost.
You'd be wise to leave a gap. Always always, always follow manufacturer specs on things like that. When the guy in the video said he just puts it in tight, I cringed. When it comes to building a lot of guys do things like that and back it up with, "Well, that's how I've been doing it for 20 years and it's fine!" All that means is they have likely been doing it wrong for 20 years. And they always have an excuse when their work is fucked after the first warm season. Or, they don't even know their work was bad because their customer is smart enough to not rehire him to "fix" it when he was the one who did it wrong to begin with. Sorry for the rant. This is a pet peeve of mine. I am a carpenter and I read all manufacturer installation instructions each time I install something. I don't care if I have used this product a hundred times. At the very least, it keeps the warranty intact.
I'm thinking that a baseboard or quarter round raised up just enough to allow the tiles to slide under would be the best way to go. That way the floor can float as it expands/contracts.
Great video. Will be buying swisstrax from you in the future. Made mistake in past not buying from you and paid more. Will be doing a Ryan Homes 3 car garage 19' 7" x 35' 6". Thanks
I have the 13 inch Swisstrax and I sympathize with the people in hot climates. I am in Canada and installed chocolate brown and cream (ivory maybe) tiles. I like to work in my garage with the door open. On 30 degree C. days (90F+) my tiles buckle badly. Do not install this stuff edge to edge if you like to work with your garage door open. This stuff needs room to expand. Do not put heavy stuff on it like woodworking equipment (table saws, planers etc.) or the floor won't be able to move. I like this stuff, looks great, but they need to sell you a flexible expansion piece to put down the middle of your garage. I feel sorry for the Arizona guy who commented. ( I visit AZ in the Canadian winter) about the heat. I love my floor but don't like it when it buckles.
@@vincentkruskal3884 The problem is that the weight of things (Table saw, Work bench, cupboards etc) will not let the floor move. I have at least an inch to an inch and a half from the wall all around the perimeter which is lots of room for expansion but the weight of everything won't allow the floor to move so it buckles up right where I need to stand behind my table saw.
I Race Decked my garage 12 years ago. I did a fancy multi bay design. Still looks like new. Essentially the same product but the tiles are a bit thinner and smaller in width. Don’t take this the wrong way but the house side of your job looks goofy to my eye. You need to carry the perimeter gray all the way to the wall. If you ran out of tile, buy more! Just a word of caution to viewers, should you spill a quart of transmission fluid or engine oil it is a major pain in the butt to clean up. Essentially you gotta pull the floor to get it all and believe me it’s a mess! Ask me how I know.
How's the smell? Not the tiles' smell, but the smell of your garage after say a couple months of accumulating dirty underneath? I am seriously considering buying them for my garage, but that is the ONLY one concern I have. Would my garage reek in nasty smell and gases generated by all that trapped dirt??
After watching your videos, I am purchasing this for my garage. Thanks. I have moisture issues where I live and I know epoxy will come up. Can you tell me what type of blade to use on a table saw or chop saw to cut these?
Flooring is started in the center of a room for various reasons....measure the room, the tiles, draw a large rectangle in the center of the room....so many rows across, so many down....then measure to the wall. what you want to avoid is a super narrow strip at one side & an almost full tile or even full tile at the other. move the large rectangle over to avoid this. very narrow tiles are weaker & don't look that nice....and if the space is not perfectly square, the center of the room will look great & furniture etc around the perimeter will camouflage slightly wider row etc as you progress down the room.
How do you not have over 1,000,000 subs, I’ve watched like 5 hours of your videos tonight and loved every single one. Lots of great content on this channel.
For all the people griping about it trapping dirt, that's literally the point of it, you can easily unsnap the tiles and pull a few rows out at a time and sweep/vacuum it out a few times a year, it's not that difficult to do.
Pulling out tiles a few times a year? Are you kidding? That's more work. I'd like something with no maintenance, like and epoxy floor you can just wash down with a hose and sweep away. Thanks, but no thanks.
Seems like those tiles would hold dirt, dust, debris, etc. Think I'll stay with epoxy coating. Less expensive and less nooks and crannies for dirt collection.
Those tiles look like all the water, dust, crap goes underneath it, and might not flow out. After it will start to smell, I think it should be solid so nothing can get under neath it. Looks good.
Good information. Thanks for taking time to make the video. I'm still researching what to do with my garage floor but swisstrack sounds like a good option for under a $1000 for a 20x20 garage.
Hi Matt, I’ve been watching your Swiss videos, great jobs by the way. I just wanted to ask why not just use a nice 12” aluminum ruler for your side cuts ? You won’t be fighting the tape end on the small measurements. Just throw a ruler in your box and it makes a great straight edge too . 👍🏻
Great video. Can you turn the tires while parking? Will that drag the tiles or break the links? Additionally, I tend to park the car in the same spot, will the accumulated heat on the tires end up damaging the tiles due to the recurring exposure? I also live in Central FL. Thank you for your time reading this.
Yes, you can turn. If you had something like an F250 and slam on the brakes while turning, it will pull up the floor. Otherwise you are fine to drive around on it. You will have not issues with tires marking tiles.
@@ObsessedGarage any issues from oil staining the tile? I do all my oil changes (engine oil and transmission) and always spill some drops during the process, will this be an issue?
Cost, and you basically ruin the concrete when you put it on there. It doesn't come back off without significant expense. Plus 95% of people don't dump stuff on the floor. I may get a drop of oil on there once a year.
It looks pretty nice. I'm curious though, when these things get a whole bunch of junk in them or underneath them, how easy are they to clean? Can you just vacuum over them? One of things I appreciate about having a smooth concrete garage floor is how easy it is to just pull the cars out and sweep or blow it out clean.
Obsessed, I live in Tucson, AZ, with northern exposure on garage door so sun is not a problem BUT, the temp gets pretty high in the garage sometime up to 110degrees F. Will this extremely hot dry air cause excessive expansion and buckling?
@@ObsessedGarage I'm in OH and it's not until like 3-5pm where my west facing garage sees sun. I do work out there when the sun is out so it sounds like it would make sense to just leave 1/4-1/2" gap? The wall and floor have a concrete block edge that I painted with dark gray exterior floor paint thus it looks great and is fine holding up. I could just paint the edge of the floor in 5 minutes so it matches and that gap would blend away visually. Besides, only one side of my garage has that wall edge showing.
really pretty floor, i know lots of car guys with hundred thousand cars and nostalgia funny cars and street rods etc that may have floors like this, im just an old man that worked all my life on cars and love the versatility of the concrete garage floor, if it get too dirty a specialty oil dry will actually suck up spills, dirt blows out with my leaf blower, my jack rolls easy, my big wheeled compressor rolls easy, if my cat pisses on the floor i spray on it and wash it off, i love the looks of many of these projects but i use my garage for lots of things and it for sure doesn't need to be a show piece, if i like people i would invite them in my home, not my garage. but thanks for making the video, it shows me what the better paid in our society spends their time and money on.
Thinking about doing this when my new build finishes and going full OG with my wash setup inside the garage. But I was wondering if this is ok on bare concrete. I was under the impression you shouldn’t wash in your garage on bare concrete and this just drains right to it?
All, it appears this video has hit a bunch of suggested feeds. A couple of answers to commonly asked questions: "What about the dirt?" I'm telling you. Dirt is a non-event. Think about this logically. The tile is 3/4" of an inch thick. How much dirt would you need to dump on your floor to get that much dirt build up? I vacuum my floors once every few years. "Epoxy, paint, etc is much better." I wish it was. Outside of $12+ sq. ft. porcelain tile, this is the most practical and viable solution for a garage. I've chased this harder than 99.999% of people on the planet. "I work on my cars. What about oil." I do too. The once a year that you spill some transmission oil on the floor, get some paper towels, pop tile up, wipe...done in 30 seconds. All you need to know is here: www.obsessedgarage.com/collections/garage-flooring
Obsessed Garage what about floor jack and jack stands? That's my one hang up
For years my driveway was compacted crushed concrete: 1/4 mile long. Dirt would be an event. lol
@@TheBeingReal Is the floor angled away from house? maybe you could hose it out every now and then. im really digging this stuff. looks great.
Obsessed Garage everything you’ve said and I clearly get the picture you just made every wrong move when you did epoxy. You vacuum your floors every few years?!!! That’s gross man. You clean transmission oil from the bare concrete underneath with paper towel and that’s it? Why not clean it properly when the tile is up? I don’t think you’re obsessed with cleanliness when your tile argument is partly based on how much dirt you can hide vs. actually keeping a floor clean! It costed me $200 to epoxy a floor twice as large as that garage. Just use epoxy in a solid color, and if someone shows up with a roller send them away, because that is the first sign they haven’t a clue what they’re doing. I did mine myself and a friend had a local contractor do his condo (a guy who actually did live up to his warranty when my friend found some bubbles in a corner). It took me about as much work as those tiles in that garage with prep included. BTW urethane on top of epoxy completely negates the advantages of epoxy, and then you really are screwed repairing anything. If you want resilience you add a softener, if it’s too slippery then silica. I haven’t had any of the issues you’ve had repairing anything either. You’re a dealer for Swisstrak, so this is some first person information for everyone else.
You can get really good PEI-5 porcelain tile for less than $3/sqft right now and closer to $1.50/sqft if you're willing to wait for the clearances.
Hi Matt, I just installed mine recently and for the sides I find it easier and more precise if you:
1. lay one tile (#1) fully over an already-installed full tile (make sure it's flush)
2. lay another (#2) over tile #1 and slide it towards the wall until flush against the wall
3. draw a line on tile #1 based on tile #2 edge
4. cut tile #1
Viola
smarts
Not only does Toby work in HR for Dundler Mifflin, he lays garage floors
Hahaha 😂
Underrated comment tbh.
LMAO, I was laughing at the first part of the video where it seemed as if your father had absolutely no patience with the video process itself and he just started working as you were trying to explain what you were "about" to do. 🤣
I can't tell you how relieved I was to see you added a piece at the base of the garage door track. The full sense of completion was great to see in a project like this. Well done my man
Just to note, I rented that tile cutter here in ATL for $26 for 24hrs from Home Depot. Best way to cut these kinds of tiles ever!
That's pretty rare. They usually don't have them, but it definitely is better if you can rent one.
@@ObsessedGarage Yeah, it was slightly narrower, but worked great. ZERO mess compared to a saw I'm sure.
Definitely will be something I will look into. Floor looks awesome. And some of the negative comments directed toward Matt are pretty ridiculous. If you've seen any of his "obsessive" ways with basically everything, I don't think there's anyway he's going to push an inferior product. You might have found a cheaper alternative that you're happy with, but I definitely trust this guy's assessment.
We used a different, similar product on the floor of our garage in our small hone in northern Michigan. What we achieved was not just a great, no fabulous garage, but an additional room on a house that really needed it. Its a great investment as are baths and kitchens.
Nice floor but the way you keep measuring the edge pieces takes too long, especially if it's a large area. Take two tiles, place one on top of the other and lay them directly over the last tile before the wall. Now slide the top tile towards the wall. The exposed piece on the bottom tile is the piece you need to cut out. That way if the wall is on a slight angle, it will transfer onto the bottom tile. Use a white wax marker. No measuring. This method is for all tiled flooring. Also, instead of cutting around the garage door metal track, place a tile against it and mark the height of the tile on the track. Now cut the track so the tile slides under it. Like when you cut the door jamb and casing to fit a ceramic tile, wood floor etc. I use a metal blade in my Dremel tool. Works slick.
I was thinking the very same thing. But, lessons learned are the best teachers for next time! Gotta love a clean garage!
This is how I was taught when I installed wood floors because walls are rarely straight
This guy does flooring. Also, he had well under a half a tile at the edges. Instead of having to cut those tiny pieces, he should have moved the black border over a single tile and centered off those. same amount of tile (assuming he cut 2 tiny pieces per tile) and you aren't left with those teeny tiny pieces at the edge.
Good video, back to basics. Got it in my 4 car garage, love it. Clean up with a Leaf blower, works fine.
I love the look of these tiles, especially on the color combo you chose. However I think I would prefer a solid tile that can be blown out or mopped due to the amount of dirt and sand I get in my garage. Also it doesn't look very easy to roll across on a stool or with a tool chest.
So few questions: What about dirt? How do you clean the floor of solid particles that are small enough to fit inbetween the grating? Also, what about when that water heater needs to be replaced? Can that entire section be redone without negatively effecting the rest of the flooring?
I wanna know about cleaning but yeah it's easy to redo sections
We use a bissell cross wave. It does a phenomenal job. Brushes for the interior brushes for the garage.
Wonder if it’s possible with a good size shop vac to get the dirt without lifting the entire floor I’ve heard him say he vacuums his once a yr or something but not sure the process
People who dislike this video either can’t afford this flooring or can’t dont this with their dad. This is awesome! Will be ordering soon for my new home! Thanks brotha always badass videos
Swisstrax the lawn
I know this is an older video now and prices have probably gone up, but I think this helped me decide on my garage flooring. Thanks for putting out great content like this installation video and the garage give away videos. It’s really helping me decide on things I want, which need to be precise with how small it is.
Close on my first house in about 2 months and it’s only an oversized single car garage, but I want to turn it into a proper spot. Going to have to save up and do Swisstrax and sonicc cabinets like your last garage give away video.
That tidbit of information that the waste amount is the same whether butted up to one side or centered for aesthetics. That was worth the price of admission. Thanks for the video.
This looks awesome, I use my garage for both woodworking and mechanic work.
- I wonder how it is rolling around a toolbox? I usually roll my tools to the job...
- Floor Jacks and jackstands, I guess I'd have to put a plank under the jack.
When the time comes to change your water heater, might want to raise it up off the cold floor...
Matt, great video. I came over from your videos from VinWiki. I did this in my garage but with a different brand that rhymes with "paceneck". Was a fun project my wife & I did. We too rented the tile cutter from the local HD for a few days as that really helped cutting the pieces needed. Only cost about $50 and I took it back (it wasn't as big as that but was wide enough for the tile. We left a 1/2" on each side and it's been solid for almost 8 years now. It's my favorite part of my house we updated. Went with a full grey floor but added a 2 foot blue and 2 foot orange stripes (offset) with a 1 foot gap. Gulf racing stripes on my floor! It makes walking on the floor in the cold so much nicer.
Ha, ha... Good stuff man.
Excellent video! Great looking floor. Most informative that I’ve seen for this type of flooring. Thank you
that seemed to be a terrible lay out, why not centre the floor then measure to the wall and eliminate the small cut by either centering the tile or putting it either side of the centre line
Just a thought would be a good idea to have the water heater suspended from the floor on a base of some sort and at the same time the tank would not be getting cold from the floor. Neat job 👍
I have to agree with everyone else - every time I see products like this. Looks cool for someone who uses their garage to only park their vehicles. I could never see using something like this with the manufacturing and repair work I do inside my garage. The slag alone would melt right through something like this. Not to mention the rust that would accumulate underneath between cleaning too. Looks beautiful otherwise. Nice job!!!
I would do some high quality Porcelain tile in that environment or just leave the floor bare concrete.
Excellent job. I've been dating back and forth between the Swisstrax and the Husky 18.4 Black PVC Flooring Tile. I live in the NE and figured with the snow and salt it might be best to use a tile that doesn't have vents. I hope that I'm right.
I agree that it looks cool, and the ease of installation is fabulous. My concerns, especially for a guy like Matt who obsesses about cleanliness, is the inevitable dirt and debris buildup under the tiles over time. I know you can pass a vacuum or shopvac over it, and you can always pull up a few tiles to clean any spills, but there will always be dirt under the tiles. The only way to properly clean the floor seems to be to remove the flooring, clean the floor properly, then reinstall. I guess how often that needs to be done is directly proportional to how you use your garage.
I have a 4-post lift that I occasionally put on the optional casters so that I can push the lift around my garage, and occasionally I roll it outside to pressure wash and detail suspensions and undercarriages, so I doubt a flooring product like this could ever work for me just because of the lift that is not fixed in one position. Personally, I do not care for the feel or sound of loose plastic pieces under my feet, but to each his own.
Hey Matt, with all the detailing that you do the the topsides of cars, do you ever feel the need to properly clean the undercarriages and suspension beyond the brakes and wheel well area?
Keep up the good work!
If you walk on these, I think you'd change your mind. They are very stout.
Same concern. I've always had a garage and no matter what you do leaves, dirt and sand always blow in. I've always left my floors plain and I just use a broom and a leaf blower to clean it out every few months. I can see the little grills on this stuff catching all of that with no easy way to clean it out. I'd be curious to see a floor like this 3-4 years down the road too.
@@ObsessedGarage Fair enough, I look forward to walking on them. My garage is in an industrial area on Florida's Treasure Coast with hundreds of garages, where a large number of them are man caves for serious car collectors. Most floors are professional grade epoxy with no issues, some are stained concrete, and a few went with plastic tiles. I have not heard of the Swisstrax brand being used around here, but I will ask around out of curiosity.
Assuming I could change my mind about the feel, and how to keep the floor clean, do you think that the harder tiles could support the weight of a 4-post BendPak lift with a car on it? If so, how would you feel about rolling it on the casters (without a vehicle on it, of course)? Rolling may prove difficult due to the reduced contact patch size, depending on the flex of the tiles.
@@ObsessedGarage cant weld on em. Cant jack a car up on em.
Gotta remove em to clean the floor. Uncomfortable to lay on.
This is a garbage product. You can fuck right off trying to push this shit.
Thanks, I’m doing my best to convince my husband that we want to put this type of garage floor in over epoxy. The Swisstrax is more expensive over epoxy, but the pros outweighs the cost. And at age 63, I’d rather do a little tap dancing with my feet, snapping in tiles, vs scrubbing and rolling on fast drying epoxy, in TX weather. And I don’t like the decorative chips either.! I was wondering how you were going to address the water heater.
Looks great Matt. Keep practicing the install of the flooring. You can do mine when you get it right:) Keep up the great videos. BTW my wife told me I needed to stop watching because I end up buying stuff from you. Don't tell her I posted a comment here. Thanks
I have something similar from RaceDeck. After the winter, the road salt and dirt would trapped under the tiles. The only way to clean it is to pull up the tiles in large sections and put them back after cleaning. If you try to use a air blower to clean the garage, it will create a sand storm. If I have a choice, I would pick the solid tiles.
Great video. I just ordered approximately 800 sq/ft of Ribtrax from the OG Store during the Black Friday sale. This video hopefully helped me somewhat prepared for the install once the tiles get delivered.
I wonder how well it would work with the snow and all the dirt to clean 🧽
its always a pleasure to watch your videos. The outcome of your dad's garage is awesome. Someday I will mine just like it. Definitely I will buy from you.
Looks better than the original but keeping it clean will be more challenging.
After almost three years later the floor still looks great. Just vacuum every once in awhile. Yes, I work on cars in here and have spilled fluids on floor (antifreeze and motor oil). No, you are not going to cut metal with a torch (common sense) or braze panels on but pretty much anything else can be done on this. Another common sense move, "If you know you are going to spill get yourself some cardboard the same as you would on any other floor. This is a great upgrade to most peoples home garage but not for the rust bucket restorer.
I’m very impressed with the quality of your presentation and demonstration. Sound is perfect and the honesty is greatly appreciated. I think I will install the tiles versus the epoxy method.
I would never do this because tons of dirt over the years would end up in the holes. Especially where the car tires drive on. This would show tire lines the same as on a concrete floor. Instead of sweeping, you would need to vacuum
You don't need to do any of that. Think logically about how much dirt 3/4" would be. I'm telling you, my wash bay hasn't been cleaned a single time in the 3 years I've had it.
In case anyone is wondering about the 15.75” size, it’s 400mm square exactly.
Swisstrax works great in the bottom of a mailbox to keep the mail from getting wet. Also, screw mounted vertically on walls is a great way to keep your hanging tools from banging into the paint.
Matt would Swisstrax his house and use a Kranzle for a shower if he was allowed.
jenny to blowdry his hair
@@frrancisco for the sides anyway. for the top he'd use small pneumatic rupes (sorry, couldn't resist;))
@@mastadriver LOL took it too far bro
Nice informative video, currently planning my floor now. Thanks
I know your Dad was pumped about the final product
I bought the tile cutter for 500 or 550 on Amazon then sold it in minutes on the Obsessed Marketplace when I was done with it for $260. It was worth every penny, made install fast on both my garage and cousins
Smart! That's how I would have done it.
@@ObsessedGarage ya if you can find someone to split it with you its a no brainer.
Thanks for a great, informative video...
What is the deal on dirt? It just falls into the gaps and now and again vacumn it out?
What sort of expansion gap might people fit.. on a garage of that size?
Can the whole floor move when a vehicle drives on to it if the flooring doesn't butt up against the far whole?
Thanks
Mark
Yeah, I'd love this. Would use it to cover my epoxy floor that sure doesn't look good any more. However, I live in an Oil and Gas town and the roads are none too clean. I constantly get tons of sand, mud and gravel into my garage. I can't imagine how a flooring system like this could be kept clean. At least with my epoxy floor, I can pressure wash and sweep.
It would stay clean longer with all that dirt you have. Check out RAD Garage. He deals with harsh winters in Canada and cleans it out every so often.
“The chips remind me of my grandmother, I don’t like it” best comment ever to why you don’t like a floor 😂😂😂
More importantly why Don't you like your grandma
I thought the same...
“The chips reminded me of my grandmother and I didn’t want that!” Yeah... who wants to think of someone that loved you!?!? 😂
Another option for centering would be to move the whole thing sideways by half a tile, putting a tile centered instead of a seam. Make the border pattern 1 tile narrower, then have about 1.5 tiles each side instead of one and a tiny sliver. Would still use the same amount of tiles but the larger pieces might be easier to deal with instead of the tiny slivers.
Looks cool, but oil drips and just using a floor jack or even jackstands I feel would damage these, like if you use one jackstand on one corner of a truck, that's alot of weight. Also hosing down the floor to clean it up seems like it'll cause pooling or some retention, maybe mold issues in future
how does that two car garage cost 800? for my single car garage 12x20 its 1100 with out extra. that is with matts 6.80 price per tile. the designer says 160 tiles
Quick math on camera. $1600ish. Stopping sitting around watching RUclips videos looking for mistakes. That's a bad way to live.
@@ObsessedGarage not looking for mistakes. when you say a two car garage cost 800 i looked into the cost of doing my single car and it didn't make sense
@@griffinstambaugh5795 valid point. When I heard 800$ I was thinking about doing it for my garage. Turns out its much more than that.
@@ObsessedGarage yo who said he's looking for mistakes? The man was just genuinely curious at how cheap it was. Why do you always have to get so damn defensive. Holy shit dude lighten up.
He was not planning to do the ceiling so it's $1,600 / 2.
You know Slate Grey is the best color because Matt’s installed it in not only his own garage but also his dad’s and Charles’ garages.
Nice flooring but I just see too much debris falling in those cracks. It looks hard to clean.
Isn't that stuff hard to clean and gets lots of dirt trapped underneath it?
How do we get pricing for garage floor measuring 21' 8 " length by 18 ' 9". Saw your video and was impressed by your detailed instructions. Looking at pearl grey. Thank you
Hey Toby I measured my garage it I have 1106 sq.ft. Of floor. My garage door openings are - 1@ 18 ‘ and the other door opening is 16’. Joe much are we talking about.
If you put a layer of landscape draining fabric down before laying the tiles it minimizes the click-click of the tile as you walk across it.
Cutting the tile around the edges can be very challenging. You can use $150 BANDSAW and get some professional results. BANDSAW can cut straight and cut circles, so you can get pretty good results. I believe it will give you the best results at the cheapest cost.
Good helpful video. Just bump up to 1.25x as he talks a bit slow.
Are these tiles strong enough to hold a jack and jack stands without cracking?
They are rated to pretty high if I remember right like 50k lbs.
ruclips.net/video/ZL021FWLsE8/видео.html
You're a good son! Well done. :)
Id be the guy who just leaves the small space on each edge lol
Jeeper1378 the growth/shrinkage due to temperature on a 20’ section is not small. 60-80F temp swings due to seasons can cause havoc and bulges.
You'd be wise to leave a gap. Always always, always follow manufacturer specs on things like that. When the guy in the video said he just puts it in tight, I cringed. When it comes to building a lot of guys do things like that and back it up with, "Well, that's how I've been doing it for 20 years and it's fine!" All that means is they have likely been doing it wrong for 20 years. And they always have an excuse when their work is fucked after the first warm season. Or, they don't even know their work was bad because their customer is smart enough to not rehire him to "fix" it when he was the one who did it wrong to begin with.
Sorry for the rant. This is a pet peeve of mine. I am a carpenter and I read all manufacturer installation instructions each time I install something. I don't care if I have used this product a hundred times. At the very least, it keeps the warranty intact.
I'm thinking that a baseboard or quarter round raised up just enough to allow the tiles to slide under would be the best way to go. That way the floor can float as it expands/contracts.
Great video. Will be buying swisstrax from you in the future. Made mistake in past not buying from you and paid more. Will be doing a Ryan Homes 3 car garage 19' 7" x 35' 6".
Thanks
Very sharp look!
Do these last? Make any noise when walking or driving on them? Color holds up?
I have the 13 inch Swisstrax and I sympathize with the people in hot climates. I am in Canada and installed chocolate brown and cream (ivory maybe) tiles. I like to work in my garage with the door open. On 30 degree C. days (90F+) my tiles buckle badly. Do not install this stuff edge to edge if you like to work with your garage door open. This stuff needs room to expand. Do not put heavy stuff on it like woodworking equipment (table saws, planers etc.) or the floor won't be able to move. I like this stuff, looks great, but they need to sell you a flexible expansion piece to put down the middle of your garage. I feel sorry for the Arizona guy who commented. ( I visit AZ in the Canadian winter) about the heat. I love my floor but don't like it when it buckles.
If you do find a problem with buckling, isn't it easy to just recut the edge pieces?
@@vincentkruskal3884 The problem is that the weight of things (Table saw, Work bench, cupboards etc) will not let the floor move. I have at least an inch to an inch and a half from the wall all around the perimeter which is lots of room for expansion but the weight of everything won't allow the floor to move so it buckles up right where I need to stand behind my table saw.
I Race Decked my garage 12 years ago. I did a fancy multi bay design. Still looks like new. Essentially the same product but the tiles are a bit thinner and smaller in width.
Don’t take this the wrong way but the house side of your job looks goofy to my eye. You need to carry the perimeter gray all the way to the wall. If you ran out of tile, buy more! Just a word of caution to viewers, should you spill a quart of transmission fluid or engine oil it is a major pain in the butt to clean up. Essentially you gotta pull the floor to get it all and believe me it’s a mess! Ask me how I know.
another 10 minute video in only 32 minutes.
5 mins tops.
This dude talks way too much
Apparently the capacity of his SD card "dictates" the length of the video.
His dad started clicking them together while he was still giving the intro 🤣
how many videos have you done? None...yeah..thats what I thought.
How's the smell? Not the tiles' smell, but the smell of your garage after say a couple months of accumulating dirty underneath? I am seriously considering buying them for my garage, but that is the ONLY one concern I have. Would my garage reek in nasty smell and gases generated by all that trapped dirt??
Great tutorial. You made the process very convincing, thanks much!
After watching your videos, I am purchasing this for my garage. Thanks. I have moisture issues where I live and I know epoxy will come up.
Can you tell me what type of blade to use on a table saw or chop saw to cut these?
I have a workshop in my garage. How is Swisstrax for cleanup?
Flooring is started in the center of a room for various reasons....measure the room, the tiles, draw a large rectangle in the center of the room....so many rows across, so many down....then measure to the wall. what you want to avoid is a super narrow strip at one side & an almost full tile or even full tile at the other. move the large rectangle over to avoid this. very narrow tiles are weaker & don't look that nice....and if the space is not perfectly square, the center of the room will look great & furniture etc around the perimeter will camouflage slightly wider row etc as you progress down the room.
Agreed - equal on the perimeters...
How do you not have over 1,000,000 subs, I’ve watched like 5 hours of your videos tonight and loved every single one. Lots of great content on this channel.
Looks great, you are a good Son.
Thanks,
DC
Sorry if you’ve answered this a thousand times! After years how has the original floor held up?
Do we need to worry about the floor moving after it’s installed? Meaning when you put your car in gear, especially a high HP car.
How much weight will the floor withstand? I have a motorhome that weighs 50,000, could I park it on the floor?
For all the people griping about it trapping dirt, that's literally the point of it, you can easily unsnap the tiles and pull a few rows out at a time and sweep/vacuum it out a few times a year, it's not that difficult to do.
Pulling out tiles a few times a year? Are you kidding? That's more work. I'd like something with no maintenance, like and epoxy floor you can just wash down with a hose and sweep away. Thanks, but no thanks.
Seems like those tiles would hold dirt, dust, debris, etc. Think I'll stay with epoxy coating. Less expensive and less nooks and crannies for dirt collection.
Those tiles look like all the water, dust, crap goes underneath it, and might not flow out. After it will start to smell, I think it should be solid so nothing can get under neath it. Looks good.
That's the whole point. Dirt disappears, and you vacuum directly through the tiles a few times a year.
You do nice, neat work. The design looks great!
Good information. Thanks for taking time to make the video. I'm still researching what to do with my garage floor but swisstrack sounds like a good option for under a $1000 for a 20x20 garage.
What math are you doing son. Much more than that
Matt: 17:00
Grandma's: Are we a joke to you?
How is floor doing after a couple of years of use ? Consider adding some current vid to this orig vid.
Hi Matt, I’ve been watching your Swiss videos, great jobs by the way. I just wanted to ask why not just use a nice 12” aluminum ruler for your side cuts ? You won’t be fighting the tape end on the small measurements. Just throw a ruler in your box and it makes a great straight edge too . 👍🏻
Because I never thought of it...dang it. Thanks for the tip.
Cool! I'll think of this if I ever own a garage haha
Great video. Can you turn the tires while parking? Will that drag the tiles or break the links? Additionally, I tend to park the car in the same spot, will the accumulated heat on the tires end up damaging the tiles due to the recurring exposure? I also live in Central FL. Thank you for your time reading this.
Yes, you can turn. If you had something like an F250 and slam on the brakes while turning, it will pull up the floor. Otherwise you are fine to drive around on it. You will have not issues with tires marking tiles.
@@ObsessedGarage any issues from oil staining the tile? I do all my oil changes (engine oil and transmission) and always spill some drops during the process, will this be an issue?
Good video and garage floor looks fantastic. Which tripod do you have, it looks pretty sturdy?
any reasoning for not epoxy coating/sealing the bare floor ? i would figure it would make cleanup easier later on
Cost, and you basically ruin the concrete when you put it on there. It doesn't come back off without significant expense. Plus 95% of people don't dump stuff on the floor. I may get a drop of oil on there once a year.
Looks nice, but I hate it when I drop a screw or something small in a swisstrax section.
Love it a different have to for me in our new house when it gets done being built.👍
Wife already approved lol got a few months left til build is complete
It looks pretty nice. I'm curious though, when these things get a whole bunch of junk in them or underneath them, how easy are they to clean? Can you just vacuum over them? One of things I appreciate about having a smooth concrete garage floor is how easy it is to just pull the cars out and sweep or blow it out clean.
It's just as easy, but you don't have to clean it as often.
Obsessed, I live in Tucson, AZ, with northern exposure on garage door so sun is not a problem BUT, the temp gets pretty high in the garage sometime up to 110degrees F. Will this extremely hot dry air cause excessive expansion and buckling?
I find it's the direct sunlight that would cause significant enough expansion to cause it to bow.
@@ObsessedGarage I'm in OH and it's not until like 3-5pm where my west facing garage sees sun. I do work out there when the sun is out so it sounds like it would make sense to just leave 1/4-1/2" gap? The wall and floor have a concrete block edge that I painted with dark gray exterior floor paint thus it looks great and is fine holding up. I could just paint the edge of the floor in 5 minutes so it matches and that gap would blend away visually. Besides, only one side of my garage has that wall edge showing.
If you get an oil leak, how do you clean it up?
really pretty floor, i know lots of car guys with hundred thousand cars and nostalgia funny cars and street rods etc that may have floors like this, im just an old man that worked all my life on cars and love the versatility of the concrete garage floor, if it get too dirty a specialty oil dry will actually suck up spills, dirt blows out with my leaf blower, my jack rolls easy, my big wheeled compressor rolls easy, if my cat pisses on the floor i spray on it and wash it off, i love the looks of many of these projects but i use my garage for lots of things and it for sure doesn't need to be a show piece, if i like people i would invite them in my home, not my garage. but thanks for making the video, it shows me what the better paid in our society spends their time and money on.
How do you clean all the dirt and sand or whatever gets under it?
Thinking about doing this when my new build finishes and going full OG with my wash setup inside the garage. But I was wondering if this is ok on bare concrete. I was under the impression you shouldn’t wash in your garage on bare concrete and this just drains right to it?
Nice project. Has the price doubled since this video? I am seeing $6.80 per tile right now.
It's $3.95 per sq. ft. Each tile is 1.7227 sq. ft. or $6.80 per tile.
My OCD tells me, the pattern of the black feature strip doesn’t match up, to the existing grey patterns 11:00 front view, bit late to the game though😊
Can Post to follow up to show how the floor looks after one month of use?
Well, I like it. Gonna see if there are color options available...
Yes, there are lots of colors available. www.obsessedgarage.com/collections/garage-flooring/products/swisstrax-ribtrax?variant=43183918211
How do these feel to the touch? I have an animal rescue and was looking at doing a new garage floor.
Looks cool! Any bugs problem especially small ones laying eggs underneath?
I haven't had any issues.