garagefloorupgrade.pdf

Several years ago on our show room by room, Shari and I did a makeover on a garage.  One of the projects that we did was to install a new modular floor using a product from Mateflex Modular Flooring.  It was a big hit, not only with the homeowner, but from the viewing audience.  Over the years we have heard many wonderful comments regarding that floor and as of this writing, the floor is still going strong.

Well, fast forward to our new program “around the house with Matt and Shari” and trying to find locations for our shop segments.  We decided to use my garage, and why not, I have the tools, the work benches and the room, so it was a no brainer, plus it just seemed more natural to tape my segments in a “real” garage and not a set.  The only problem was, my ugly, and I mean ugly garage floor.  It was dirty and greasy, despite my scrubbing and cleaning efforts.  So for us to be able to use the floor and feel comfortable with the camera picking up the floor in our shots, we decided to give it the Mateflex redo.

The first thing prior to installing the new floor tile was to seal the floor with garage floor concrete stain.  This would keep any dirt or salt that would drop through the tile to the floor from damaging the concrete any further.  In order to do that the first step was to make sure the floor surface was clean.

1) Clean the floor with a garage floor cleaner and allow to dry thoroughly.

2) Paint the floor with a garage floor concrete stain (Dutch Boy Concrete Stain).

Use a roller to roll out the stain.  Use a brush to cut in around the border of the garage.

3) In my case, I had to do one side of the floor at a time (raining summer day), so I placed all my stuff on one side of the garage and did several coats on one side, allowed to dry and then repeated the process. 

4) I masked off the floor in half to create a smooth transition line.  With this photo you can see the difference of the stained floor to the unstained floor.

The floor looked great after the stain dried; this is a great option if you don’t want to tile your floor.  The stain makes it easier to keep the floor clean and can be touched up easily.

Tiling the Floor

Materials Needed:

• Mateflex Modular Flooring/Mateflex II
• Utility Knife
• Tape Measure
• Table Saw
• Rubber mallet

Once the garage floor stain had cured (about 24 hours) it was time to start laying the Mateflex II flooring.  We decided to go with a simple layout with a border in the center of the floor about 6 feet from the walls.  The border is 2 tiles in width.  Each tile is 2ft x 2ft square.

The colors we choose for our floor are Terra Cotta Red for the border and Desert Sand for the main field.

1) Starting in one corner, start laying out the tile.

2) The tile snaps together easily by just taping with your fist or the palm of your hand (or a rubber mallet).

3) When you come to an area that the tile needs to be cut to size, just cut to size using a utility knife. 

4) When I reached the far side of the garage, the tile needed to be cut to size and the tabs that snap the tile together needed to be removed. 

5) I cut the tile to size, and then removed the tabs by running it through my table saw.

Safety Note:
I removed the safety fence for this photo, please keep fence in place the tabs will fly towards you.  And always, always wear safety glasses.

6) Some tricky spots (around a built in shelving unit) need to be addressed.  I just cut out the section from the tile using my utility knife and installed.

7) Adding the addition color border was as easy as picking up a tile and installing.  As you work, just lift up the edges of the tile and install. 

8) Continue laying out the tile until you have completed the floor.

This was a project that took a little effort, but in no time at all (about 6 hours) my garage was transformed from an ugly ol’ garage floor to one that my neighbors can’t stop admiring.  Let us know what you think when you see me in my new shop on “around the house with Matt and Shari”.

For more information about Mateflex Modular Flooring please visit their website at Mateflex.com.

Matt

 
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