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Gladiator Flooring/RaceDeck on uneven concrete?

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bimmerZ5

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Last week I placed an order for 14 boxes of the gladiator garageworks flooring, which I understanding is basically RaceDeck with a different design and UL rated. The price was so good, I couldn't resist and just went ahead and ordered it.

It hasn't arrived yet, but since ordering it, I've been taking a closer look at my 2.5 car garage floor and I notice the concrete is a little bit uneven in some areas. The way the homes in my area were built (during the housing boom of the late 1980's), I'm not too surprised. But, now I'm wondering if I need to do something about it before I lay down the floor tiles? It's not that bad... obviously I never noticed it until now that I'm preparing for the installation.

anyone else install GarageWorks or RaceDeck on slightly uneven garage floors and have any feedback?
 
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danieldolin

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some people complaint about the "noise" from walking across the floor on these type of tiles. I installed my Racedeck floor this spring and love it. It does make noise when you walk on it and it is basically the sound of the plastic tile under your foot hitting the ground under the pressure of your step. The tiles all snap together very nice and tight to form a pretty solid and strait structure, so if your floor is not perfectly level and even, there will be areas where there is more room for the tile under foot to travel down under the pressure of your step hitting the garage floor below thus creating the "noise" when you walk. It does not bother me, sounds a lot like walking in dress shoes on a hard surface. I do not think it will be a problem installing on an uneven surface as you speak of... like you indicated, you did not notice it until now so how bad could it really be. Just might be a little more noise in some areas vs. others when you walk across your floor.
 
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darkk

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We just put a layer of thin landscaping material under ours during installation. It makes little to no noise at all. In fact I don't even notice it...
 
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bimmerZ5

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danieldolin said:
some people complaint about the "noise" from walking across the floor on these type of tiles. I installed my Racedeck floor this spring and love it. It does make noise when you walk on it and it is basically the sound of the plastic tile under your foot hitting the ground under the pressure of your step. The tiles all snap together very nice and tight to form a pretty solid and strait structure, so if your floor is not perfectly level and even, there will be areas where there is more room for the tile under foot to travel down under the pressure of your step hitting the garage floor below thus creating the "noise" when you walk. It does not bother me, sounds a lot like walking in dress shoes on a hard surface. I do not think it will be a problem installing on an uneven surface as you speak of... like you indicated, you did not notice it until now so how bad could it really be. Just might be a little more noise in some areas vs. others when you walk across your floor.
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thanks for sharing your experience. yeah, the imperfections of my floor isn't that bad.

darkk said:
We just put a layer of thin landscaping material under ours during installation. It makes little to no noise at all. In fact I don't even notice it...
Click to expand...

can you point me to the exact product?
 
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Cryptic1911

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^ yeah it was pretty much that stuff. It's just a thin black mesh that you roll out. It does dampen the sound some, it takes the sharp clack clack sound off, but you will still hear sound when you walk. It's not real bad.. I thought I was going to have a problem with it, but after a few days of walking on it, I don't even notice it now
 
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MileHigh

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If the floor has a lot of dips and uneven areas you may want to think about using some leveler. I have a brand new house and currently having a hell of time with my porcelain tile due to the unevenness.

I'd also recommend the landscape material as well for sound.

How much did you get the tiles for?
 
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bimmerZ5

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MileHigh said:
If the floor has a lot of dips and uneven areas you may want to think about using some leveler. I have a brand new house and currently having a hell of time with my porcelain tile due to the unevenness.

I'd also recommend the landscape material as well for sound.

How much did you get the tiles for?
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i may try to lay out some of the tile in the 0.5 garage stall and walk on it before I decide if I want to put something under it or not. thanks for the info though...

as for price, it came out to about $2.30-ish / sq-ft for the Gladiator garageworks version.
 
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bimmerZ5

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also, general question about these tiles, how much spacing do I leave around the perimeter? And how do you make it look "finished" or do you just let there be a gap?
 
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winnipegk5

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Winnipeg,MB - Canada
I left about a half inch gap on the sides and back of the garage.

I just painted first two inches of the concrete floor out from the wall with a dark color so you don't even really see that there is a gap there. Can send you a picture if needed.
 
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Cryptic1911

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yeah you could either paint around the edge, or just roll the black landscaping fabric out to the edge, which is what we did. We have a black border on ours, so it blends right in
 
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RaceDeck1

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Salt Lake City , Utah
For your installation, you can call us anytime to help walk you through it. Typically customers leave about a 1/4" to 1/2" gap along the wall and then install cove base above the floor. ( we also have cove base with a 1" lip that works great - Note that at 1/4" gap you really do not even notice once you have completed the installation) .

You can also look on our website for installation tip at http://www.racedeck.com/install.html
 
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sollauer

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Nov 19, 2011
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bimmerZ5 said:
also, general question about these tiles, how much spacing do I leave around the perimeter? And how do you make it look "finished" or do you just let there be a gap?
Click to expand...

I have race deck- the second garage I have used it in. Love it- and it's a great idea on a cloth underlay for sound and feel- Also- my garage doors face mid day sun- when the tiles get hot, they buckle up a bit because I didnt leave enough space at the door jamb area- my recommendation is to be sure when you put the edge pieces in (the ramped type trim at the door), be sure you leave spaces at the sides where it fits around the door jambs or garage door rails. The expansion and contraction rate is more than some may expect. Overall- awesome product though.
 
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