I Might Have Been Wrong On RaceDeck

I’ve been a long time, believer in RaceDeck flooring for garages. I’ve always said that it can be used in working garages and not just the show type. Until last year I had only used FreeFlow and never had any issues. Last year I built a second garage that has mostly solid RaceDeck with FreeFlow XLC on the perimeter. I have a lift and do plenty of auto work. Back in January I had to get an older Ranger in there and unfortunately it was covered in snow and ice. Once it all melted I had dirty slush and salt all over the floor. I cleaned the lift and I mopped up the floor the next day. It was a pain to clean and has never looked quite right since. Over the past few months its been swept and vacuumed consistently and mopped every week or so. It just continues to look less clean and I’m getting more grease and oil deposit's that don’t clean up very well. Some of the stuff I’ve used has been ammonia, Mr. Clean, Simple Green and Goof-Off. To say I’m very disappointed is an understatement. I’ve gone back and looked in threads about things that people have used, but nothing seems to work for me.

James

I have pvc tiles and they are not really for working garages, either. 7 years later, I have tire stains, pain stains, grease stains, and the floor has buckled from expansion over time. I will hand clean the tiles and relay the floor this year. I have cabinets on it in addition to the lift and my baseboards were tight to the floor, which prevented float. I will probably wall mount the cabinets to allow expansion room. Have already pulled the baseboards and can easily install them a little higher. The cleaning is another matter, but tire staining of pvc was known so I accept that. I have not yet come up with any great cleaning solution and have tried the same stuff as above. Maybe a greater concentration of simple green or purple power or whatever. I have noticed that mopping is not nearly as effective as scrubbing by hand with a cloth and brush. I would say that level of work effort is not necessary all the time. Maybe once a year for the whole floor and otherwise just for the spill area.

Takes some work to maintain the fancy looking floor if you use your garage for serious and messy car work. Have not tried any protective coatings. I don’t know that anything else would be much better. People have had problems with every sort of covering. Maybe there is a reason why BMW dealers use brick size ceramic tiles as the flooring in their shops. Not an option for my wood frame and wood floor 1880s carriage house.

I don't expect a brand new look but I thought the grease would clean up a lot easier. Mopping it is almost pointless. I used a stiff bristle broom/brush with ammonia cleanser first. Then I rinsed it with a hose and tried some goof off. Looks ok but not how I would like it. Wondering if I should have went with epoxy. Luckily I can wheel my lift out pretty easily.

James

This might seem off of the wall, but have you tried Dawn Dish Soap? I've used it in warm water to grease off/out of all kinds of surfaces and clothes. It'd be interesting to see if it worked on RaceDeck.

To my eyes your floor does not look bad.

I had a Modultile brand plastic floor and it absolutely sucked after the first week. Racedeck is probably lots better, but I'll never do plastic again.

That said, Zep brand citrus cleaner from Home depot cleaned it better than anything else.

stanleyoutdoors said:

I had a Modultile brand plastic floor and it absolutely sucked after the first week. Racedeck is probably lots better, but I'll never do plastic again.

That said, Zep brand citrus cleaner from Home depot cleaned it better than anything else.

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I'll try that Zep stuff this week.

James

Can't expect any floor to stay looking new. A well-used floor is just a sign that you do work in your garage.

I’ve found SuperClean — the purple stuff — to be one of the best water-based degreasers. i use it all the time, including a spray bottle under the kitchen counter, where I like it better than Dawn liquid detergent.

There’s also Northwoods Trapper degreaser, d-limonene based with one of the hughest contents of thst citrus-based solvent I’ve found. I use that one to remove silicones — it’s very good.