The pursuit for garage flooring started back in mid-2014. I really wanted polished concrete floors in my garage. The issue with that option is that it doesn’t remove stains completely and is susceptible to more stains in the future. I decided to do a metal look epoxy system topped with urethane and an anti-skid. I hated them. They turned brown, were slippery, scratched easily, and generally looked like crap. I’ve yet to see an epoxy floor that is acceptable to me. But remember, I’m obsessed. After that really expensive disaster, I set out to find a suitable cover-up.

I wanted to do Porcelain tile, but there is no way thin-set is going to stick to urethane. To remove it requires diamond grinding, tons of cash, and a giant mess. A really high-quality porcelain tile is harder than concrete but wasn’t an option for me.

I played volleyball in college on many plastic floors. I hate plastic floors. They click and clack and feel cheap. I didn’t want anything to do with that. I thought about getting rubber mats like my gym and eventually stumbled on a video of Tanner Faust’s garage and these recycled rubber tiles called Swisstrax Rubbertrax. I thought that could solve the plastic feel, so I got on the phone on Black Friday in 2014 to Swisstrax.

This super nice girl named Sarah picked up the phone and started schooling me on why rubber doesn’t work on rubber tires. I was distraught that my only solution to fix this mess wasn’t going to work. She proceeded to explain why I needed regular plastic Ribtrax.

After the phone call, I knew that this was the flooring solution I was looking for.