Thinking About the Floor

I bought Gray, not Tan

The plan had been to give the concrete a slick, glossy epoxy treatment, like a kick ass garage where everyone wants to park their Ferrari. I bought a kit from Rustoleum for that purpose. It's $140 and requires pressure-washing, patching, acid etching, then careful application for good results.

I returned it tonight when I realized that a simple concrete paint product would give me the kind of consistent, finished look I want. The walls aren't painted; the drywall is patchwork. It's not a Ferrari showroom.

I should still wash, patch, and acid etch the floor, but Drylok makes a paint for $38 a gallon that looks good.

Drylok "Dover Gray" covers 500 SF/gallon

But then, I saw a YouTube video where they finished a basement with a 1/4" interlocking vinyl tile product called LifeProof. It requires no underlayment, it looks like Pergo, and has built in cushioning. It would cost about $600 to do the workshop.

That's the thing: It's a Workshop, not a Garage. It will never have a car on it. Before recent developments, the space always seemed to anticipate being converted back to a garage someday. Now it has a different vibe and the floor could be part of that.

"Starry Light" a 16" x 32" LifeProof tile

The product has a ceramic bead overlay on a "virgin vinyl" and Isocore core, bonded to a black rubber-ish "sound-mitigating underlayment with Ultra-Fresh treatment." They make matching thresholds and quarter-round "shoe" moldings. 8 cases = $595.36. (6) 7'10" quarter rounds would be another $60.

Lowes has an interesting industrial-looking product called Smartcore "Siena Stone." 12 cases would be $618.24.

Armstrong makes a "luxury vinyl tile" (LVT) product called "Alterna"--the color "Hint of Gray" is available in 8 x 16 and 12 x 24. Great Floors sells it, but doesn't have prices online.

Home Depot has a 12mm laminate flooring Helvetic Floors product. Looks like $2.29/SF. I need 189 SF, including 10% waste, so... $432.81. Actually, it's 14 cases, so...$459.34. It's 5mm, not 12mm, so I don't know why they say that. 5mm = 0.197" (about 3/16").

Home Depot sells Marmoleum Eternity 9.8mm thick 12 x 36 laminate flooring. I would need 10 cases, so...$974.30. Yikes. But it looks good, doesn't it?

Marmoleum Eternity

Pergo seems focused on wood, but they make "Glazed Oak" that's fairly gray. I would need 12 cases, so...$566.76.

We could spend <$100 on acid etch and concrete paint, or we could spend $460-$975 on a floating plastic floor. It's a tough call for me--on the one hand, everything is just rough and unfinished in the workshop, so a painted concrete floor is probably fine. But on the other hand, the floor could make an awesome first impression for a buyer.