Porcelain tile in garage
Hi y'all,
I'm considering DIY'ing my garage floor to be tile.
Couple of questions:
1) I'm looking at porcelain tile exclusively, since I assume I'm going to want the extra strength. Do you think I can get away with a ceramic tile?
2) What specs should I consider mandatory?
A) Minimum thickness? 5/16" ok?
B) PEI of 4 OK?
C) Water absorption -- 0.5% max allowable? (I'm assuming this will help if I spill oil etc on it)
D) COF?
E) Max size? 12x12, 12x24 or 20x20 too big?
F) Anything else?
3) I'm laying this out on a typical garage slab. The house was built in '78, and there are a couple of thin cracks in the slab -- do I need to use a CIM, or can I get away with just thinset on concrete?
4) Is this a bad idea? :)
I'm looking at budget friendly tile, and I'm seeing this at the local big box:
I don't love the color, but it seems like a reasonable price and specs. Thoughts?
That looks excellent. Good job! Its also good to hear that it's 9 years old -- that builds confidence in the idea as being doable (if done properly).
I've been taking a look at my concrete floor, and I am seeing a couple of cracks in it. They don't look super bad, but I'm guessing I'll need to use some sort of crack isolation. I'm tempted to try out Redgard or CIM just in the crack areas.