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Race Deck Flooring


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Well, I've had a stall in my shop for about 6 months now lined with race deck flooring. Long story short, I would not recommend it for an automotive shop. It is awesome for a home garage, museum/car show setting, or something like that, but not for full blown automotive work.

 

Now for the details of why. First, it expands and contracts WAY too much. Anytime you run a fuel induction service, it will cause the flooring to raise up to 6" above the floor. I heard rumors from the tool guy that a shop with a service drive had issues with it raising up when the sun would shine on it just right.

 

I had an old LS400 with an ignition coil go bad and caused it to run so rich, the cats were glowing red. The flooring raised up enough to cause it to melt... Which brings me to my second point. It's plastic. This may seem obvious, but if your doing any sort of grinding on the floor, it will burn it. If you grind off a bolt, and it falls on the floor, it will melt it.

 

Third, and this may just be me being lazy, but it's not that easy to clean. AVOID yellow like the plague. Darker colors are your friend. I think white may even be easier to keep clean than yellow.

 

PROS:

As the promised, I had no issues with any chemical reactions. I intentionally left a puddle of brake cleaner on it over night to see if it cause any damage. It didn't. Neither did any other chemical or fluid. It is tough and can take a beating. Dropped many hammers on it from various heights, had engine and trans assemblies sitting on jackstands and it did no damage. Protects some things from being damaged when they fall, better than bare concrete or hard tile. It provides fair grip with covered in oil or brake fluid. Looks great to a customer when they peak out in your shop and see some fancy flooring with a pattern or design on it.

 

Conclusion:

Again, it would be great for a personal garage or showroom. But to be pulling transmissions and doing brake jobs, etc, everyday... I think I would spend the money and go with actual tile, or save my money all together and just do your normal epoxy.

 

Anyway, just my thoughts. I do have some pics if anyone is interested. Or I'll be more than happy to answer questions.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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