Best option to cover cement floor in brew area

[DuncB]

Surgeon and older kids.
Just an injection of dry wit.
Or is that a pun?

 

[fragged]

I did epoxy flooring for a living for a while.

If you have bare concrete, 100% solids 2 part epoxy is impossible to beat. $150 USD or so per gallon, about 125 sqft per gallon. Anything cheaper and you should just use something else. Other epoxies may work, but are mich more finicky, some downright questionable.. Definitely don't use a 1 part, it's just paint at that point.

If you can't get it locally, you should again use something else. It's extremely dense. No chance shipping would make sense.

If I couldn't do epoxy, then I think I would go old school - VCT tiles and wax.

Idea behind epoxy or tiles for me is the same - I want to be able to squeegee it to clean up.

 

[Saunassa]

Thanks for all the ideas! Apparently I'm a bit messier than most of you because I always spill something during the brewing or transfer or cleaning process. I've spill boiling wort, cleaning solution, hops/yeast that came out of the fermenter...lots of mishaps.

I'm not looking for a thousand dollar renovation to the floor but epoxy may be an option down the road. In the meantime, I'm thinking about going with something like this: Amazon.com
Maybe even something with sides on top of the placemat to catch a bit more spills from the Spike 20 gallon system.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001N4700
What I'd really like is a large 6' x 6' rubber pad that's pitched towards the center with a lip around the edges. That way, any mess gets directed towards the center and I can sweep it up and/or drag the rubber mat outside when I need to hose it down.

I have to say, the XXL one would work perfect below my propane burner.

 

[JAReeves]

Having been a Line Cook and Chef, let me say that the bare concrete in my garage is great for a 6 hour brewday, 1/week. Any more than that and my knees aren't too happy with me. As for clean-up; if I spill H2O, it's a towel, and if it's wort, then it's StarSan and a towel. I use the same shop towels that we use for car restoration, so there's that.

As much as I love the rubber mats over tile/epoxy we used in kitchens, please realize that they get chemically cleaned and hosed down at the end of every shift/day/night (depending on the quality of the restaurant), and so dragging them into the driveway for cleanup would be part of your brewery day. As for the tile/epoxy underneath, it's mostly an aesthetics call. If SWMBO (or the equivalent) doesn't mind the cost of coating your concrete floor, then go for it. If it's the garage and no one cares, then...no one cares, save the $$$ or time or hassle (or all of the above).

Maybe this is a special situation, but my 1/4 of the garage for brewing is shared with the laundry/pantry/extra refridge (it's a 7 human house), and keezer. The other half is the classic car restoration area. If guests don't like hanging out between my brewing setup and the washing machine, then they don't get no beer/cider/wine/mead.

 

[Bobby_M]

How do people manage to turn brewing into an activity which creates as much stray moisture as a Super Soaker shootout? Do you epoxy coat your kitchen floors, as well? Brewing is a form of cooking and, in my experience at least, doesn’t have to be any messier than preparing dinner. Am I an outlier? In 10 years, and approximately 160 batches, I can’t recall having a spill which couldn’t be wiped up with an old towel.

If brewing is like cooking, it's like cooking in a large restaurant that makes house made soups every day. Once you add multiple vessels and a couple pumps, now you have plumbing that dumps liquids during disconnects. Yeast dumping and general cleaning of conicals can make a big mess too. The closer your process mimics pro brewery stuff, the more a floor drain is almost a necessity.

 

[grampamark]

If brewing is like cooking, it's like cooking in a large restaurant that makes house made soups every day. Once you add multiple vessels and a couple pumps, now you have plumbing that dumps liquids during disconnects. Yeast dumping and general cleaning of conicals can make a big mess too. The closer your process mimics pro brewery stuff, the more a floor drain is almost a necessity.

This hobby is many things to many different people. If the important part of the hobby is “mimicking pro brewery stuff” then I suppose a floor drain is a necessity. If the hobby is about making good beer with a ghetto quality system, then it’s unlikely that cleaning up massive amounts of spillage is going to be a high priority. Different strokes, and all like that.

 

[matt_m]

If I couldn't do epoxy, then I think I would go old school - VCT tiles and wax.

I never thought about that option. There's a multitude of colors, tile patterns, and layout patterns there too if look is important.

 

[Knightshade]

My whole garage is covered with this stuff, but perhaps is a little more multipurpose than most? But it also gets vacuumed, so maybe I'm just odder than most.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Traffic...n-Carpet-Tile-10-Tiles-Case-NCVT002/204594243
Have a giant PVC mat on one side, which is where the car goes. Other side is motorcycle parking / workout mats / food freezer / laundry sink. Brew area is a small section in front of the car to the front of the garage. When any specific square starts to look a little gnarly, pop in a replacement, done. I definitely don't spill a whole bunch while brewing though, so if you do, this probably wouldn't work.

 

[balrog]

How do you deal with rain/snow schmutz on carpet tiles in the garage?

 

[Kharnynb]

I'm going with sheet vinyl myself, bit of insulating rolled foam under it, cheap, quite comfy and easy to clean.

 

[MaxStout]

Rubber horse stall mats. They're heavy and stay in place, good traction when wet, and you can hose them down afterwards.

 

[bracconiere]

Why not use shag carpet? Soaks up spills and with patterns like this, you'll never notice any stains! Win, win.

View attachment 730101

i usually brew barefoot though, i think the spills would make it uncomfortable?

You do need to rake it periodically to keep it looking nice though.

yep, but maybe after a good raking a vacuum cleaner would clean it up?

 

[day_trippr]

How do you deal with rain/snow schmutz on carpet tiles in the garage?

[...]Have a giant PVC mat on one side, which is where the car goes.[...]

I would need a third - or even fourth garage bay to pull it off. We have so much crap in our two car garage that isn't "car" it's ridiculous

Cheers!

 

[redarmy990]

I went the professional epoxy route- Works great, non slip and easy to clean up after brew day. My only regret was not having them do the coved epoxy base.

 

[Knightshade]

How do you deal with rain/snow schmutz on carpet tiles in the garage?

Don't get much rain really..definitely no snow.

 

[DuncB]

Or ask them to run it up the wall 20 cm.

 

[Saunassa]

I would need a third - or even fourth garage bay to pull it off. We have so much crap in our two car garage that isn't "car" it's ridiculous

Cheers!

Same here with no garage space. Time to haul it all away when she is at work.

 

[Saunassa]

I went the professional epoxy route- Works great, non slip and easy to clean up after brew day. My only regret was not having them do the coved epoxy base.View attachment 733459

Good move going pro route, previous homeowner went diy in this house on 30 year old concrete. Don't think he adequately prepped before applying.

 

[alan sabatke]

I did epoxy flooring for a living for a while.

If you have bare concrete, 100% solids 2 part epoxy is impossible to beat. $150 USD or so per gallon, about 125 sqft per gallon. Anything cheaper and you should just use something else. Other epoxies may work, but are mich more finicky, some downright questionable.. Definitely don't use a 1 part, it's just paint at that point.

If you can't get it locally, you should again use something else. It's extremely dense. No chance shipping would make sense.

If I couldn't do epoxy, then I think I would go old school - VCT tiles and wax.

Idea behind epoxy or tiles for me is the same - I want to be able to squeegee it to clean up.

Thanks for the info!! Im in the middle of remodeling the basement with a good sized brewing room in it and hopefully done soon? Already have done several batches and with the hose, tri clamp fittings etc, always a mess on the floor. 1 part epoxy for sure! No floor drain but am removing the concrete floor along the exterior wall and installing an infloor trench drain, 8' worth and running it into the drain tile so any mess easily squeegeed up. Walls done with 42" high metal roofing and water rock above. Should be able to spray water freely with out damage. Great info, thanks again!!

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I would need a third - or even fourth garage bay to pull it off. We have so much crap in our two car garage that isn't "car" it's ridiculous

Cheers!

sounds like its time for a garage sale
get some cash and get rid of the junk

 

[day_trippr]

Well...that's the problem, hardly any of it doesn't have a reason for existing.

Most of it is yard equipment, some of it is boating: there's literally a pair of canoes hanging between the cars with the riding mower, dump cart, snow blower, lawn aerator, and two fold-up step ladders, all lined up underneath. Then there's the weed wackers, a rototiller and a power washer, a stack of saw horses, a two wheeler and a stair-climbing appliance lift, a trolling motor for the canoes, running down one outboard aisle under a couple of full length wall-hung shelves holding a few chainsaws of various sizes and fluids for all the equipment; and a couple of different canvas roof systems for the boat (Bimini and mooring types), stood up at the end of my bay while there's a 330 gallon heating oil tank behind her side; then her outboard aisle has the two rolling rubbish bins, a pair of 30 gallon trash cans, a wheel barrow and a shop vac.

Clearly, choices were made, so it's all self-inflicted. I've been holding out for a barn

Cheers!

 

[CharlaineC]

i'm currently researching what to do in my 10x10 brewhouse. I'm been thinking of epoxy but the tiles might be can potion