By Steve Janes
For the past 10 years I’ve used a G-Floor Parking Pad for my own personal vehicles. However, for my company truck, a Dodge Cummins, it was kept in the shop and parked on concrete.
Every winter the big all-terrain tires of the Dodge would pull in road debris and always leave a puddle of water and grime in my shop … which tended to spread and leave a mess as more snow fell off the undercarriage of the vehicle.
However, as the same dirty slush fell from my own personal vehicles, the water was mostly confined to the floor mat … making it easy to clean up the mess by merely sweeping it out the door.
So enough was enough. It was time to get a G-Floor mat for my diesel pickup and contain all the mess that those big tires were bringing in.
Better Life Technology markets the G-Floor garage mats, which come in multiple designs, shapes and colors. My mat of preference is the Ribbed Pattern in slate gray. The reason I go to the ribbed design is because the channels in the design contain the moisture that is tracked in and is easily swept out the door without dispersing throughout the floor of my shop. The some holds true with the dirt that comes in during the summer.
However, you can also consider the G-Floor Small Coin, Coin, Diamond and Levant Smooth patterns, depending on your needs and the look you want to achieve. All come in a variety of lengths and most come in three colors—Sandstone, Slate Gray and Midnight Black.
These mats come with a lifetime warranty for a reason—they last forever and hold their shape well.
The mats that have been in my garage were 7.5-feet wide … which was just borderline too narrow. They were wide enough to contain my personal vehicles … but when the undercarriage of my vehicles were loaded with snow and ice, every once in a will the dirty slush would spill over the area of the mats and water would creep under the edges.
So wider is better. That’s why I opted for the 8.5-by-22-foot mat for the diesel truck.
Installation
1) Start with a clean floor. We also decided it would be a good time to repaint our floor so we could start with a fresh clean look. But the mat doesn’t care if it’s on a painted floor … just a clean one.
2) Take the mat out of its packaging and place it at the entrance (or on the side where you either want it to begin or end at an exact spot). For us, we wanted the mat to begin right where the garage door makes contact with the floor.
3) Unroll the mat. We made certain it was straight by measuring an outer wall at the beginning and throughout the process. It rolls out surprisingly straight so it was very easy to maintain our distance from the wall.
4) With a wide push broom, sweep out any air pockets that may have formed while laying out the mat. Start in the middle and sweep out toward the edges. It doesn’t take much to get air pockets out.
5) Allow a day or two for the curled edges to relax. This process will go faster in warmer conditions.
Other options: If you have any trimming or seaming, allow the product to relax before cutting the edges. If you choose to seam together two floor mats, it is recommended to use a pressure sensitive vinyl adhesive (G-Floor Sheet Adhesive PSA).
Price: $307 (for 8.5-foot-by-22-feet 110 Mil Ribbed). Website: www.garageflooringllc.com.
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