Tile on garage walls

[dgryger]

My next project is my garage and the other night I though it might look really sharp if I tiled the lower 3-4' feet of my garage walls.

Overall scope of the project is epoxy floor paint, adding a subpanel for future equipment, and adding lighting (T8 fixtures), increased utility- it is a two car/one car and storage sized garage, painting walls and ceiling. Walls are CMU. Just throwing this out there to gauge ideas/opinions, see if anyone has any pics. I like the idea, but considering cost I may or may not go with it. I may consider just doing a tile base cove to hide the cracks at the wall/floor interface.

[Shpedly]

Dave, How about some Diamond plate instead of tile? http://diamondlifegear.com/maxtile.html

[Ken]

Dave,

Where is it that you live?

If you live in a cold area that freezes during the winter, is your garage heated?

[dgryger]

Ken

Unheated garage and yes I do live in an area that freezes. I hadn't thought about that. I guess I would need to account for that if I did tile.

[Ken]

Dave,

No worries about freeze/thaw being part of the picture.. you just need to make sure you use appropriate thin set.

You'll be able to use something like Mapei's Kerabond/Keralastic System or LATICRETE's 254 Platinum thin sets for setting the material without any worries so long as you follow the manufactures specific directions when using their products.

It's also very important to make sure you use appropriate expansion joints on this installation as well.

[gildan]

Hi Ken,

When you mention expansion joints, are you refering to leaving a space between the concrete floor and the first row of wall tiles? I live in a cold weather climate, but wasn't sure if I could simply place the first row of wall tiles against the garage floor.
Thanks for your help!
Dave

[pwgsx]

I would leave a 1/4 inch space between the floor and first row of tile and caulk it with color matched SILICONE CAULK. Also leave a space in all corners for the caulk as well. If it is a long run, have a strait line go from the top to bottom of the tile and caulk this area instead of grout. All these areas are places for it to expand/ contract so your tiles wont crack.