Re: Pour a Floor?

Tom Yang (TYang(at)compuserve.com)
Mon, 2 Mar 1998 22:36:52 -0500


<Now that my floors are looking to be underway, I'm considering how to cover them. The traditional underlay-and-carpet route has me unexcited, because I either hate a dirty carpet and work fastidiously to keep it clean, or I don't give a damn about it and ignore it. I don't want to do either. I want, as much as possible, for my car to be wash-and-wear, and this suggests a coated floor: I would rather sweep-and-wipe than go to the effort required to maintain an outdoor carpet. I posted earlier about the original rubber mats, which could be made, but offer little more than a moisture trap to eat away at my new floor pans.

Then I thought: "How about that truck box-liner stuff?" It could be sprayed at least 1/4" thick, and is designed for heavy-scuffing outdoor surfaces. I'd spray everything that's usually carpeted, and then use removable plugs for all the drain holes (which were plugged on my car). I would have, in effect, a large plastic dish, 1-2" deep, for the floor. Much easier to drain and dry, presumably just as sound absorbent with removable mats, and decent-looking. After a decent metal preparation, it should seal and stick to the floor as well as any underlay I could put down.>

The only thing that I have to warn about in a coated floor is you won't believe how much dirt you track into a car without carpeting. I have another car that has no interior that I drive on the street, and take to = an occasional track event. It's floors are painted gloss black, and dirt see= ms to accumulate very quickly from the soles of my shoes. I began to realize=

that carpeting absorbs this dirt, and hides it deep in the pile. Admitted= ly this dirt has to be vacuumed out, but having a coated floor will only sho= w off this dirt, until it's cleaned up.

My $.02 worth.

Tom