There are a lot of myths out there about garage floor tiles. Some of these myths are perpetuated by various manufacturers and in some cases we are really not in a position to judge who is telling the truth versus who is not –nor is that our job. But we think that there is some information in the marketplace that needs clarified.
Several companies claim to be the ‘original’ garage floor tile. Based on this history we have been able to gather, Sport Court is the original sport & garage floor tile. While other companies who most of us have never heard of were making drain type tiles, from the information we have been able to gather Sport Court is the original sport surface and garage tile manufacturer –of the manufacturers still around today.
In fact, Sport Court was founded by the father in law of one the ‘leading brands’ owners well before that brand ever came into existence. This leading brand which touts forty years in the business was not introduced to the market until the late 1990’s. By that point in time, Sport Court had been selling garage flooring for over two decades. Certainly, being the oldest of the companies competing for the garage flooring business today does not in of itself make Sport Court an automatic first choice BUT we think it is important to debunk the idea that someone else is the original product in the market.
Another interesting concept out there is that somehow engineering and sheer number of patents make one company stand apart from the rest. In fact, when you compare many of the garage floor tiles on the market today they are extremely similar in design and function. While engineering is certainly a key factor that sets American Made products apart from the Chinese products on the market we think it is important to note at the end of the day that we are dealing with a plastic tile that locks together. That said, given that Sport Court has been in this business since the 1970’s we definitely believe they have an edge on the competition.
The Locking System The locking system is absolutely key to the polypropylene garage floor tile market. Sport Court’s and the ‘leading brand’ have locking systems that are virtually indistinguishable to the everyday user. In fact we were able to lock them to each other and noticed only small differences in the two products. We do believe several companies have had advances in locking systems that in certain applications provide a benefit to the end user. Our premium garage floor tile has additional locks and more material per square foot. That material has gone into the underside of the product to give what we believe to be a very stable product. Our True Lock product, while not of the ‘fit and finish’ of our premium product also has a great locking system. It has a highly engineered locking system with 6 locks per side.
The Under Structure Again, so many of the under structures are so similar in design, we are not exactly sure how anyone is claiming the have a patented design that truely separates it from other products. The Sport Court product appears to have an edge when it comes to allowing moisture to move and evaporate while our product and the Swiss manufacturer have one of the heftiest undersides we’ve seen. But again, if we are simply parking cars on this, products like True Lock provide an incredible value. When it comes to polypropylene tiles, we have had our choice of many brands and products. We believe we offer everything from the best value to the best made products on the market.
