Garage Floor Repair

[poppadon56]

My garage floor has settled unevenly. The double car garage is 20 years old and the floor is in reasonably good shape, no major cracks, some pitting. The major problem is in the winter when the snow melts from the vehicles the water is 1"-2" deep on one side of the garage.

Looking for references to a contractor to give estimates and maybe different options. I had an estimate of 5K-6K to remove and replace with concrete, I can't afford that much.

Orleans/Fallingbrook area.

[Indio]

I have the same problem to a lesser degree. only about 1/8th of the floor holds about a 1/2 inch of water. I was just going to get some leveling cement and try to fix it myself but sine I live in the same area as you I will wait to see if you get any responsesand I will jump in with you.

[Chambokl]

Hey Pop...

I am no expert... just an idea I was thinking about.

Set it up like a dry well. Make a hole in the cement slab, dig to about 8 feet and put a pipe in there and a nice cover on it. The water will go down the drain and into the soil. I would go to 8 feet so it is under the freezing level ...

So all you have is a 6" to 8" (diameter) pipe going down to about 8 feet. If you have rock under your garage... it is a lot harder. If it is sand or clay... not that hard to do. You could rent a machine to dig this 8 foot hole.

Hope you can understand... Maybe somebody will have a reason why this is completely insane...

[orangeTANG]

Chambokl, although not insane I do believe it is against code. I don't believe you are allowed any sort of drain in your garage floor in the fear that gasoline or other chemicals are allowed to seep into the soil.

I might be wrong, its just what I remember hearing.

[Chambokl]

Yes, but I think this is a city bylaw (or maybe provincial). So it is different depending where you are living.

[poppadon56]

No can do in Ottawa/Orleans. When I had the house built in '89 wanted to put a drain in then but couldn't because of code.

[imozzie]

I see you're in Orleans as am I. Great Lido clay which continues shifting for years. My house is ca. 1987 w/double car garage. My floor had dips and valleys due to the vehicle runoff in the winter. I finally brokedown and had a contractor come in and remove and replace it. He showed up with his crew to crack the concrete and cut the rebar to get the floor out. However, it was much easier to remove than it first appeared. Why you might ask?

THERE WAS NO REBAR IN THE FLOOR!!!!

[lms]

I did not do this, but my garage floor has several 1/2" holes in it, as well as a small channel that goes around each vehicles perimeter, so all the melted snow in the winter will drain away.

For those worried about polluting the groundwater, where do you think the millions of tons of salt put on the highway go? Same goes for a car that leaks, parking your car anywhere if it is leaking, the leaked stuff will end up in the groundwater.

[goley]

Rockform Concrete... ask for Jose Leal 6138895325 or rockformconcrete@hotmail.com

[Indio]

Poppadon,

Have a look at www.buildingtreatments.com

They specialize in raising sunken concrete pumping a slurry mix of concrete under the existing concrete at a fraction of the cost of replacing it. work is fully guaranteed.

[jbraden]

Hey Pop...

I am no expert... just an idea I was thinking about.

Set it up like a dry well. Make a hole in the cement slab, dig to about 8 feet and put a pipe in there and a nice cover on it. The water will go down the drain and into the soil. I would go to 8 feet so it is under the freezing level ...

So all you have is a 6" to 8" (diameter) pipe going down to about 8 feet. If you have rock under your garage... it is a lot harder. If it is sand or clay... not that hard to do. You could rent a machine to dig this 8 foot hole.

Hope you can understand... Maybe somebody will have a reason why this is completely insane...

this is a big help! got the same situation with my garage floor now and I'm not an expert on this matter. I'll try your suggestion here and hope it will work.

[Gruff]

Have a company come in and pour a self leveling finishing top coat (Mapie Ultratop) you will have to clean and prime the existing concrete.
It is the same finish that box stores such as costco use and is actually very popular. It doesnt neet to be applied very thick 1/2inch max and has a psi somwhere around 6 - 9000 (something like that).
It is a beautiful durable finish and you should have a choice of colour.

[Hearzy]

Have a company come in and pour a self leveling finishing top coat (Mapie Ultratop) you will have to clean and prime the existing concrete.
It is the same finish that box stores such as costco use and is actually very popular. It doesnt neet to be applied very thick 1/2inch max and has a psi somwhere around 6 - 9000 (something like that).
It is a beautiful durable finish and you should have a choice of colour.

Agreed, a self leveling cement would be the easiest (most affordable) way to go about it I would think. Typically in box stores they put hardener/sealer down on exposed concrete for traffic.

You will have to do the whole garage as it will stand out where you poured. Do you know why it has sank? Is this something new over the last year or two?

[Hearzy]

I just noticed this post is from 2009....