Advice needed on best handling expansion cracks

[hbus1300]

Getting ready to put down densifier/penetrating sealer on my garage floor and am trying to determine the best way to fill these expansion cracks. A self leveling product like sikaflex I think would work, but the cracks themselves look like helen keller did them, plus there is the left over zip strip in there as well.

Main goal is to not have small things roll in there that i'm working on and also not be a dirt trap.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[slimcake]

Man that is rough. Did they cut those lines in while the concrete was wet? Instead of saw cutting??

 

[hbus1300]

Man that is rough. Did they cut those lines in while the concrete was wet? Instead of saw cutting??

So obviously I'm not a concrete guy asking these questions, but from what I can tell those are from "ZIP STRIPS". Something they use to make their jobs easier I guess. And I think they just did a crappy job with them as well, I'm sure if you lay them at the right depth and take your time to make sure they're straight they won't look as godawful as mine do.

I'm fearing the best thing to do might just be to leave them alone, they're not anywhere near straight and I think anything I do will draw more attention to their drunken path.

 

[BillK]

Main goal is to not have small things roll in there that i'm working on and also not be a dirt trap.

My shop has a pretty large expansion joint in the floor that runs across the 30 ft dimension. When we first moved in I was thinking the same as you. I went to Home Depot and bought a couple of caulking tubes of some type of concrete crack filler and went to town. It has held up fine for 20 years. Not the prettiest thing and if you want to be **** about it you could fill it kind of high and then trim it off when it cures. I would put it down after sealing.

 

[hbus1300]

My shop has a pretty large expansion joint in the floor that runs across the 30 ft dimension. When we first moved in I was thinking the same as you. I went to Home Depot and bought a couple of caulking tubes of some type of concrete crack filler and went to town. It has held up fine for 20 years. Not the prettiest thing and if you want to be **** about it you could fill it kind of high and then trim it off when it cures. I would put it down after sealing.

Thanks. I think i'll try that and just use a scraper to keep it flush. Could even do a trial section somewhere.

 

[Toomanytools?]

Well someone was drunk when they did the zip strips. If you are just sealing then I would try and pull out or cut the zip strip that is sticking up and use Sikaflex.

 

[seedtime]

If the Sikaflex is applied after the sealer, won’t the sealer prevent proper adhesion? If applied before the sealant, will the residue from possible excess coverage, resist the densifier and sealer from penetrating the cement?


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[bigjon]

Are any of the zip strips protruding from the concrete? If not, I would epoxy fill, grind, clean and then coat the floor.

My personal opinion, but that floor needs a coating to hide everything.

 

[bad_idea]

My shop has a pretty large expansion joint in the floor that runs across the 30 ft dimension. When we first moved in I was thinking the same as you. I went to Home Depot and bought a couple of caulking tubes of some type of concrete crack filler and went to town. It has held up fine for 20 years. Not the prettiest thing and if you want to be **** about it you could fill it kind of high and then trim it off when it cures. I would put it down after sealing.

I'm with Bill here. A trip to the box store to get a concrete caulk and fill the gaps. Problem solved, on to the next one. I am sure the Home Depot caulk will be much cheaper than SIkaflex. 20 years is plenty of service life for me.

The goal for my workshop is a modest workshop, not a show room. If the control joints detract from the space, then the space is already too fancy for me. What is the goal for your shop? Work from there. It is very easy to fall down a rabbit hole on floor coating in the garage, especially with this forum as an influence. Epoxy coating the floor can get very costly. I put GhostShield down to prevent spills from soaking in and to prevent the concrete from creating dust. Cheap (relatively speaking) and easy - applied with a weed sprayer.