basement floor repair

[that-guy]

I just recently bought a house that was built in 1953. simple 1200 sqft with a basement. the basement has some obvious areas of damage where I assume there may have been standing water which broke up the concrete a bit. I am looking for a solution to repair the floor without having to breakup more of the concrete.

the worst of the damage is about a 100sqft area, and a few other places that are significantly less. ideally, I would want to build up the bad areas, and put a fresh skim across the entire floor

i'll get pictures tonight

 

[that-guy]

finally got some pictures. they are from my phone so they aren't the greatest. but the second one really shows you the extent of the damage and how deep it goes

don't mind that small wet spot in the back of the first picture, I spilled something. there are currently no leaks in the basement

 

[stealthmagic27]

I'm with you on this one, dealing with the same thing in my basement. The floor and the walls are really scaly, more so the walls.

 

[Elginz]

"Recently bought" give it some time to see just what is happening. There are things like a large tree next to the house with roots, could have been uncompacted soil, gutters were missing at one time. Find out why, then fix.

 

[JACDes]

shop vac the floor and prep it for self-leveling underlayment.

Applying it is straight forward I prefer to use cement based product for the basement, it cost more but is worth it.

you need a paddle mixer and ( 2 ) 5 gallon buckets following the directions and you will be good.

Once you have a smooth floor.. you can lay tile, carpet etc.

 

[that-guy]

shop vac the floor and prep it for self-leveling underlayment.

Applying it is straight forward I prefer to use cement based product for the basement, it cost more but is worth it.

you need a paddle mixer and ( 2 ) 5 gallon buckets following the directions and you will be good.

Once you have a smooth floor.. you can lay tile, carpet etc.

I'm aware of what to do, but I am unaware of exactly what to use. I need to make sure that whatever concrete I get bonds properly to the existing concrete to make it all uniform

 

[Bondo]

I'm aware of what to do, but I am unaware of exactly what to use. I need to make sure that whatever concrete I get bonds properly to the existing concrete to make it all uniform

Ayuh,.... If the original concrete is spaldin' , 'n failin', yer not gonna "Bond" to anything but the surface, which will separate from the slab, because the concrete will continue to spald, 'n fail,..

How much head space can you afford to loose,..?? 2",..?? 3",..??

Float another slab over that one,....
Gravity, 'n mass will hold everything together,...

 

[shaun oriold1]

its tough to get a true idea of the area of damage, but you can grind off the crappy concrete to get down to solid stuff ( hopefully you find some) then you can self level as needed.

It doesnt look like you need to pour a new slab.

 

[that-guy]

nevermind, I found the correct bonding agent to lay down first before laying any concrete to help the new concrete stay in place...all I have to do is simply brush out/vacuum the dust and pebbles, lay down the bonding agent, then pour new concrete when the bonding agent is somewhat tacky, scrape level...done

 

[James-W]

I wish you all the best with the basement floor, but I tend to agree with "Bondo" on this. I am not a concrete guy so I could be wrong on this, but to my mind if the floor is flaking off in spots then I don't see how the bonding agent and/or new concrete is going to bond with the old concrete that continues to flake off. I would think a "fix" like that would be temporary at best and would eventually just come apart and you will have the same problem you have now.

 

[that-guy]

I wish you all the best with the basement floor, but I tend to agree with "Bondo" on this. I am not a concrete guy so I could be wrong on this, but to my mind if the floor is flaking off in spots then I don't see how the bonding agent and/or new concrete is going to bond with the old concrete that continues to flake off. I would think a "fix" like that would be temporary at best and would eventually just come apart and you will have the same problem you have now.

the purpose of the concrete breaking apart is due to standing water near the washer and deep sink that are in the basement. with no leaking issues and lowered humidity, this should never be an issue again...these bonding agents are used by professional concrete guys all the time for repairing damaged concrete. I will report back when all is repaired

 

[dfiler2]

What did you find for a bonding agent, I have an area in my garage I need to fix. Thanks

 

[James-W]

the purpose of the concrete breaking apart is due to standing water near the washer and deep sink that are in the basement. with no leaking issues and lowered humidity, this should never be an issue again...these bonding agents are used by professional concrete guys all the time for repairing damaged concrete. I will report back when all is repaired

Well, I certainly hope it turns out well for you. I hope you understand, I am just a little skeptical about it. I guess it is my nature to be skeptical about things like this.

 

[Bondo]

the purpose of the concrete breaking apart is due to standing water near the washer and deep sink that are in the basement. with no leaking issues and lowered humidity, this should never be an issue again..

Ayuh,.... I kinda doubt yer diagnosis,....

If it were true that water caused it, Why wouldn't concrete pools disintegrate,..??

Standin' water don't hurt concrete, unless the water freezes to ice,...

 

[theoldwizard1]

nevermind, I found the correct bonding agent to lay down first before laying any concrete to help the new concrete stay in place...all I have to do is simply brush out/vacuum the dust and pebbles, lay down the bonding agent, then pour new concrete when the bonding agent is somewhat tacky, scrape level...done

Good theory. It works some times !!

If not, make a saw cut between the good and bad areas, bust up the bad, mix quickcrete and pour. If it is not too big of an area, this IS the best solution !

 

[shaun oriold1]

nevermind, I found the correct bonding agent to lay down first before laying any concrete to help the new concrete stay in place...all I have to do is simply brush out/vacuum the dust and pebbles, lay down the bonding agent, then pour new concrete when the bonding agent is somewhat tacky, scrape level...done

I would encourage you to take a hammer and knock on the floor to chip away any loose material. "simply brushing" leaves room for error. Its your floor, so we obviously cant tell you what to do.

 

[Shea]

I would encourage you to take a hammer and knock on the floor to chip away any loose material. "simply brushing" leaves room for error. Its your floor, so we obviously cant tell you what to do.

I second that! Shaun is giving some great advice here. The bond of your overlay is only as good as the material it adheres to. Once you make sure you are dealing with solid material then your overlay will be solid as well.