Crummy existing floor - what to do?

[rmchrgr]

Looking for suggestions on what I might be able to do to my existing floor to make it a little more ''livable".

It's older concrete that was never finished and is rough. There are deep cracks all the way across in some places and it's nowhere near level. A previous owner had painted it but previous to that may have laid down some thin tar or something. Hard to describe what it looks like other than it's black under the paint.

Short of re-pouring, I'm thinking there ain't much that's gonna save this slab. Thought about renting a diamond grinder to smooth it out but I need to repair some pretty big maladies, especially towards the front where one of the cracks has sunk lower on one side.

I will probably just end up repainting with some goopy epoxy paint but would like to see if there are some other/better options/procedures/remedies for my crappy floor.

Thanks!

- Greg

 

[touchdowntodd]

mines not as bad as that...

BUT, i wanna do racedeck if i can afford it this spring.. i dont see how i can but a fellas gotta have a goal!

 

[D.J.]

looks like someone used asphalt at one time or another.
________
Vapir Air One Vaporizer

 

[Hammerdown]

That floor may take some serious grinding to get a uniform surface! I think that would be a good start to remove any soft, powdery or un-stable surface and get rid of some of the defects, any blacktop residue or previous coatings. I'm not big on cement toppings and skim coats, so I'd go grinder or hire a media blaster to the job.
Good Luck!

 

[djjsr]

Find a concrete pro and ask him about resufacing with a slurry mix. I had a driveway done and it came out very nice.

 

[bczygan]

The first thing to check is stability. Even if a slab is cracked, if it is stable and moves as one uniform entity, you can have a good surface to work on or cover. If cracks open and close or different parts of the slab move independently and move up and down, especially with changing seasons, then you have a problem. I would then worry about the composition of the base it is on as well as the drainage around it. A well drained, properly compacted base material will allow a slab to act as a monolithic object and provide a good item for reworking even if the surface isn't perfect. If not, pull it, provide drainage and a good base and repour. A good chance to insulate, raise the grade and provide heating.

 

[DavidTK]

You sound like a good candidate for Racedeck.

 

[rmchrgr]

The first thing to check is stability. Even if a slab is cracked, if it is stable and moves as one uniform entity, you can have a good surface to work on or cover. If cracks open and close or different parts of the slab move independently and move up and down, especially with changing seasons, then you have a problem. I would then worry about the composition of the base it is on as well as the drainage around it. A well drained, properly compacted base material will allow a slab to act as a monolithic object and provide a good item for reworking even if the surface isn't perfect. If not, pull it, provide drainage and a good base and repour. A good chance to insulate, raise the grade and provide heating.

I definitely think that there may be some stability issues. Seems like the whole structure has sunk a little towards the back corner because of erosion behind it. There is a lot of water run off and loose dirt behind that section and it's a steep drop off. My wife and I leveled it out a little on one side but I'm pretty sure we will need a machine to fill and grade it out right. We have plans to build a retaining wall to keep it together but it's not on the short list of things to do this year.

Previous owner had railroad ties back there but they basically turned to dirt. The whole area was so overgrown with weeds and brush it took us two years to clean it out.

I've thought pretty hard about grinding the floor but I'm a little leery of doing a lot of work for a small net result.

 

[bczygan]

I definitely think that there may be some stability issues. Seems like the whole structure has sunk a little towards the back corner because of erosion behind it. There is a lot of water run off and loose dirt behind that section and it's a steep drop off. My wife and I leveled it out a little on one side but I'm pretty sure we will need a machine to fill and grade it out right. We have plans to build a retaining wall to keep it together but it's not on the short list of things to do this year.

Previous owner had railroad ties back there but they basically turned to dirt. The whole area was so overgrown with weeds and brush it took us two years to clean it out.

I've thought pretty hard about grinding the floor but I'm a little leery of doing a lot of work for a small net result.

If that's the case, I'd just consider it a utility work surface and be glad you're not working outside in the grass, dirt and snow like me. Just use it. Proper, strong and pretty can come later.

 

[thegarageguy]

The condition of your floor is very common and can be resurfaced by a professional. First the slab needs to be checked for moisture, then a resinous our cementitious system can be offered. We've resurfaced floors much worse than yours, so there is hope.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Do you have any wide pics of the floor? From what the earlier pictures show your floor isn't that bad, certainly it can be fixed up.

You mention that in one are one side of the crack is lower than the other, if that area is shown if the photos, and that the worst area - you're in pretty good shape overall.

A couple of conditions that can complicate matters: Is there any spalling? That is spots where the concrete is delaminating, you can tell by tapping a hammer and listening for hollow reports. And are the sides stabilized? If the two sides of the cracks were level recently, and have shifted, then there may be other problems that need attention before fixing things up.

On a floor like yours it's really not that tough to get great results, a floor that looks impressive, lasts a long time, is more pleasant work on, clean, and enjoy. However it can be a challenge to get perfect results - that is a pool table top finish. One easy way to keep things simple is to use flakes in the finish, they go a long way in masking imperfections, and they can add color and flair.

 

[rmchrgr]

Thanks for the encouragement. And yeah, it's not really that bad. I think I get all googly-eyed when I see what the Joneses are up to on this board and tend to forget that I'm not in any position to start re-pouring concrete and such.

I don't think there is any spalling and I doubt there is any significant movement of the slab. It's just old.

It is true that a decent floor makes a huge difference and I have firsthand knowledge of this fact. We have a crappy, neglected floor at work and it gets hammered with all sorts of abuse. I've had to scrape the grime up in my bay with a garden edger.

I'll likely never get to that point at home. But since I don't have a lift and will probably be doing a lot of stuff on the floor on my back, it would be nice to have a pleasant surface to work on.

I suppose it's one of those things - do I go the extra mile and make it real nice or paint the damn floor and move on to the next thing?

 

[rmchrgr]

The more I look at the floor, the more I'm thinking it's not as bad as I originally thought. Like everything else, it will involve work and money to get it right. Deep down, I really wanted a nice floor so the plan is to go ahead and do it and not skimp on my goal.

My method will be to grind it, fix the cracks and put down some self leveling stuff. Depending on how it turns out I may eventually go epoxy. Hope I can grind down the uneven parts well enough to make it work. I read up on the HF large angle grinder, seems like it will be decent enough to do the job. Will get some diamond grinding discs and go at it.

I'm not real worried about slab movement/instability. There isn't anything I can do about it anyway. Hopefully this will be a relatively economical solution to achieve what I want. If it fails, at least I tried.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

The more I look at the floor, the more I'm thinking it's not as bad as I originally thought. Like everything else, it will involve work and money to get it right. Deep down, I really wanted a nice floor so the plan is to go ahead and do it and not skimp on my goal.

My method will be to grind it, fix the cracks and put down some self leveling stuff. Depending on how it turns out I may eventually go epoxy. Hope I can grind down the uneven parts well enough to make it work. I read up on the HF large angle grinder, seems like it will be decent enough to do the job. Will get some diamond grinding discs and go at it.

I'm not real worried about slab movement/instability. There isn't anything I can do about it anyway. Hopefully this will be a relatively economical solution to achieve what I want. If it fails, at least I tried.

Thanks for all the input.

Step into my office...
We have a wide variety of crack fillers and repair products. Once you have prepared the floor you can choose any brand of epoxy coating to make a beautiful final topping.

 

[Jack Olsen]

As one data point, I had a terrible slab -- some pieces of it dated back to the 1920s, some to the 1950s. No vapor barrier. Some of the abrupt surface level changes were almost 1-1/2".

I hand mixed some vinyl patching concrete to address the worst of it, but the whole thing was still anything but flat. Then I tiled it -- which was pretty cheap, at .59/sf for the tiles.

I did it myself -- without ever having set tile before.

I weld on it. Do wood and car work on it. It's very durable.

Did an engine swap two months ago.

Welding slag leaves very small spots if you don't put a blanket down. You can drag jacks across it all day. Big tools can crack it, but I haven't had anything happen that merits replaing a tile -- and you can always replace a tile.

It cleans up easily, and is a lot nicer to work on than concrete. You can walk around on it barefoot.

Three years into it, here's a picture.

And it was less than $500, out the door.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Jack, you have the nicest shop around. I wish I had your organizational skills.