cupped garage floor and door seal

[twowheeled]

Hi all,

We had our 2 bay garage poured with a centre drain, and the concrete guys did a very aggressive slope. So much that the floor under the 16' door is about 2" low/cupped in the centre.

I'm in Canada and the garage is fully insulated and finished, but I cannot get a good seal at the door. I have tried 2 seals in combination but still get a 1/4" gap in the centre of the door in below 0 temps.

The issue is that once it gets very cold, the panels seem to contract a bit. The rubber seal also hardens and I cannot force the garage door mechanism to "press" the seal down hard enough to compress the left/right side and allow the centre to contact. This trips the sensor in the opener thinking it has shut on an object and bounces the door back up.

I'm not really sure how to build the surface of the concrete back up to correct this issue that would stand up to traffic and also be somewhat easy to work with. I am thinking of glueing strips of something with construction adhesive and then reglueing the floor seal back over top of that.

 

[EricVonHa]

These North Shore guys have their stuff together. Have bought quite a many things from them over the years.

Sounds like it's time to mount something on the exterior of the door that'll conform to the dip in the middle.

I'd go with something like this:

https://www.northshorecommercialdoor.com/tri-fin-polar-seal-kit.html/

 

[EricVonHa]

Also, there are companies that specialize in lifting concrete back to acceptable levels. They drill surface holes then inject foam to raise the deck.

 

[twowheeled]

thanks, I will give the exterior seals a try. No-go on lifting the concrete, the edge of the slab is cupped, it's not broken up/cracked/sunken.

 

[wssix99]

Those exterior seals aren't going to help you. They will just raise the shut point of the door.

The double seal will not be as flexible as a single layer.

You should be able to move to a larger single seal on the door. These products are made specifically for your situation. It should hang down in the cup and mash down on the edges: https://www.northshorecommercialdoo...KSb1tPZQZTi3_hnrfKV7LKJe7HhFEcgxoCVoAQAvD_BwE

 

[jonshonda]

I would ask the concrete guys to correct the issue. My thought would be to cut the slab out by the door and repour. Or cut and mud jack.

 

[rust in the eye]

2" dip in the middle of the spot where the door rests in beyond inexcuseable! WTF were they thinking?
Anything on the door bottom to make up that much will be problematic and look stupid as well.
I'd get the concrete corrected.
Good luck

 

[geneg]

2" dip in the middle of the spot where the door rests in beyond inexcuseable! WTF were they thinking?
Anything on the door bottom to make up that much will be problematic and look stupid as well.
I'd get the concrete corrected.
Good luck

Hi all,

We had our 2 bay garage poured with a centre drain, and the concrete guys did a very aggressive slope. So much that the floor under the 16' door is about 2" low/cupped in the centre.

I'm in Canada and the garage is fully insulated and finished, but I cannot get a good seal at the door. I have tried 2 seals in combination but still get a 1/4" gap in the centre of the door in below 0 temps.

The issue is that once it gets very cold, the panels seem to contract a bit. The rubber seal also hardens and I cannot force the garage door mechanism to "press" the seal down hard enough to compress the left/right side and allow the centre to contact. This trips the sensor in the opener thinking it has shut on an object and bounces the door back up.

I'm not really sure how to build the surface of the concrete back up to correct this issue that would stand up to traffic and also be somewhat easy to work with. I am thinking of glueing strips of something with construction adhesive and then reglueing the floor seal back over top of that.

A seal like the Bowsen pictured can work under most circumstances. An aid to them is to insert foam backer rod or heater hose into the center void. You will then have to adjust the down pressure limit on your opener. Use SMALL increments until it contacts the floor how you want.
The problem with the threshold type seals is that they trap all of the water dripping from vehicles in the garage & negate the purpose of having the slab sloped towards the opening.

 

[bwringer]

Agreed that it was pretty poor craftsmanship, but it's there and short of heavy demolition and reconstruction, it appears it will stay.

On the plus side, it might make washing out the garage easier? Something on the floor would form a lip and cause all kinds of aggravation. Therefore something on the door, perhaps just on the center, would work better, although it would give it a bit of a bucktooth look...

I would look into something more of a vinyl flap mounted to the bottom of the door; you could taper it, perhaps, or just leave it the same all the way across. Perhaps cove base or something similar?

 

[PWC Repair]

I think shaping an inner and outer lip seal to match the contour of the floor would be a good solution. A quick/temporary solution would be to lay down a strip of aluminum foil or wax paper and shut the door. Mark the bottom of the door edge with a sharpie. Open the door just a bit and lay down a fat bead of spray foam. SHUT the door. Let it cure then raise the door and tear the foil/wax paper off. The spray foam will stick to the bottom of the door and the foil/wax paper will keep it off the floor. This will get you sealed up until nicer weather and/or you find a better lip seal type solution.

 

[KenC]

IF you have a wooden door, not metal: Scribe the bottom panel, cut to the scribe line, paint and seal, then install the seal. Scribe by closing the door and marking the bottom panel parallel to the floor.

If metal, I'd recommend an attachment to the door bottom shaped as described above. An ell shaped piece with the vertical part screwed to the door with the actual seal attached to the horizontal part of the ell.

With care in cutting/fitting and proper finish it shouldn't look too bad.

edit to add link scribing article

Perfect Scribing for 5 Types of Tasks - Fine Homebuilding

Stefan Straka, a woodworker, trim carpenter, and cabinetmaker, goes over the tools and techniques for a number of scribing projects.

www.finehomebuilding.com