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Flattening and leveling floor

mooper

New member
Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
4
Location
Quebec
My garage is sitting on a 28’x22’ floating slab with 6” stem walls. Under the slab is 2” of blue foam, vapour barrier and 8 truckloads of sand. The floor is all sloped towards a drain in the center. I want to remove the drain, flatten and level the floor and lay down porcelain tiles.

My plan is to fill the hole where the drain was with more concrete. Grind the high spots. Prime the entire floor and use a product like mapei’s ultraplan 1 plus and a ~21’ 2x4 aluminum extrusion pulled along rails on either side to get a nice flat finish.

One of my concerns is; there isn’t any expansion joints in the slab. Although I have no major cracks after almost 5 years. I do have 4 hairline cracks from the drain outwards. I do plan on using aquadefense before I lay the tile. Would that be sufficient for avoiding cracks down the line?

If not, what would be the best approach?
 
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mooper

New member
Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
4
Location
Quebec
I wouldn't expect more cracking. You got the cracks because control joints were not cut or scored from the drain outwards. The rebar/wire mesh will hold the slab together, so to speak.

That's good to hear.

Have you considered leaving the floor drain in place? I would think the drain would make cleaning the floor easier.

Once the floor is flat I figured it would be just as easy to squeegee out the door rather than towards the drain.
 
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