Floor slope/water handling

[nate379]

The slab in my garage has a slope toward the left of the door as you stand in front of the garage.

Problem is if the door isn't opened a little bit the water just sits at the door. I can only guess it will cause a rust issue with the door in the future.

Haven't been able to come up with something to keep the water off the door without allowing cold air to come in (like cutting the door seal or something like that)

Ideas?

 

[SC-Eric]

Pictures are worth a thousand words... Have you got some?

 

[nate379]

I don't think you could see the slope in any pic really. It's not very noticable by eye even.

Just imagine the floor is tilted toward the corner of the door by maybe 2" over the whole slab so most of the water collects there. Like that by design and it drains to the driveway if I open the door.

But I'm not leaving the door open a bit when it's -35* outside and I pull something in to melt out.

 

[nate379]

Ideas?

A floor drain is not permitted because I'm on septic... and it's after the fact at this point too anyhow.

I do have pics but you can't tell much in the pic.

Just picture the floor has a slight slope toward the corner of the garage door. It was designed this way. With the door open, the water runs out the front of the slab.

With the door closed though, it pools at the door.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Just curious - how much water is collecting behind the door (how high is it up against the door)?

 

[nate379]

3/8" or so. If I pull a rig in in the winter and the snow melts off it will do it.

 

[nate379]

I hate it when sometime stumps the 35,000 members of this board! I have no idea what I'm going to do with this issue.

 

[Cobradriver]

Nate,

I had water pooling in my old place up north.
I got a masony blade for my circular saw and cut
some small grooves to create drain channels.
I went from about 1/4" deep up to an inch or so.
I ran the grooves right under the door. I never had any
problem even in the freezing weather. The slab was
heated though...

Chris

 

[nate379]

Yup my slab is heated. Funny thing is that is what I ended up doing this afternoon. I just used an angle grinder with a disc good for cement though.

 

[havi]

beat me to it! Just a little groove or few will channel the water away (hopefully) and will also allow some traction when it freezes. BTW, one quick opening of the door a little bit and a wide pushbroom should get all that water out of there when you're done for the night.

 

[nate379]

I just gut 1 groove, about 1/4" wide.

It's not a big deal if I'm working on something but the problem was I'd pull the car in at night and the snow would melt and the water pool against the door.

With just 1 groove the heat loose is negliable and I think it will work fine. It did with my tests of pouring a pitcher of water on the floor anyhow.

 

[nate379]

Well my slots are not going to work now.

Driveway was paved and the tar was brought up level to the slab. The main sloped area of the slab has the pavement a little bit higher even.

I wasn't thinking about it or I would have had them keep it low a touch. Not sure what I'm going to do now other than drink a beer, take my happy pills and go to bed.

 

[Gary S]

You could try hiring a mud jacker to try to raise that corner of the slab. That adds the risk of cracking the slab, but if they are successful, they might be able to raise it so the water doesn't collect there anymore.

This is the reason that when I built my garage, I sloped my concrete. My garage is 48 feet deep, and the floor slopes 12 inches in that 48 feet (1 inch per 4 feet). Water melting off the vehicles runs toward the doors and out of the building.

 

[tatra]

this why if i ever [doubtful] do another pad i would put a french drain in front of the door..........cover with steel plates and have a blower exhausting to the outside to evaporate water and use as an in ground engine exhaust system.........what i have done in the past was just have a fan blowing on the spot where water pools to evaporate into the air and run a dehmidifier.......which is a good idea as infloor is notorious for mositure and humidity..........adds to the power bill but it also gives off heat so isee it as a wash............

 

[nate379]

Right, that is how my garage is setup, the floor has a slight slope to the door which was designed into the slab. It's not a structural problem.

The problem is the water puddles at the door. I had fixed that by cutting some grooves into the slab, but that was when the slab was about 2" higher than the gravel outside.

I didn't think of it when they put down the asphalt or I would have had them make the driveway about 1" lower.
I worked a 3PM-7AM shift, got home and was with the pavers until 7PM so I was pretty damn beat, wasn't thinking 100% at that point.

Also the shock of expecting to pay ~$300 for extra paving which turned to almost $1500 because of an unclear contract and what I had in mind wasn't what the builder had in mind. We worked out a deal, but still... ouch!

You could try hiring a mud jacker to try to raise that corner of the slab. That adds the risk of cracking the slab, but if they are successful, they might be able to raise it so the water doesn't collect there anymore.

This is the reason that when I built my garage, I sloped my concrete. My garage is 48 feet deep, and the floor slopes 12 inches in that 48 feet (1 inch per 4 feet). Water melting off the vehicles runs toward the doors and out of the building.

 

[nate379]

Yes if I had a say in it I would have put a drain across the front edge of the garage just inside of the door, but you know how that is.... would have, should have, could have... or "what if".

this why if i ever [doubtful] do another pad i would put a french drain in front of the door..........cover with steel plates and have a blower exhausting to the outside to evaporate water and use as an in ground engine exhaust system.........what i have done in the past was just have a fan blowing on the spot where water pools to evaporate into the air and run a dehmidifier.......which is a good idea as infloor is notorious for mositure and humidity..........adds to the power bill but it also gives off heat so isee it as a wash............