Floor Slope

[Honch]

I have an attached three car garage that runoff/snow melt is pooling at the front of the garage. When my wife parks in the center stall it creates a 10 foot diameter pool of water in the front of the garage, everything else runs out the door. Its not possible to squeegee out with the car in the garage. While I don't expect the floor to have 100% runoff this seems a bit excessive.

My question is what would be the best way to fix this? I have the builder coming over tomorrow to show him the problem, the water also runs up under the stairs that lead into the house. I don't want to settle on some half a$$ed skim coat the starts dusting off in six months but I don't know if there is a better solution.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Saw-Cuts to draw the water away?

 

[ConCretin]

An improperly pitched floor can be difficult to fix. You'll need to do a careful survey to figure out what the problem is. If it's a matter of localized high or low spots, you have options.

It's possible to apply an overlay that will hold up pretty well and isn't too noticeable but it's more complicated than troweling on something you buy at the Home Depot.

Grinding the high spots is a permanent fix but you'll notice a difference in appearance.

Good luck! I hope you can fins a satisfactory solution. Puddles ****.

 

[BMBLBEE]

You should also look at "mud jacking" the low spot. The companies the do this drill through the concrete floor and pump mud in under pressure to lift the low area.

 

[Dakota00]

So what did the builder say they were going to do??

 

[dcs Inc]

Often filling a low spot only moves it to another area. If the slope is real tight it may be impossible. Saw cutting the concrete and installing a surface drain could help but would be expensive. Grinding off the high spot can be an option but this will damage the finish.

There are some really good overlay materials that actually become part of the concrete but it would be difficult leveling and not just creating "another" low spot.

If possible, a good grind at the door to eliminate the high ridge, (possibly caused by the concrete curling during hydration) and then a good toptical over the whole area, epoxy, polyaspartic, high wear urethane.... what ever, to mask the grinding and give a nice finish to the floor.

If you are ever on the south side of Indy drop by my show room and I can show you some finishes. Call first to make sure I am around. gene

 

[fast325it]

After carefully planning my garage, including the slope and floor drains, with my builder I had the same problem. Snow would melt and puddle near the steps going into the house.

I insisted on the floor being removed and replaced but my builder talked me into using epoxy to fill in the low spots. The epoxy worked great and bonded with the cement. It even had a nice smooth surface and transitioned perfectly with the surrounding concrete. However, the epoxy is much darker than concrete. In and attempt to make the entire garage floor continuous my builder used epoxy paint over the concrete and the epoxy. Unfortunately, nothing would bond with the epoxy filler. The paint would bubble up after 9 months or so, even when ruffed up.

It was a major nightmare. If I had to do it over I would have just used the epoxy filler without a cover paint and then covered it with a plastic decking floor cover. Or, fill the low spot with epoxy and live with the color difference.

 

[dcs Inc]

After carefully planning my garage, including the slope and floor drains, with my builder I had the same problem. Snow would melt and puddle near the steps going into the house.

I insisted on the floor being removed and replaced but my builder talked me into using epoxy to fill in the low spots. The epoxy worked great and bonded with the cement. It even had a nice smooth surface and transitioned perfectly with the surrounding concrete. However, the epoxy is much darker than concrete. In and attempt to make the entire garage floor continuous my builder used epoxy paint over the concrete and the epoxy. Unfortunately, nothing would bond with the epoxy filler. The paint would bubble up after 9 months or so, even when ruffed up.

It was a major nightmare. If I had to do it over I would have just used the epoxy filler without a cover paint and then covered it with a plastic decking floor cover. Or, fill the low spot with epoxy and live with the color difference.

A lot of products will not adhere well to an epoxy product. Personally any product with the word "paint" in the description should never be applied to concrete or over epoxy. At the best you will get a mechanical bound and that will only be as good as the surface preparation.