Garage drainage issues

[Jeff95TA]

I have a three car garage, with a drain centered in each bay. When the floor was new (1999), it drained nicely to each drain, but there has been some settling (probably from a problem with a foundation wall that has since been fixed).

Anyway, the left-most bay now has spots that run to the left wall, and the center bay runs forward and to the right. I have to put towels down to keep the melted snow off the finished walls.

Obvious solution is to tear it out, ensure good backfill compaction, and repour, which isn't in the budget right now. Another option is ribbed mats, which would interfere with a jack.

Not being a concrete guy, is it possible to put shallow trench drains around the two bays and tie into the drains? If possible, is it more cost/work than it's worth?

You guys always seem to have good ideas.

 

[ConCretin]

Removing and replacing the slab might be the 'obvious' solution but that's a lot of time, money and aggravation to fix a drainage issue. If the slab is in good condition, I would definitely consider trenches to facilitate drainage. It won't be pretty but it will solve the problem.

I'd use a circular saw with a diamond blade to cut the trench sides. Chip out the middle and then use a repair mortar to create a smooth, pitched trench bottom.

 

[Lt1cobra]

Here in europe it's quite common to pour some kind of liquidish 'putty' and a good contractor can create 'sloaps' to the drains with it.

Here is an example where a flat floor is created.

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It might not be the best solution if the slab is in bad condition. Is the slab moving alot this solution will crack and the result might be even worse than today...

 

[theoldwizard1]

Grind ?

 

[Jeff95TA]

Grind ?

Unfortunately, there's too much material to remove to get it close to draining properly.

I'm probably just going to have to live with it until a repour can be done. It was backfilled with a slag type of material, fairly deeply near the back. Not sure how well the material compacts.

I had a large section removed to fix a foundation wall, and there was a tire buried in it which had a pretty big void. That certainly didn't help things!

I should just run a big bead of caulking around the perimeter!

 

[Kirk]

If it is a floating floor, what about mud jacking?

 

[theoldwizard1]

Either mud jacking or make aux trenches that feed the main,