Garage slab condition question

[LS1-IROC]

Hey guys,

I have a question pertaining to the concrete slab in my attached garage. My garage is in the lower level of my walk out ranch. The house was built in 1949. The garage takes up about half of the basement. The slab has a very nice and smooth finish to it. I live in Michigan so the garage sees a lot of snow/ice and salt during the winter. There are no cracks and no spalling anywhere on the slab!
How is it in such good shape after 70 Michigan winters? I pretty certain there has never been any sealer or other products put on it to protect it.

 

[dbabicky]

P f m !!!

 

[mike93lx]

Does water bead or absorb?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Good drainage, good ventilation, heated ?

 

[aka Larry]

Bah, lets see pics of your LS-1 IROC!

 

[LS1-IROC]

The garage is not directly heated. It just gets some radiant heat from the house being above it. I know that sometimes in the winter it gets cold enough in there to freeze when my lovely wife leaves the door open all day. Water does not bead up on the surface. The garage does suffer from minor water issues during heavy rains due to the unsealed CMU walls.
I am just surprised to see the slab in such good condition after 70 years. I had some flat work done elsewhere on the property a few years ago and already see some minor spalling from salt.

aka Larry....here ya go.

 

[aka Larry]

Damn, that is gorgeous...I love it! I'd like to hear more about and see more pics. You can PM me with the details if you want.

 

[LS1-IROC]

Damn, that is gorgeous...I love it! I'd like to hear more about and see more pics. You can PM me with the details if you want.

Thanks Larry! It's a LS1 with a single 78mm turbo. T56 trans and a ford 9" rear. Custom 1 off forged 3 piece wheels. The car makes 530hp to the wheels on 10lbs boost. Everything has been tweaked or updated in some form or another over the years. LOL I have owned it for 21 years now

 

[aka Larry]

Thanks Larry! It's a LS1 with a single 78mm turbo. T56 trans and a ford 9" rear. Custom 1 off forged 3 piece wheels. The car makes 530hp to the wheels on 10lbs boost. Everything has been tweaked or updated in some form or another over the years. LOL I have owned it for 21 years now

I had a 3rd Gen Camaro back in '86 and would have killed for an IROC-Z back then, but didn't have the coin. In stock form, compared to a more modern car is actually a pile IMO, but I still LOVE that styling! I'd love to own one brought up to modern power and suspension standards like you have, but right now my Mustang is the easy button as I'd never have time or money to build one with my other money-sucking hobby.

 

[wssix99]

There are no cracks and no spalling anywhere on the slab!
How is it in such good shape after 70 Michigan winters? I pretty certain there has never been any sealer or other products put on it to protect it.

Here's a 2000 year old un-reinforced concrete dome. Still in great shape - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

Temperature and moisture aren't major stressors of concrete in themselves. If a slab is designed properly, is on a solid/compacted foundation, and doesn't have any pathways to where water can get in and freeze it will last a long long time.

Most houses you see today are weak and constructed to be inexpensive. Often they have none of the features mentioned above. ^

 

[sqznby]

Bah, lets see pics of your LS-1 IROC!

Hahaha, exactly what I was thinking

Thanks Larry! It's a LS1 with a single 78mm turbo. T56 trans and a ford 9" rear. Custom 1 off forged 3 piece wheels. The car makes 530hp to the wheels on 10lbs boost. Everything has been tweaked or updated in some form or another over the years. LOL I have owned it for 21 years now

She sure is a beaut and with just the right mods.
Do you have a build thread anywhere?

Its funny, I drove by a white IROC-Z this afternoon on the way home from work. You don't happen to have a mullet do you? This guy was sportin a mullet loud and proud . It was a sharp car though.

 

[LS1-IROC]

Here's a 2000 year old un-reinforced concrete dome. Still in great shape - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

Temperature and moisture aren't major stressors of concrete in themselves. If a slab is designed properly, is on a solid/compacted foundation, and doesn't have any pathways to where water can get in and freeze it will last a long long time.

Most houses you see today are weak and constructed to be inexpensive. Often they have none of the features mentioned above. ^

That's a good point. I was more impressed by the fact that the floor has constant salt exposure during the winter and it still is in such good shape. When I had some flat work done a couple years ago, the contractor stressed how important it was that I did not use any salt on the sidewalks because it would ruin them over time.

 

[LS1-IROC]

Hahaha, exactly what I was thinking



She sure is a beaut and with just the right mods.
Do you have a build thread anywhere?

Its funny, I drove by a white IROC-Z this afternoon on the way home from work. You don't happen to have a mullet do you? This guy was sportin a mullet loud and proud . It was a sharp car though.

I don't have a mullet, but I am a card carrying member of the Mullet Militia.

I don't have a complete build thread anywhere. The car was featured in Super Chevy/GMHTP magazine a few years ago.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/1401-1985-chevrolet-camaro-iroc-z28-a-big-impression/

This was when it had a blower on it, It now has a single turbo that makes 100 more rwhp.

 

[ckprax]

Most people can't park in their garage due to all of the "stuff" they collect. It's possible, maybe likely, that the slab hasn't seen as much water or salt as you think. How long have you been in the house?

 

[wssix99]

That's a good point. I was more impressed by the fact that the floor has constant salt exposure during the winter and it still is in such good shape.

This isn't a big deal.

When I had some flat work done a couple years ago, the contractor stressed how important it was that I did not use any salt on the sidewalks because it would ruin them over time.

This is different.


Road salt is more gentle to the pavements. Not all "salts" are the same and DOT's (Department of Transportation) choose to use the least damaging salt for the temperature/conditions that will get the de-icing job done and do the least amount of damage to their pavements. The stuff you track in to the garage will damage your slab as much as the salt damages the roadways. (Not much.)

The expensive/fancy/exotic salts that people buy from the Orange, Blue, Red, or Green stores is different and generally more damaging. They are more reactive, work in lower temperatures, and also react more with the cement in the concrete. (This is the stuff your contractor was warning you about.)

^ I always use rock salt for this reason. Plus, it's less expensive! I only get the fancy stuff if we have a really bad ice storm followed by a deep freeze and the rock salt won't work.

Here's a good article from BYU on the salts. You can skip all the details, if you want. The conclusions are all in the paragraph on page 2. https://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=8081525197623431

 

[LS1-IROC]

Most people can't park in their garage due to all of the "stuff" they collect. It's possible, maybe likely, that the slab hasn't seen as much water or salt as you think. How long have you been in the house?

Good point, we have only been in the house for 4 years and we are only the 3rd owner since it was built in 1949.

This isn't a big deal.


This is different.


Road salt is more gentle to the pavements. Not all "salts" are the same and DOT's (Department of Transportation) choose to use the least damaging salt for the temperature/conditions that will get the de-icing job done and do the least amount of damage to their pavements. The stuff you track in to the garage will damage your slab as much as the salt damages the roadways. (Not much.)

The expensive/fancy/exotic salts that people buy from the Orange, Blue, Red, or Green stores is different and generally more damaging. They are more reactive, work in lower temperatures, and also react more with the cement in the concrete. (This is the stuff your contractor was warning you about.)

^ I always use rock salt for this reason. Plus, it's less expensive! I only get the fancy stuff if we have a really bad ice storm followed by a deep freeze and the rock salt won't work.

Here's a good article from BYU on the salts. You can skip all the details, if you want. The conclusions are all in the paragraph on page 2. https://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=8081525197623431

Thank you, I didn't realize that the stuff you buy at the hardware store was more aggressive. Looks like I'll be buying rock salt this winter.