High moisture content advice needed

[Pate]

I had a slab poured in a new garage. It was put on a nice gravel base, wire mesh with two layers of poly. It's 4" of concrete and was poured in September.(New York) The issue is I've been trying get epoxy done on the floor, but the moisture content is still approx 13%. I was told that it needs to be below 3% to do the floor.

I finally had a NG heater installed on Tuesday and hoping that the heater may be my last hope.

Any ideas on what I can/should do?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Liquid membrane? Check Aqua-Fin.

 

[thegarageguy]

There are a few different water proofing systems that can be applied in conjunction with a resinous flooring system. If you are going to go hire a pro installer, make sure they take a core sample and they warranty their work.

 

[yuk]

is the garage well guttered and the outside grade coaxing the rain etc away from the garage?

 

[dcs Inc]

If the floor has been burnished you might consider opening up the surface with a spiral grind. Let it sit for a few days and then do another calcium chloride vapor emissions test.
Having it heated will help big time.

 

[Pate]

is the garage well guttered and the outside grade coaxing the rain etc away from the garage?

Yes. The grade is pretty good, but I'm going to extend the downspouts further away from the foundation until they permanently run under the lawn.

If the floor has been burnished you might consider opening up the surface with a spiral grind. Let it sit for a few days and then do another calcium chloride vapor emissions test.
Having it heated will help big time.

The guys that did the floor knew I wanted to make it nice and spent a lot of extra time smoothing it and "polishing" it. It's actually nice enough to just stain and clear. I'm not sure if that's what you mean by "burnishing" or an extra step that would have to be done.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Burnishing is the process of consolidating the surface and making it hard and slick at the time of the pour. This could be keep your moisture content higher than if surface is opened up. If you grind this cap off and allow the slab to breath, and then do the moisture test, it will usually read lower.

You will loose your pretty smooth surface, but if your coating you will get it back. You should not apply epoxy to a burnished surface, so it will have to go.

good luck.

 

[pauloman]

google Bio Vee Seal - it is an internal concrete sealer (leaves nothing on the surface) - used to reduce moisture migration in the concrete - often makes the difference between being able to apply an epoxy floor or not....

paul

 

[dcs Inc]

There are vapor barrier epoxies used as a primer coat that will hold back varying degrees of moisture, some up to 98% RH which is a really wet floor. I've had to prime concrete for fast track installs not allowing the concrete to fully hydrate. A few mix design tweaks and pour at a really low slump, apply a vapor barrier epoxy and then top coat with 100% solids epoxy. A couple of them were double broadcast quartz and a few with Elite Crete's Reflector Enhancer metallics additive. A couple of them are over 5 years and have not failed. So they do work, just make sure you pick the correct system.

 

[Pate]

Thanks for the info guys.

This is what came off the quote.

OPTION 1 – Apply MVP waterproofing primer, followed by a decorative epoxy chip flooring sealed with two polyaspartic topcoats.

OPTION 2 – Grind, hone, apply MVP waterproofing primer, stain and seal with polyaspartic topcoat.