How to level a garage floor corner?

[bamalamwv]

My 28 year old garage floor is not ideally sloped. The most aggravating issue is the low corner near the garage door. Water that drips off vehicle flows to that corner, making cleanup a hassle and damaging the wall trim.

See the attached photo. I slowly poured water where the cup is placed, and you can see how it ran towards the corner wall.

Is there a good way to level that corner so that water at least stays out of it? I have a vague understanding from research that self-leveling concrete might help, but adhesion and durability are likely problems. Any guidance would be much appreciated!

BTW, the garage floor is suspended and there is a workshop beneath. I posted another thread today looking for insight into how best to permanently create a watertight seal the cracks visible in the photo.

 

[Armorpoxy]

You can use a commercially available self-leveling concrete in this area. Then apply the Armorcover Ribbed Mats we wrote about on the other string.

Ardex and CMP make excellent self leveling products and are available nationwide.

 

[bamalamwv]

With snow melting and warmer weather, this project has resurfaced. My question will probably get some "you are an idiot" responses. That's ok, just explain why, and preferably with an anecdote. Here's the question:

Why not use Sikaflex self-leveling crack sealant to level a small area of a garage floor?
The area in question has no traffic, except perhaps the very edge of the low spot. The maximum thickness would be <1/4"/6mm and mostly a lot less. The sealant wouldn't be the wear surface, either, as I will lay some kind of vinyl flooring on top (either rolls, like G-Floor or Armorpoxy's rolls, or polyvinyl interlocking tiles). The product's surface tension would probably keep it from leaving a perfectly feathered edge. Given the forgiving stuff I plan to put on top, I don't think that would be a problem.

Here is a picture of what 30oz of water poured slowly at the low point does. (The lowest spot is where the cup sits.) 30oz is equivalent to three small Sikaflex tubes or one large one. It seems like this would work well, adhere well, and be way better than fooling with a 50lb bag of self-leveling concrete for ~4 sq ft. Aside from obviously being way outside of the product's intended usage, why wouldn't it work?

 

[Shea]

ArmorPoxy provided the correct solution. Self-leveling crack sealant is for cracks and joints. It is too viscous to self-level on a flat surface, plus it cannot be used as an overlay or subfloor. Lastly, the amount you would have to purchase would cost more than a self-leveling polymer-modified concrete overlay.

 

[bamalamwv]

You can use a commercially available self-leveling concrete in this area. Ardex and CMP make excellent self leveling products and are available nationwide.

ArmorPoxy provided the correct solution. ... a self-leveling polymer-modified concrete overlay.

Do you have a specific product that is available at retail outlets? The Ardex stuff is not. I can't find anything matching your description that doesn't have a minimum depth of 1/4". That's the maximum depth of my low spot, andI need something approaching a feather edge. The area is small: ~4 sqft. If I'm off by a factor of 2, it's still only 8 sq ft.

The closest thing I can find is LevelQuick RS self-leveling underlayment. (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-...-Underlayment-LQ50/100192482#product-overview) It's indoor/outdoor rated, self-leveling and can be finished to a feather edge. It can not be used as wear layer, though, and, as far as I can tell, is not a "polymer-modified concrete overlay."

EDIT: The technical data sheet for the aforementioned LevelQuick RS does mention copolymers and Portland cement among the ingredients. I'm thinking this is what I will use, unless someone suggests otherwise.

 

[SedonaGuy]

Thanks for this thread as I have a similar issue where I need to level my concrete garage floor and like you want to level a small area to a feather edge.

 

[lml999]

How will Ardex or other self-leveling underlayment do when the floor is prepped for epoxy or polyurea coating? Will that feather edge crumble? Or perhaps the finish team would prep the feather edge like a crack...protecting it from the action of the grinder.

 

[Bucko]

My first house was built in 1952 and I bought it in 1996. Sometime in between the two one of the previous owners built a "carport" next to the oversized 1 car garage and filled the garage door opening in (full stucco job). I use the term carport loosely because it was basically a garage with no door but I added one after I moved in. The driveway sloped towards the garage/carport and more towards the carport. They had put a little "speedbump channel" across the entire carport right inside the door with a channel along the wall and out the back where they had a opening in the wall. Pretty odd but it worked for the most part. The carport was built right on the property line and no permits were found but apparently the records department had burned years back so they grandfathered it in.

The reason I say all this is maybe you could do something similar but cut a little channel to divert the water out the door or have the area ground down to channel the water out.

Another option is if you had the floor epoxied and they built that area up. They will also likely grind the surface down as part of the prep and could create the channel.

 

[PoorUB]

Is the floor sloped poorly, or has it settled? If it has settled there should be minor cracks in the floor in that area. Perhaps have someone mud jack the floor up where it should be.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Guys, these high performance floor levelers like Ardex, CMP, Rapid Set, etc are only sold through building supply stores, not home centers. Go to your vendor's website, do a quick 'distributor' check and you should be good to go with someone locally. Trust us, they are happy to take your money to make a sale!