Replacing Concrete Floor in a 2 car garage

[Lunker]

I've got a house Im flipping and the detached garage floor is cracked pretty bad. My concrete guy suggested saw cutting it around the perimter. Adding wire mesh and rebar into the sides and repouring.

He says it will be about 5" from the floor studs due to his saw around the perimeter.

Does the above sound like a correct procedure?

Interior Garage is 19x22 and he has quoted me $3500 with the tear out, repour and to do the apron in front of the garage. Last year I did a tear out and new 22x22 garage and it ran me $3500 for the concrete. There was less tear out as it was a single car.

Appreciate the advice

 

[forAK]

That's $3500 well spent if it includes the tear out.

 

[Lunker]

That includes tear out, haul away and new apron in front of garage.

 

[tjdux]

Maybe i just cant see it in the photos but that floor doesn't look terrible. Sure theres a few settling cracks and the outdoor apron isn't in great shape but the actual floor sure could be a lot worse. For a place that's probably only ever gonna hold a car or 2 and maybe a lawn mower that 3500 may be better spent elsewhere.

And yeah that seems like a fair price for that much work.

Im more concerned with the damaged wood overtop the garage door itself... also hard to see from the photo but that looks like something that woukd scare me as a buyer.

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[Lunker]

The wood is going to be wrapped in Aluminum and gutters. Any rot replaced. Im residing the garage with Hardiboard to match the house.

Im wondering if it would be cheaper to cut out the cracks and fill them with concrete and epoxy paint the floor?

I'll get better pics of the floor tomorrow.

The apron has to go regardless. He told me the apron by itself was $500. He is also pouring all new sidewalks for me.

 

[tjdux]

The wood is going to be wrapped in Aluminum and gutters. Any rot replaced. Im residing the garage with Hardiboard to match the house.

Im wondering if it would be cheaper to cut out the cracks and fill them with concrete and epoxy paint the floor?

I'll get better pics of the floor tomorrow.

The apron has to go regardless. He told me the apron by itself was $500. He is also pouring all new sidewalks for me.

Wrapping the trim and doing siding will make a big difference i bet. Everyone loves low maintence exteriors.

I would worry that just cutting the cracks may cause more big cracks elsewhere. Those cracks are from the dirt settling under the concrete. So removing just the crack may cause other problems near by. Or may not... thats the nature of concrete settling.

If you do have it all removed make sure the ground is compacted. It sure would be a shame if that concrete cracks and heaves again before you get the place flipped.

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[TractorJeff]

If I am making a decent profit flipping houses with a good reputation.
I'd know enough to believe its value added, then I would do it.
$3500 is a really good deal in my opinion as he is paying for the concrete?

 

[Lunker]

I'm not really asking if it's worth doing - the house is a higher end rehab with a 2nd story added In a good neighborhood. I can't sell the garage with floor cracks it's pretty bad. What I'm trying to determine is his procedure correct?

I don't want any call backs for cracked concrete.

So as I take it - compacted gravel under the slab with wire mesh and rebar is correct



I have never cut a floor out like this and

 

[Lunker]

Yeah Jeff he is paying for concrete. He does good work he has done a few slabs and sidewalks for me on past houses.

 

[ard]

I've got a house Im flipping and the detached garage floor is cracked pretty bad. My concrete guy suggested saw cutting it around the perimter. Adding wire mesh and rebar into the sides and repouring.

He says it will be about 5" from the floor studs due to his saw around the perimeter.

Does the above sound like a correct procedure?

Interior Garage is 19x22 and he has quoted me $3500 with the tear out, repour and to do the apron in front of the garage. Last year I did a tear out and new 22x22 garage and it ran me $3500 for the concrete. There was less tear out as it was a single car.

Appreciate the advice

So there will be a 5" border around the new slab, showing the old slab like a picture frame??

Structurally is there a proper footing under the exterior walls? So 12 or 18" wide and depth below freeze depth? I'd want to make sure the foundation under the walls can be cut from the slab itself.

I wonder if drilling & doweling the remaining slab in this 5" wide strip that remains under the walls is necessary, surely this would reduce the odds of future motion causing issues here.

Just some thoughts, this isn't my sweet spot...

 

[wssix99]

Im wondering if it would be cheaper to cut out the cracks and fill them with concrete and epoxy paint the floor?

Yes. If the cracks are just shrinkage cracks and the floor sections haven't changed elevation with respect to each other, you can have a professional coating company come in and grind/fill the cracks with a special non-shrknking mortar, specially made for the purpose. If you re-coat that with a flake floor, it will look better than new and you won't be able to see the seams. (Filling the cracks with a caulk-like filler won't work out well for what you want.)

If this is really a high-end flip, I wouldn't cut the floor. You'd still need to coat it to hide the job and it will just be a sunk expense. At the point you need to cut the floor, I'd tear the whole thing down and sell the "new" garage. (The current garage structure, itself doesn't look too special.)

 

[cmc76]

This is interesting as i have done it before, but for a garage that had a wall, not thickened edge slab. with the walls resting, it appears to be just that. a few things to consider.
- the saw cuts are going to have to be perfectly straight. I would cut through rather than score for demo. They will be really obvious when done, make them as clean as possible.
- this is a scenario where i would pin the **** out of the remaining to the new slab. I would think bent #4 bars, and allot of them. I dont care what kind of site you have, the sections that do not get replaced are going to want to drift.
- around me, $3500 is a bargain for that scope. so that being said you could likely end up with a good looking product.

 

[Falcon67]

That will add zero $ value to your flip IMHO. Leave it. If that is in a "high end" type neighborhood, I'd hate to see the low end. Nothing special there, maybe fill the cracks with backer rod and epoxy. The last house we sold had a 16x22 shed/garage, huge crack down the middle and floor 3" lower on one side. Never came up with any buyers.

 

[Lunker]

Rehabbing the garage saves me about $4500 over building a new one.

I don't see a huge value add with a new garage in this neighborhood. It will be newly sided and roofed, new garage door and opener.

Here are more pictures of the cracks. Im kind of wondering about filling them and doing an epoxy floor may be the way to go instead of a tear out.

Im not thrilled with a 5" border showing the old concrete and the rest being new.

 

[cmc76]

the cracks dont look like they are heaving, maybe just shrinkage over time.
you could look at cutting the slab overall 1/4" or so, routing a v groove and using a sika 111 or something comparable. epoxy over. but without knowing if it is still moving it may just open up again later.

 

[wssix99]

That floor looks OK. With a professional company filling the cracks, grinding high spots smooth, and a good cover - it should look great.

 

[Lunker]

I wanted to provide an update on this:

1. I got a quote to cut the floor and diamond grind the side next to Framing including removal and new concrete $2900

2. I got epoxy estimates for $2900

In the end I have decided to tear the garage down and replace it. House is expected to sell for $750K. I can build a 22x22 with removal of old, new slab and hardi exterior for $13K. That's subbing everything me not swinging a hammer

About $4K more than my rehab budget. The current garage simply did not fit the house - basically new.

Anyway that's the decision and I think it's the right one

 

[ard]

And it will have that new garage smell!

 

[Falcon67]

Sounds like a good call from here, what little I could see for sure didn't say the garage belonged to an $750K house.

 

[gsebast1]

If you can build the new garage for $26/sf that is absolutely the way to go.

 

[Sarki]

I wanted to provide an update on this:

1. I got a quote to cut the floor and diamond grind the side next to Framing including removal and new concrete $2900

2. I got epoxy estimates for $2900

In the end I have decided to tear the garage down and replace it. House is expected to sell for $750K. I can build a 22x22 with removal of old, new slab and hardi exterior for $13K. That's subbing everything me not swinging a hammer

About $4K more than my rehab budget. The current garage simply did not fit the house - basically new.

Anyway that's the decision and I think it's the right one

Based on those numbers I would go the same route and sleep well knowing I made the right decision for sure.

 

[Lunker]

I was trying to be cheap and save some coin. $4K could have been a nice trip to Mexico for me and the wife. Now my listing will say New Garage !!!

So gonna go with a 22x22 would go bigger but the lot is not very wide and this off an alley in Chicago . Will build a peak roof so there will be some storage above. I framed the house in a 8/12 so I'll probably make the garage the same pitch to match.