sagging floor

[nunan0219]

hey guys

i have a 20x20 garage, thats sagging in the center of it. and is cracked from roughly one side to the other. the total drop is roughly 3-4" from the edge to the lowest point,

can i use self leveling concrete as a temporary fix until i have the money to tear up the floor, or should i just save up and tear up the floor and re pour it? thanks

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

hey guys

i have a 20x20 garage, thats sagging in the center of it. and is cracked from roughly one side to the other. the total drop is roughly 3-4" from the edge to the lowest point,

can i use self leveling concrete as a temporary fix until i have the money to tear up the floor, or should i just save up and tear up the floor and re pour it? thanks

Tear it up.

 

[tcianci]

It may take quite a bit of product to level out that floor. When you say self-leveling, do you mean a product like Gypcrete? If that's what you're talking about remember to take into account the fact that the floor, aside from being failed may have a deliberate pitch to it so water will drain. The application of a self leveling compound will negate this. It may be false economy to try and top that floor simply because you may not be able to ascertain that the floor is through sinking, which will only cause your new topping layer to fail as well.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Slabjacking could be a possibility.

http://www.superiorslabjacking.com/

 

[draglink]

I have seen slabjacking work well in a couple homes I did work in, have no idea of the cost. The self levelers we use would work 1", maybe 1.5" max.-they are concrete based

How old is the slab?

 

[00si2]

i have a 32' x 45' that i got an estimate to get leveled out with self leveling concrete. It needed and inch in an area about 10' x 20' area and tapered up from there. My estimate was a little over 11k.

 

[draglink]

i have a 32' x 45' that i got an estimate to get leveled out with self leveling concrete. It needed and inch in an area about 10' x 20' area and tapered up from there. My estimate was a little over 11k.

WOW thats just crazy! The material is expensive, but not to justify that....and it isnt labor intensive at all....

 

[MoonRise]

If a concrete slab is 'sinking', then that means the ground underneath it is 'sinking'. And that the concrete is not strong enough to support itself and any loads on the floor without 'sinking' as well.

The only 'real' answer is to find out WHY the slab is sinking. After you fix the 'why', then you can fix the slab.

That will most likely mean to dig it all out and fix the underlying issues (poor site prep originally, sinkhole, underground stream, etc, etc, etc) before putting in an adequate (design and materials and workmanship) slab.

IMHO.

 

[LocoCoco]

...The only 'real' answer is to find out WHY the slab is sinking. After you fix the 'why', then you can fix the slab...

I'll agree with that, however, what if the slab sank and cracked 50 years ago just after it was built? Perhaps any settling that would have happened has already happened?




LC.

 

[socapots]

measure it.. see if it keeps sinking.. see if it chances from one season to the next..
maybe?? i really dont know. But as they said above. if the problem is underneath. no matter what you add to the top it will probably keep being a problem.

 

[nunan0219]

house is about 40 years old, and i was going to dig it up eventually. I'm going to just deal with it until i have the cash to do it right, and install rebar and in floor heating with spacing for my lift. thanks for all of the responses guys

 

[stingry]

house is about 40 years old, and i was going to dig it up eventually. I'm going to just deal with it until i have the cash to do it right, and install rebar and in floor heating with spacing for my lift. thanks for all of the responses guys

GOOD PLAN!! I have a good friend who says "there are two ways to do things, the EASY way and the CORRECT way so you might as well do it the CORRECT way because if you do it the EASY way, you'll eventually end up doing it the CORRECT way in the end! A lot of truth in that statement.


Cheers
Steve

 

[nunan0219]

yeah, now i just need to figure out how i'm going to pour that all and do my in floor heating too. gotta read up i guess.