What to do with wood expansion joints

[BabaGanoosh]

Has anyone ever sealed a concrete garage floor that has wood expansion joints? Can I seal over them or do I have to remove them to keep sealer from cracking? Or, can I seal up to them and basically cover the floor in sections, letting the sealer run into the space between the wood and concrete? If so, does it matter which product I use to seal? Is Acrylic more flexible than epoxy or urethane? I would like to find a solution that allows me to NOT remove them. Advice from anyone with experience appreciated. You can see the garage floor and wood expansion joints in my profile picture. Thanks very much.

 

[GreenFoxEpoxy]

I'm sure someone is going to post after me and tell me everything that I tell you is wrong...

But in my experience, I find it best to remove the wood and fill the expansion joints before applying a coating. Or, remove the wood and do not fill the joints, only coat them. (Don't try to fill them with your coating)

I suppose you could keep the wood in the joints, and **** up to them as you apply the coating. I just don't know if you would like how it looks afterwards, and you wouldn't really get a seamless floor.

Does it appear that your slab is done settling for the most part? Have any cracks shown up in recent years?

Eric w/ GFE

 

[BabaGanoosh]

Thanks, Eric. You are not alone in your opinion but others have suggested that covering the wood is fine. This leaves me confused and looking for clarification. The concrete is in great shape with no cracks after 40 years. This lack of cracking could be an argument for wood filled expansion joints, but it is only one garage. Unless I get some great feedback and evidence that covering the wood is no problem, I won't take the risk. Thanks again for being part of the forum.

 

[Shea]

If you want to cover them to hide the wood, then you may want to look at the self leveling SikaFlex sealer. Apply it after you coat the floor. It would be a good choice because it flexes and will allow for expansion and contraction of the wood.

If you are looking for the seamless look, then I recommend removing the the wood or at least the first 1/2" or so. Insert a foam backer rod and then fill with the appropriate epoxy filler with a good elongation rate. Legacy Industrial is one of the vendors here that has a good product for this. It's called HD-821.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

I'm sure someone is going to post after me and tell me everything that I tell you is wrong...

But in my experience, I find it best to remove the wood and fill the expansion joints before applying a coating. Or, remove the wood and do not fill the joints, only coat them. (Don't try to fill them with your coating)

I suppose you could keep the wood in the joints, and **** up to them as you apply the coating. I just don't know if you would like how it looks afterwards, and you wouldn't really get a seamless floor.

Does it appear that your slab is done settling for the most part? Have any cracks shown up in recent years?

Eric w/ GFE

No arguement here. Good advice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BabaGanoosh]

Thanks, everyone.