When to replace perimeter expansion joint

[valdivian]

I'm getting ready do an epoxy floor in my garage over the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm in Los Angeles. Should have great weather. I purchased the 2-car garage kit of Rock on Roll from Versatile. They've been great thus far and I plan to call them tomorrow and ask this question, but I figured I would put it out here as well. Full broadcast flake. The plan was to do the floor and the 4 to 6" tall stems walls.

I didn't know this when I started but after cleaning out the garage I realized I have an expansion joint around the perimeter of the garage. From my research on the forum and contributor's websites (thanks) I've learned I shouldn't do epoxy over these joints. They are filled with fiber board right now and are very brittle. Tons of dirt in them. House from the 70s and I'm sure it is original. So I want to rip out those boards and fill it with backer rod and Sika sealant.

I would still love to have the epoxy and flake on the stem walls. Then the Sika seam, then the epoxy floor. But what would be the order of operations to accomplish this? If I rip out the board right now, there would be a 1/2 to 3/4" gap between the floor and stem wall. The epoxy would just flow right in and be a huge waste.

Then I thought maybe I should clean it really good, shave off the top of the board and then tape it off. Then do the floor and wall and then rip out. But I think that would be prone to chipping and breaking the edges of the epoxy.

Maybe rip out the old board and put in some wood like a form to keep the floor epoxy from going down in it. That might work for the wall, but would cover the stem wall.

I feel like there has to be someone who has solved this before, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Again I'd love to have the full epoxy and flake on both the floor and stem wall, and have a backer rod and Sikaflex SL self-leveling polyurethane sealant expansion joint between. BUT HOW???! haha. Thanks again!

 

[APEowner]

Personally, I'd just leave it and do some kind of baseboard that covers it.

 

[egdede]

Maybe it is not an expansion joint and maybe it is form wood Was there retro-fit foundation or slab work done? When my foundations were replaced there was places where plywood form lumber was encased like that. There was no way to get around on one 10' section where new slab met replaced foundation. In that event, rouger it out, put down some sika and epoxy right over it

 

[geneworldwide]

I've got the same issue. Would love some expert advice. Two contractors I spoke with said they would just go over it with the epoxy and flakes. Maybe that would hide it well enough as long as the fiber board is below the floor height?

 

[valdivian]

So I spoke with Versatile and they were extremely helpful. Basically I had to do the stem wall and floor separately for the epoxy. So I first cleaned out the joint and then filled it with backer rod and Sika SL. Then I taped off the joint and floor and did the stem wall epoxy and flake. Then the next day I did the floor. I cut in the edge of the floor and the joint by hand and then rolled the rest of the floor. Support did not suggest going over it with the epoxy because it would likely crack. The epoxy is too rigid. They said the top coats were flexible enough to go over the joint if I wanted it to. But I liked the look of the joint contrasting the floor. I tried not to get the top coats into the joint but some got in there and dulled the color of it quite a bit. So after it was finished I went back over the joint with a small layer of Sika SL. I think it looks better. Support did say I could throw some flakes into the Sika if I wanted it to disappear a bit more. But I like how it turned out. Here's two photos one before I put on the last coat of sika and another after.

 

[noles]

...So I first cleaned out the joint...

Any tips for a newbie on removing this stuff? Not sure what you had in there, but I have this fiberboard. In some places it’s totally loose and begging to be ripped out. In other places it’s covered with a thin layer of concrete and takes hours to to do a few feet. Thinking of getting a smaller pry bar set today to speed it up.

 

[Bill50]

Use a hook knife or a cape chisel.

 

[valdivian]

Any tips for a newbie on removing this stuff? Not sure what you had in there, but I have this fiberboard. In some places it’s totally loose and begging to be ripped out. In other places it’s covered with a thin layer of concrete and takes hours to to do a few feet. Thinking of getting a smaller pry bar set today to speed it up.

You don't need to remove it all. I removed the loose bits. Then I used a grinder and oscillating tool to cut the rest down below the surface of the concrete. The gaps are filled with backer rod where it all came out. And where it didn't the fiber board filled that purpose.

 

[noles]

You don't need to remove it all.

Thanks. Makes sense. I can cut down the stubborn areas using the angle grinder to make an even cut along a line and then use the oscillating too to cut a section of that board out.

Did you have areas where the concrete on the garage side of the joint was damaged/crumbling into the gap? I’ve got two areas where the gap is so jagged and wide, it could look ugly when sealed. Can you think of any way to straighten/clean these edges up besides cutting further into the driveway slab?

 

[valdivian]

Did you have areas where the concrete on the garage side of the joint was damaged/crumbling into the gap? I’ve got two areas where the gap is so jagged and wide, it could look ugly when sealed. Can you think of any way to straighten/clean these edges up besides cutting further into the driveway slab?

I'd cut away as much of the fiber board as I could and then make a form by sticking some wood in the gap and fill the divots with concrete. Take the form out after it has setup some and smooth it out even with a trowel. Quick patch or quick setting concrete should work should work. I had to do that with a few parts of my stem wall that had busted. Turned out really nice. Make sure you grind down the jagged portion of the concrete so you get good adhesion between the slab and the new patch you pour.