Are you Seeking Effective Garage Floor Concrete Repair?

The nature and functionality of a garage floor require it to be built with sturdy and durable material. Over the years, concrete has been the preferred construction material to build garage floors, driveways, roads, bridges, and many other structures. If properly installed and maintained, concrete lasts for about 30 years in areas that receive moderate traffic and approximately 15 years for areas receiving heavy traffic.

However, despite being a sturdy and durable material, concrete can at some point develop issues. Some of the common damages that occur on concrete garage floors include cracks, potholes, and pitting. Such problems usually arise as a result of improper installation, weather changes among other things. This damages could grow further, destroying your entire garage floor if not managed in time.

Every problem has a solution and so does concrete damages. There are certain twists and fixes you can make on your damaged garage floor concrete to make it whole again. Some repairs can be done by oneself while other require professionals especially if the damage arises from the structure beneath the concrete.

Here is how to effectively address problems with your garage floor concrete.

1.  Repairing cracks

Repairing cracks on your garage floor concrete is very easy. There are some products you can use to fill the cracks.  For instance, epoxy or polyurethane-based crack repairs are the best products to use on concrete cracks. The product is sandable and accepts paint or an epoxy coating.

To repair the crack on your garage floor concrete, you first need to chase the crack. For this, you will need a chisel and a hammer to smash any material or loose edges within the crack. It is recommended to use a chisel with a handguard which can be bought at home improvement centers.

After you finish chasing the crack, clean the area removing any loose debris using a shop vac then scrub the crack with a stiff brush. The purpose of chasing the crack and cleaning is to remove any weak laitance while making your garage floor concrete ready for the repair material.

The crack repair product will have instructions for use – make sure you adhere to those instructions for better results.

2.  Repairing pitted or spalled garage floor concrete

A bad mix or an improper concrete finish are the major causes of pitting or spalling in garage floor concrete.

Addressing this concrete damage requires a polymer-modified cement topping, an epoxy sand slurry, or a patching mix. The process is more intense than that of a crack but it is not very hard as you think.

As always, you will need to prepare the surface thoroughly. After that, you can either use a trowel or a metal squeegee to lay the mix on your pitted garage floor concrete. Again, the instruction on how to use the product will be right on the package including the curing time.

One thing to note is that before you even start repairing your spalled or pitted garage floor concrete, you should first deal with moisture problems if not, the repair won’t help your damaged concrete.

3.  Fixing low spots

Moisture intrusion and settling cause depressions, dips, and hollows in many garage floors.

This problem may require you to tear out your entire garage floor slab and to deal with any soil compaction requirements before pouring a new slab. That is why it is the most expensive repair for damaged garage floor concrete.

Alternatively, you may use a concrete leveler to reverse these imperfections on your garage floor before they get any worse. A concrete leveler is a specially designed and easy-to-use product that spreads across uneven concrete to flatten it. But first, you will need to prepare the surface well before applying the product to the uneven parts of your garage floor concrete.

It only takes four hours for the product to level your garage floor concrete and within 24 hours, your garage floor will be ready for use.

While all these repairs can be a DYI project, there’s much that could go wrong. You might even realize your own projects are too costly by the end of the day. We recommend getting a flooring expert like JDL Surface Innovations to conduct repairs on your garage floor concrete. Such experts have the knowledge, skills, experience, and tools required to do a clean job.