concrete floor crumbling, causes and how best to fix it


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Old 07-27-18, 02:41 PM
J
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concrete floor crumbling, causes and how best to fix it

Hello Everyone,

Our garage concrete floor was painted over prior to when we moved in 8 years ago. Our house is in Claremont, CA (which is basically at the foothill of some mountains nearby) and the house was built in the 60's. We have pretty mild winters--lowest in the 30's but get dry and hot up to 110 in the summer. I have no idea when this concrete was initially placed but looking at the pictures it seems that the floor was covered at one point with either tile or vinyl or something since you can square marks. I'm guessing it was removed and then painted over prior to when we moved in.

Pretty soon after we moved in, we noticed paint chipping. After that we noticed the concrete floor was chipping. Parts of it where it has chipped and crumbled you can basically scratch it yourself and get a dusty powder. We used to park 2 cars in there but now we only park 1 and the damage is definitely more pronounced under where this car sits.

Our first thought was to epoxy it professionally, however a couple of estimators have said that there is definitely moisture from somewhere and this is causing the damage. We have never seen water itself puddling in the garage or moisture beads. Also, there is no distinct area where the damage is significantly worse. It's sort of all over and worse where the car sits. So I don't think its a leak in any spot per se, perhaps it's moisture from underlying bedrock since we are close to a mountainous area. We haven't had water issues anywhere else in the house and the concrete of the driveway and surrounding areas are fine. A friend of ours did a quick mini moisture test by taping down a large piece of plastic and then checking it 4 days later. The plastic was dry. No moisture sweat at all. Instead when they lifted up the tape, the paint came right off.

Anyway, both epoxy companies said they wouldn't be able to guarantee their epoxy work because of it and actually wouldn't epoxy it at all. They either recommended carpet in the garage (yuck!) or covering it with something like gym mats or similar (however we worry about moisture accumulating underneath and mildew etc).

They said an alternative is to rip out this concrete and just put new concrete, however likely they will not be able to seal off moisture and the concrete will likely return to its current state (how long would that take?). And then after doing that, epoxy it. One person was willing to do this. He said he would grind it down, do moisture tests and put concrete then an admixture called EFFLOCK TT (anyone heard of this?) on top, then flaked epoxy. He guarantees it basically for 1 year.

Since the mini moisture test we did was dry, one person said that another possibility is that the concrete was either mixed in incorrect proportion (too much sand not enough rock etc) or not properly sealed and not properly painted. My guess is that its a mixture of everything---bedrock moisture, concrete quality, poor paint job.

So we are trying to make a decision that's best for us. We have young kids and they like to play and do crafts in the garage. We want something that will be cost effective and last. Any advice and recommendations you all might have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
 
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  #2  
Old 10-25-18, 11:48 AM
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Concrete that has been worked too much during the pouring/leveling process will often shed the top layer, usually less than 1". I can not see moisture being your problem as there is moist earth under most driveways, roads,etc., at least part of the time. Plastic is often used under slabs to keep the moisture from seeping through.

It may be the mix of the concrete is too weak.

Good luck
 
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Old 10-25-18, 12:01 PM
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I would empty out the garage. Give the floor a thorough pressure washing. Then repaint the floor.

If you want to spend more money there are several different types of garage floor systems. There are sheet mats that come in a roll and you just unroll them. They are pretty impervious and would prevent gas and oil from touching the concrete underneath and as for moisture and mildew underneath... who cares. It's trapped on the bottom side of the mat. There are also click together plastic tiles. They are available in solid or perforated styles which would allow the concrete underneath to breathe.
 
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Old 10-25-18, 01:59 PM
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One person was willing to do this. He said he would grind it down, do moisture tests and put concrete then an admixture called EFFLOCK TT (anyone heard of this?) on top, then flaked epoxy. He guarantees it basically for 1 year.
We had this done this past summer. I'm not sure if the same material was used, but it was the same process. diamond grand the surface, apply several prep materials, apply epoxy, apply decorative flex material.
It took the contractor 5 days to prep and apply the material. We have a 10 year guaranty, renewable after 9 1/2 years, where they will resurfaces the epoxy and it will be another 10 year guaranty. It's the best move I made. But it did cost me $2700. He considered my floor as very bad. Your Pics look a lot better than my floor did.

This contractor does showroom car dealer floors and the very rich people who own these vintage cars. He also does malls and building floors. All with the same guarantee. He offers two thicknesses, 1/8" thick and 1/4 Thick. For us the cost difference was minimal, we went with the better and thicker material.

He operates out of Florida and Western New York. Would he consider going to another part of the country? Don'T know.
 
 

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