Cement garage floor patch-repatch

allen levine

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new york city burbs
I have a question for anyone that knows about cement work.
A while ago, when I was younger, good looking and stupid, I decided to fix some cracks in my garage floor.
I bought a bag of quikcrete,(whatever its called), chipped away at the hole, and poured it very high, figuring it would sink a bit.
It didnt, and Ive always had an uneven high oval(around 2-3 feet wide) in the front of the garage. Never a problem until now that I have to move mobile machines around all the time, they dont roll over that without a fight.
Now Im old, ugly, but still stupid, I want to repair it again.

I contacted a recommended cement guy today, and he told me the proper way to ensure no more cracks and smooth, is to take out the entire slab the garage is on, and redo it all.
He wants 2200.00
I dont know what concrete work costs, but thats alot of dough for me to spend to repair a bump that makes it inconvenient for me.
Id also have to empty the entire garage, everything, so Id have to rent a pod to store it all in for the work day, and 1, but he said 2 would be ideal days for it to dry. so loading and unloading the garage is quite a task, Id have to take out cabinets, etc.....

Im thinking, if I can have me and my son(hes strong and smart, but doesnt know anything about cement either) take a sledge hammer and break out the concrete bubble/oval, I can make a better attempt to fill it in.
BTW-the cement I put down, never chipped or came out, but its very high and uneven.

Can someone tell me what product to buy to patch it up again, how much should I hammer out, and how I should level it a bit better, I was watching some guy and he used a 2x4, but this is only a 3 foot one inch deep hole.
 
my suggestion is to get a good heavy (3-5lb) hammer, a heavy duty chisel, some saftey glasses, and a cd of your favorite concrete chipping music. pay that much to repour a slab that is gonna crack again when the ground heaves (summer/winter) is a bit much for me. just think of all the stress you'll be able to work off... :thumb:
 
Ya got an angle grinder, good respirator, and a big fan? Go to Lowe's and get you a DeWalt diamond cup grinder...about 50 bucks IIRC. Grind your high spot down. Probably won't take you 30 to 45 minutes. I surface ground the floor in the Pink Room in about 2 hours. Actual grinding time was about 40 minutes, but I had one window to exhaust the dust from. I could grind a cloud to the point I couldn't see the floor 2' away from me in about 5 minutes. :eek:
If the original patch is holding, why try to take it back out? Jim.

edit: Be sure to get the double row cup instead of the single row. Easier to keep from digging into the surface creating grooves.
 
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If you go the grinding route, a little bit of water to dampen the surface while you grind will keep the dust down:thumb:. And make sure you plug into a gfci protected circuit. Don't want any unexpected surprises:doh:.
 
Where were you with the water tip when I was choking in the Pink Room, that I couldn't see, last Fall??? :D That is a good idea. Wouldn't have to be really wet, maybe just a spritz bottle. Don't know if the water would interfere with the grinding or not. :huh: Jim.
 
Not as long it is a diamond grinding wheel. Happens alot on the commercial jobs I work on wether its concrete or granite or marble they need to grind.
 
Ya got an angle grinder, good respirator, and a big fan? Go to Lowe's and get you a DeWalt diamond cup grinder...about 50 bucks IIRC. Grind your high spot down. Probably won't take you 30 to 45 minutes. I surface ground the floor in the Pink Room in about 2 hours. Actual grinding time was about 40 minutes, but I had one window to exhaust the dust from. I could grind a cloud to the point I couldn't see the floor 2' away from me in about 5 minutes. :eek:
If the original patch is holding, why try to take it back out? Jim.

edit: Be sure to get the double row cup instead of the single row. Easier to keep from digging into the surface creating grooves.

uh....its a little too late to go this way.

I have, dont know what they call it, its just a very heavy axe/sledhammer I used to split logs with for my fireplace 15 years ago, its very heavy, and has a hammer side on one side. I smashed the sides of the bubble to see if it would come up, yep.......when I struck it I felt the entire slab vibrate and jump. I made quite a few holes today, so I dont have a choice now other than to get something and fill it in. I never thought about actually leveling it down.........I never claimed to be that smart.(I never see the obvious route)
My mind works like a GPS. Instead of going to the corner and making a right, I do what gps says and make 3 lefts.
(although I chipped away at the far side so as to not impede the tablesaw any more than it is now. The saw is the machine I have to move around the most in the front)
 
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Make sure when you pour the concrete back in you use a bonding agent on the existing concrete to promote a good bond. You can get it at hd. Just make sure to read the directions.
 
Sorry it's too late...but I did go look at my grinder cup and it says works with or without water.
So follow the recommendations Chuck gave you about smoothing the concrete out with a 2 X 4 and a smooth trowel. Jim.
 
It is always interesting how we ultimately do a job.

I'm sure ur expert will tell u; first clean out the hole and chip off any projections. Mop the hole with a bonding agent. Now use a maximizer patching sakrete, read the labels and follow directions as to the texture of mud. Use the screed (2x4) and level in both direction. Have a stick availale to stab the mud as a vibrator would do. About an hour after u patch the hole work the surface to the same texture ur floor has. It will turn out good.

Let us know how it turns out. As my mother always said; you made your bed, now sleep in it. Ray Gerdes
 
Allen, Raymond has summed it up nicely. To the extent reasonably possible, you want the edges of your patch area to have vertical sides. (A butt joint is better in concrete than a feather joint, if that makes sense.) Bonding agent is also very recommended. It's easy to use...it's like brushing on thinned Elmer's white glue before pouring the patch. And look for a high-bond patching mix in the redi-mix section of your home center or building materials supplier.

And as has been said, you really can use a 2 x 4 (on edge) to do the initial leveling (screeding) of the patch material. Then, after he patch has firmed up a bit (15 to 60 minutes, depending on several variables) you can smooth it out further with a trowel. If you don't have a trowel, you can probably to a presentable job with the flat side of a 18" long 2 x 4. As you rub, slap and pat the surface of the patch, you'll push the rocks in the mix down, and the sand, cement, and water will rise to the top. This is the "butter" that is spread around to make the surface smooth. Once you have it smooth to your liking, keep any traffic off the patch for 24 to 48 hours, and if possible, keep it moist with a spray bottle and/or a sheet of plastic or absorbent fabric like burlap. The longer you keep concrete moist, the stronger it will become.
 
I need my son to do the heavy banging, or even the tapping out of the circle area, and this weekend is out, next weekend Im off to Saratoga, so it will have to wait 2 more weekends.

I had coated the floor a few years back with that epoxy stuff that you drop the flakes in for color, so Im hoping using the bonding agent(I dont know what this is, but Im sure its right next to the cement mix) will make the cement stick well enough.
Ill shoot a before and after picture.(Unless its a failure, then it will just be a mess picture)
 
Allen, if there's any of the epoxy coating on the surfaces you plan to patch, you should chip it away to bare concrete. The bonding agent helps fresh concrete stick to old concrete, but I don't think it'll do much to help fresh concrete stick to epoxy.

And yeppers, you should be able to find bonding agent at the Borg or lumber store next to the redi-mix concrete or stucco patch stuff.
 
uh....its a little too late to go this way.

I have, dont know what they call it, its just a very heavy axe/sledhammer I used to split logs with for my fireplace 15 years ago, its very heavy, and has a hammer side on one side. I smashed the sides of the bubble to see if it would come up, yep.......when I struck it I felt the entire slab vibrate and jump. I made quite a few holes today, so I dont have a choice now other than to get something and fill it in. I never thought about actually leveling it down.........I never claimed to be that smart.(I never see the obvious route)
My mind works like a GPS. Instead of going to the corner and making a right, I do what gps says and make 3 lefts.
(although I chipped away at the far side so as to not impede the tablesaw any more than it is now. The saw is the machine I have to move around the most in the front)


Allen

You need to go sit in the corner & pray for patience. I'm not sure about a guy that would ask a question & not wait a reasonable amount of time to get a few answers & see if one of those answers would save him time, work,money or all three.:eek::doh::doh::doh::dunno::dunno::dunno: A equipment rental store should have the trowel & any other tools you may need. The floor is probably 3 1/2"- 4" thick I would probable rent a saw with a concrete blade & cut the section out. Flatten & pack the dirt & use a sack-crete mix to patch it with. These guys have given you good info that will only work if you use it. Good luck.
 
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I was just curious to see if the patch would break up if I hit it hard enough.

Ive been looking at it and cursing at it everytime I had to move the tablesaw into a good position. I lost my patience with that bubble a long time ago.
 
if all else fails allen, you could go the red green route. 2-3 sticks of dynamite duct taped together, set on the offending concrete ought to settle it's hash just right. on the other hand, the new garage you would be getting would be a good thing too... :rofl::rofl:
 
if all else fails allen, you could go the red green route. 2-3 sticks of dynamite duct taped together, set on the offending concrete ought to settle it's hash just right. on the other hand, the new ?????????????garage???????????? you would be getting would be a good thing too... :rofl::rofl:

Oh really now????Do you really think he'd still call it a garage?:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
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my garage is actually a garage that was on a piece of land the orginal owner of my house had brought over on a flatbed truck way back in the early 50s.
I guess he thought highly of the construction, since it must have been some job to haul that garage from a few towns over.

I have an original picture of it in my closing papers, a black and white photo of the garage sitting all alone.

the studs are true 2x4s, something you dont see anymore.
 
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