My workshop floor located in my basement has several long cracks, is there a way to repair the cracks that will stand up to normal walking traffic and rolling machines around?
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How wide are the cracks? Is one side of the crack higher than the other?
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Most of the cracks are 1/16" wide at of few points that goes to 1/8". When I put a straight edge across the largest part of the crack there is a change in grade of about 1/8".
Unless the cracks are old ... like several years with no change ... you need to find out why the cracks exist before tryting to do a patch. You mighht have bigger problems.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
>Unless the cracks are old ... like several years with no changeAnd if they're old?###I was just caught off guard the other day. I was discussing dynamiting with a neighbor. They mentioned that when another neighbor used dynamite during excavation, they incurred some damage. I'm closer to that construction than the one who had the damage! Here I've thought every little crack I've seen was normal settling. Now we get dynamite involved. I don't have anything I can pin to that, so it's more a curiosity than anything...just gets you wondering. What irritates me is that they never gave advance notice, and I'm only 250' away.
My thought was that maybe the cracks developed in the first few years when the foundation was settling, and might be stabilized, so a patch would be appropriate.
If the cracks currently open & close with wet & dry seasons, or if they just showed up within the last year, then there could be bigger problems unseen and a patch would be hiding the problem.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Yes, I know. What method of patching would you recommend if the cracks were of the benign variety?
For the 1/8" cracks he has, I would use a high strength grout, blow/vacuum the trash out oif the cracks, and work it in well. Then use a good floor leveler to feather the height difference.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
"I was discussing dynamiting with a neighbor."
Given that you have a NFH, when you mention dynamite and a neighbor in the same thread, you're gonna raise some eyebrows...
Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' [Kahlil Gibran]
:) Not all my neighbors are FH. Some stopped at purgatory, I think.The context was a new development, and the likelihood they'd dynamite during excavation. As you might imagine, people were getting all frazzled about the possibility, and saying they were gonna put monitors, etc, in their houses. Based on what I recently read here, I believe, I offered that any smart developer would, at the insistence of their ins company, both notify any affected HOs and take before and after video. The developer's engineer was quick to jump on that bandwagon be/c it seemed to calm the natives a bit, or at least control their hyperventilating.
It makes me nervous when you and YOUR NEIGHBOR are talking about dynamite...;)
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My company does concrete repair and resurfacing as a business, mostly decorative overlays. Most of the replys are right on track when they ask about the reasons for the cracks.
Old cracks that haven't/don't change with the season have the highest success rate for repairs. What works for us is to open the cracks slightly with a diamond blade or crack chaser on a 4" grinder. Vacuum the cracks as cleanly as possible. Apply a suitable 2 component 100% epoxy resin (squeeze catsup bottle works well for this) to prime the crack. Mix small batches at a time so that you can evaluate the crack conditions. Try to fill the crack completely with this first application. If the epoxy dissappears rapaidly or continues to soak into the crack, it may merely be going into a void under the crack. Fotr the second batch, mix some dry, bagged sand with the epoxy (up to 4 parts sand to 1 part epoxy mix) and trowel it into the crack with a putty knife, You may have to keep doing this for a while to get a fill. As each batch begins to harden in the crack it will impede the flow of the successive fresh epoxy into the void. For an "invisible" repair, where asthetics are involved, you will need to do some overlay system on the entire floor. Go to our manufacturer's web page at http://www.concretesolutions.com for more info.
Cracks that change with the season in a basement are probably moisture/expansive soil related and are harder to repair successfully without failure. Flexible epoxys may do the trick if movement is small. For more gross movement, you will have to engineer the profile of the crack to install a foam backer rod and a two component urethane or other highly flexible caulk material.
Thanks for your help, your solution makes sense to me, I'll give it a try.
Lowe's carries PL brand Self Leveling Concrete Crack Filler. It works well if you don't have a void below the crack. If there is a void, get some foam backing material to fill the crack 1/8" to 1/4" below the surface. Chances are that some backing material will be needed as this stuff flows through the slightest gap.
RU
I did mine a couple of years ago with some hydraulic cement, after scoring and cleaning. Was a bit of work, but have never opened up again.