My client has a basement under his concrete driveway and garage. There are cracks in the driveway that are leaking into the basement. What would be the best product to seal these cracks?
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This is a tough one. Your friend may be fighting a losing battle here but I can give you some ideas. In bridge work, when you have an area under a slab you want to keep dry, some agencies have had success using a latex overlay. This would be prohibitively expensive for a homeowner though.
If the cracks are small, you may have luck with epoxy injection, but there are just too many variables you haven't identified to assure this will work. Is the slab reinforced with rebar? Is the concrete air-entrained? What climate are you in? What is the age of the slab? What is causing the cracks? etc,etc,etc.
There are a number of different toppings and sealers that are available, but you really need to identify whether the products you are looking at are recommended for the specific application you describe.
Eric
The slab is about 30yrs old. The slab is no more than 4" thick and I don't see any rebar in the cracks. The house is in San Francisco and the weather is moderate all year round, no freezing or temps above 100 degrees F. It snowed here once in 33 years I've been around.
I don't know the cause of the cracks but according to the owner who grew up in this house they have been there for at least 20 years and always leaked. I think the house was inherited by the son. The cracks are no larger than 1/2" at the widest point. I think they are from settling and may have been around since shortly after the home was built. According to the owner they have not gotten any lasrger in 20 years.
Thanks for your reply.
Your original post lead me to believe that the basement was indeed under the garage slab and driveway slab. This is why I asked about reinforcement, etc. It sounded as if there was a vaulted slab over the basement. I read from your reply that this is not the case. So I guess I'm confused as to how the driveway is leaking into the basement.
The driveway and garage are on the same level. You drive over the driveway and into the garage. The basement is huge and extends under both the garage and sidewalk. I have seen a few homes in S.F. built this way.
As far as the framing is concerned the driveway is the roof of a lower floor. It is framed with 2 x 12's supporting the roof wich in this case is the concrete driveway.
So what I need is a water proof concrete roof that can, and has been, support cars and trucks.
Thanks.