A sinking cracked concrete slab can be a symptom of a more serious problem.
Ewpairing a garage floor slab.
However many times simply repairing the concrete is more cost effective than replacement.
You cannot do this yourself and it is expensive.
Age or a poor flooring installation can lead to a garage floor replacement or repair.
Concrete garage floor settlement will typically happen over time if placed on top of poor or non compacted base preparation.
A sinking slab also known as sinking concrete is always worth fixing whether it s located in your basement garage driveway or patio.
Erosion and other factors contribute to the garage floor degradation and settlement of concrete s solid base which is supporting it.
If a garage has a post tension slab there is usually either a sign stamped in the concrete floor saying it is a post tension slab or a plastic sign on the garage wall stating it s a post tension slab.
But it is still cheaper than demolishing and re building your garage.
That slab will break up very very easily surprisingly easily with a jackhammer or even a sledgehammer frankly.
Another red flag is a floor slab that has shifted.
The rationale for requiring this little step was that it would prevent spilled gasoline gasoline vapors and carbon monoxide from getting inside the house.
A simple crack in a concrete slab isn t necessarily a problem.
The cost of that procedure is not worth just trying to save the slab.
You may be tempted to try a repair for the concrete of your garage floor possibly even a diy fix using a coating such as epoxy.
Temperature shifts put stress on your concrete garage floor especially in northern climates.
Cleaning and resurfacing the floor usually takes one day on the other hand clearing out your garage so you can work may take weeks.
Building codes used to stipulate that the floor of an attached garage be four inches lower than the floor level of the house.
Old habits die hard.
The cost of resurfacer for a two car garage is typically less than 200.
Today s residential building code does not include this requirement.
A garage floor replacement may be needed simply due to its age.
When to replace your garage floor.
Garage floor surfaces should provide approximately 20 25 years of use.
Slab jacking is one method that can correct the tilt of an entire concrete slab floor.
You ll also need to buy or rent some special tools so expect your total cost to be about 300 for this how to resurface concrete project.
However if you find that the floor has seriously cracked or crumbled the cracks are likely to reoccur even after being patched up.