Concrete Repair Suggestions?

17 years ago

Hello.

I am considering an attempt at repairing a cracked section in my driveway (actually it's part of the garage floor slab with butts into a pea gravel driveway). One concrete company gave me a $1500 repair quote to jack hammer out the entire section, and repour. I am preparing to sell the house, and would really rather repair and resurface if possible. I have included a link to a couple of pics which should give you a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. Any suggestions would certainly be appreciated. (you can copy/paste the following two links into your web browser's address bar)

http://webpages.charter.net/tmille3/garage01a.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/tmille3/garage02a.jpg

Thanks.

T Miller

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

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Comments (6)

chefjson
17 years ago
Ohnestly,anyone who is looking to buy a house isn't looking for imperfections.Nice floor plan,sturdy foundation & structure ,maybe landscape.
behaviorkelton
17 years ago
$1,500??? Wow! I was thinking of having some concrete work done as well... but for that little chunk? That seems excessive.
right?
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Thanks everyone, for the responses. I have been off the forum for a couple of days because we set the tub and repaired the hole yesterday, and last night I was exhausted. So I am just seeing some of these responses today. I am happy to announce that at Bill and Mongo's strong suggestion, and my own gut feelings and common sense, I had decided by yesterday morning to definitely go with the concrete. It just seemed to me that if concrete was there originally, it should go back in. The plumber's viewpoint was once the slab had been broken into, its former strength could not be restored by using concrete. Another guy said that mortar would 'adhere' better to the old concrete and was more supple... so if there was any 'movement' under the slab, the mortar would have more 'give' and be less likely to crack. The plumber seemed convinced of his viewpoint, but he was flexible. I told the plumber that I preferred concrete. He said OK. He got the concrete to set up quickly by 'layerin' it. It worked very well. I hope that's a good thing. Ventupete, the 'rebar' idea is brilliant, and you're right, he would have thought it was overkill. The plumber thought it was overkill to have my exterminator over there to treat the soil in the open hole. You asked about the hole? It was kind of centered under the tub, with part of it extending out past the surround, in order to rework the plumbing. So the greater part of the tub was always resting on existing slab. BTW, does everyone know that exterminators recommend treating ANY infraction in a slab? They say that termite (subterranean insects that they are) will come up through even the tiniest hole in a slab and will be 'pigging out' on the studs in your home...you won't know a thing! If you are adding on to your home, treat the soil in the piers of your addition, BEFORE it is poured. True story. It happened to friends with their add-on. Thanks again for the input. We successfully have a tub in place. I would call that a small miracle. :)
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The post above carlos229 is not the OP. One thing I was going to point out about the difference in cost: If you divide the total cost by the proposed # of piers, you get $1600/pier for one contractor and $1700 for the other. So their rate per pier is not far off at all. I did the same thing with foam jacking my sinking driveway. Had estimates from $980 all the way to $2200. Each estimated an amount of foam plus a per-pound price if they went over. I calculated the cost if everyone used the same amount as the highest estimate, and the estimates came out within a couple hundred bucks of each other at that point. So I picked the guy I liked best. He wasn't the cheapest one but it didn't make that much difference. Question is how many piers you need, and I can't help with that. I liked the idea of hiring someone who has no stake in the game to tell you want you need.
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steve_o
17 years ago
I replaced a deck with a patio this summer and was stunned to find out what concrete work goes for. But for $1500 I'd expect them to replace the entire garage slab. I don't think you need to do anything that extreme. If it were me, and assuming the pieces you show are not sinking into the ground, I would get some concrete patch and use that.

I don't quite agree with chefjson that people are not looking for imperfections, but in a house that's more than a few years old, it would not surprise me to see something like that. If it's patched correctly, I wouldn't have a problem with it.
punkitup
17 years ago
LetÂs get this straight so the others reading this thread are not as confused as some seem to be; as I understand your post the $1,500 is for the demolition, removal, replacement and finishing of an entire section of the garage floor. My guess would be, (you didnÂt say) thatÂs probably a minimum of around 1.25 to 1.85 cubic yards depending on a thickness of 4 or 6" if we assumed a 10Âx10Â area, of which the area depicted, is only a small portion. And while I think that $1,500 is a bit pricey, I would doubt that anyone would do it for less then $1,000 when you consider manpower, equipment, haulage and disposal of the spoils, and time required for finishing.

Two things would be helpful, a photo of the entire section of the slab and a note as to what region of the country you are located in.

It is plain to see from the photo that this is not a simple crack in the concrete, or if it was it is no longer, the concrete has been undermined, there are hydraulic forces at work there. From your photo, or probably any photo for that matter it is impossible to tell to what degree the substrate of the bulk of the slab has been impacted.

But letÂs assume the rest of the slab and its substrate is good, I would still not call this a smear on some patch and walk away job. I would saw cut back to uncorrupted concrete, remove the junk, and take what ever steps were necessary to firm up the effected substrate (dig it out and bring it back up with crushed stone). I would then bore and epoxy a couple dowels into the existing good concrete, apply a bonding agent to its cross-section and then pour a fresh 4000 or 5000psi mix. I know that may sound daunting, but it is not as bad as all that, for me it would be maybe a 2-hour job, the fact that I have the tools is a help. But even for anyone with rented tools I couldnÂt see you spending more then half a day at it.

Of course none of this is of any use (in time) if you donÂt correct the issue that caused this problem to begin with.

And by the way, a word of caution, if you do decide to smear on some patch walk away and say "you canÂt see it from my new house", then I would be sure and disclose this to the purchaser. Because if the substrate of that entire section of slab is eroded and a month later it collapses in I know my attorney would be questioning your prior knowledge.

I know just enough about concrete to be dangerous, here is one of the more recent projects I worked on.
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k269/punk_itup/5dbc0126.jpg
fixizin
17 years ago
I think punkitup has some excellent points. Are we looking at freeze/thaw damage, soil undermining due to backed up drain/flood waters...? If so, punkitup's cure is the way to go.

... Or is it just that small area on the step-down lip?

For the quick and dirty patch job I've had good experience with Quikrete's Vinyl Concrete Patcher; mix it thick and trowel it in... bonds tight and feathers into the existing slab pretty well. Sets in about 30 min, cures to 3,000psi in 7 days, over 5,000psi in 28 days! It's a tough patching concrete, rated for driveways.
djm253525
17 years ago
Why not put a nice patch on it? Then put a surface bonding cement on top to make it look all smooth and finished. I'm assuming this is just a small area of the garage under the door that is usually poured separate from the rest of the floor.

Concrete Repair Suggestions?

Comments (6)

chefjson

behaviorkelton

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steve_o

punkitup

fixizin

djm253525

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