Covering for Cracked Garage Floor Slab?

[Mike Ellis]

Years ago I converted my garage into an office,and have had carpet on the floor. Over the years I have had water penetrate into the garage during heavy storms a few times, and this Thursday we had a flash-flood type event that completely soaked the entire office.



Having finally gotten sick of dealing with the miserable carpet, I peeled it up this morning with the plan of putting down linoleum. To my disgust, I found that my garage slab is now speckled with some good size (up to 1/8") cracks. #@$%!



Any ideas what kind of non-carpet floor covering I could put down over the cracks and have a durable surface?? Is it feasible to put linoleum over cracks? How about those epoxy type finishes? This really chaps my hide as I thought it would be a simple remove and replace... . grrrrrrrr

 

[tkerrigan]

Diamond Plate Tiles
Diamond Plate Tileshttp://

RaceDeck® Garage Flooring, Portable Commercial Modular Garage Floors, Epoxy Floor Coating, Car Floor Mat, Tiles & Cover
RaceDeck® Garage Flooring, Portable Commercial Modular Garage Floors, Epoxy Floor Coating, Car Floor Mat, Tiles & Cover

Garage flooring | tile garage floors | garage floor mats | American Garage Floor
Garage flooring | tile garage floors | garage floor mats | American Garage Floorhttp://

Garage floor, garage floors, garage flooring, epoxy garage floor alternative, garage floor tile, interlocking floor tiles, garage floor tiles by Swisstrax Inc.
Garage floor, garage floors, garage flooring, epoxy garage floor alternative, garage floor tile, interlocking floor tiles, garage floor tiles by Swisstrax Inc.

I installed something similar to the above in my garage, got it at Costco. Covers huge cracks.

 

[Mike Ellis]

Wow, those are some great floor coverings - thanks tkerrigan! They look like just the ticket!

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

Is the water coming in thru the cracks or thru a door? If it is seeping thru the cracks and you put a covering over it, I'd been concerned about moisture building between the concrete and covering and turning to mold. Just a thought.

 

[Mike Ellis]

Greetings gentlemen,



The water penetrated in through the door, we had a flash flood type event and it hosed my carpet over big-time. I couldn't believe how much dirt / silt was under the foam pad when we pulled it up. The "remediation" stuff didn't do anything beyond cleaning the top surface of the carpet and replacing the wet smell with a mediciney-smell. From my experience, it looks like dirt under the pad can't be pulled out by the wet vac system they use, so if silt gets in it will stay trapped and be a breeding ground for all kinds of nasty stuff.



After we got everything pulled up and the slab cleaned, I sealed the cracks and ended up putting down "Motofloor" garage tiles from Costco - they were by far the best deal I could find because I didn't have to pay shipping. They come in any color you want, as long as it's black and white :-laf - the Costco boxes have 1/2 of the tiles white, the other tiles are black so it is easy to put down a checkerboard or other design if you wish.



The tiles are extremely easy to install, they snap together like Legos. My kids and I did the whole garage office in about 3 hours total. They are not as shiny as the Racedeck tiles, but look pretty darn good and are impervious to moisture, spills etc. If you spill something it can drip through the joints of course, but the tile is easy to disassemble (or better, roll up if possible) to clean up. If you move somewhere, you can take the floor with you. I am very pleased with it, cost about $800 to the do the whole shebang. No muss, no fuss, no odor. Highly recommended.



I have attached a picture from the Costco website so folks can see what the stuff looks like. Sadly that is not my Cobra, and it doesn't come with the tile either :{ :-laf :-laf



Costco - MotoFloor® Modular Garage Flooring

 

[WDixon27]

mmmmm polished cobra

 

[Alphacowboy]

Mike, I hate to break this to you (sorry didnt see this thread until now) but your most likely still going to have water issues. Even by sealing those cracks, the cement is still going to move and those cracks will open up again. Now the water will be hidden behind a rubber mat, and a breading ground for mold.



If you do end up with water again your going to need to fix it. Luckly, as you said they lock together, and if you need to pull up a corner, it should be easy enough. I would pull up a corner, cut out the concrete in a 2x2 square, and dig a hole about 3-4' deep, 18-20" round, and then take a piece of 18" plastic sewer pipe. Drill a bunch of 1/2" holes in the bottom 2 ft of it. Fill it up half way with washed rock. Then put in a sump pump. This should take care of the issue if it comes back.

 

[SMorneau]

I like the looks of those mats but the thought of cleaning up a spill makes me cringe.