How To Repair Cracks In Garage Floor

2021-09-03

No matter how nice your garage floor is when it’s first installed, and regardless of how well you take care of it, you’ll eventually get a garage floor crack that needs repair. It is very common that garage floor have cracks after a long period of use. These imperfections that are inflicted to our poor concrete floors can sometimes be irritating, especially in some case where the cracks and holes seem impossible to remove and repair. No matter how stubborn these flaws in your floor are, they can still be counteracted with the right solution and process. Before you can understand how to address garage floor cracks, it's important to have some foundational understanding of concrete itself.

Clean out the cracks

The very first thing to do when making a crack repair is to chase the crack. Making sure that the mold, mildew, and other dirt in the cracks are removed. Cleaning the cracks removes loose particles and bond breakers that prevent proper, long term durability.

Apply epoxy through the cracks

After getting rid of crack dirt, an epoxy should be applied throughout the cracks. Epoxy is a common way to fill in the cracks. Cracks are not just surface breakage. They can go deep as much as four inches, so simple mortar and cement is not enough. You will need an elastic material such as an epoxy to penetrate deep into the crack. Make sure to scrape the excess epoxy from the crack itself to have a smooth finish.

It is important that your crack filler is thin enough to fill the crack to the bottom and not just at the surface. If the crack filler does not go all the way to the bottom and have the capability to cure below the surface it will not work and you will have wasted time and money. If the crack is properly filled your coating will perform over the long term. Long term performance of floor coatings are subject to how well the floor is repaired.

Fill the cracks

Once you have filled the cracks you can apply a thin mesh over the crack. The negative is that it will bleed through your top coat if the coating is not thick enough. If you have filled the crack to the bottom and add a fine grinding to the top and grind smooth till your crack should endure. Make sure that the crack filler has flexibility when cured. If the filler gets hard and cracks you have defeated the purpose and your coating will eventually fail.

Epoxies work well because they flow into the surface area. If your patch repair product is too thick it may look fine when you are finished but doesn't mean that it will last. Moisture pressure can easily pop the patch off the floor. The best way is that patch repair product is thin enough to flow into and wet into the surface becoming part of the floor. Wetting means that the repair product flows into the pores of the concrete. When it cures it becomes part of the concrete not just stuck to the surface.

DTS Diamond Tools can provide suitable concrete floor diamond tooling for repairing the garage floor and ensure you get the job done smoothly. We are happy to offer support at any level of your work.