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Summary: Garage floors should either slope to allow for water runoff or have a drain. Garage floors with a drain may require a separator to meet building code compliance. Sloping the floor is the cheapest way to construct concrete garage floors.
Carl, Do you recommend putting a garage floor drain or just have them slope the garage out? We live in the Midwest (four seasons)...Tony"
Hi Tony,
A floor drain in garage floors, depending on locale, will probably require building code compliance and building code inspection and approval.
One may be forced to install a separator in garage floors that ...Read the rest Here.
In preparation for winter weather it’s always wise to buy a few bags of deicing salt and have them handy in the garage. However it is important to understand that deicing salts can wreak havoc on concrete driveways and walkways and can damage adjacent shrubbery and vegetation. In addition, there are number of deicing salts available on the market, each with their own unique pros and cons, and that are designed to work effectively at different temperatures. So which one do you use?
All deicing salts do basically one thing. They lower the melting point or freezing point of water. Their effect is to cause the ice to melt and stay in a liquid water state at lower temperatures.
Sodium Chloride, or rock salt, is the most commonly used deicing salt, and it can effectively melt ice down to about 15o Fahrenheit. Unfortunately it is very corrosive to concrete and metal, and can damage vegetation. It also produces a high amount of Chloride ions which is not healthy for the environment. Consequently rock salt should be used sparingly and on asphalt driveways only.
Potassium chloride is another common deicing salt, however it is effective only down to 20o Fahrenheit and it too easily damages concrete.
Calcium chloride dicing salt is another option. It melts ice even faster than Sodium Chloride and can effectively melt ice down to -20o Fahrenheit. It can be an irritant to skin and it too is corrosive to concrete.
The last fairly common dicing salt is Magnesium Chloride. Similar to Sodium Chloride it works down to around 0o Fahrenheit, however it is less damaging to concrete and vegetation. It also releases fewer Chlorides ions than Sodium Chloride.
So this winter make sure to stop by the local hardware store and pick up the right dicing salt for your climate, and driveway and sidewalk surface conditions. Regardless of what deicing salt you choose, the best rule of thumb is to use it as sparingly as possible. By doing so you can accomplish your main goal of eliminating ice build up on your driveway or sidewalk, while at the same time minimizing environmental harm to your concrete surfaces and localized vegetation.
My house has concrete slabs in the back yard which make up my patio.
I live in NY State and the constant changing weather has caused the slabs closest to the house to heave inward so that any water whether it is melting snow, rain, or just washing off patio runs inward and sits at the foundation for hours and sometimes even days depending on the weather.
Is there a quick and fairly inexpensive fix for this or will I need to have it replaced?
Thanks, Nancy"
Hi Nancy,
Using a concrete slab for a patio is a good way & one of the least expensive ways to build a patio.
Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, especially concrete slabs, without footings or a good gravel sub base.
Unprotected from frost and freezing ground, they heave and crack. They also sink when they are poured on non-compacted earth, such as near a house foundation.
In your case, an additional problem may occur due to the sinking, if it hasn’t already, and that is that the sitting water may eventually seep into your basement.
One solution I have seen work is slabjacking, also called mudjacking.
Concrete leveling or slabjacking (mudjacking) is a procedure that attempts to correct an uneven concrete surface by altering the foundation that the surface sits upon.
It is a cheaper alternative to having replacement concrete poured, and commonly performed at small businesses and private homes.
It is a process of leveling the concrete slab that can both raise, or float the old cracked slab back to its original position and create a new foundation of cement mortar or sand mix by injecting the mortar under the slab through a hole, under pressure.
Lifting a slab using this method can often be accomplished in a few hours.
Check for concrete leveling companies near you by Googling "concrete leveling" or "slabjacking".
Here’s a short video on the subject
However, you may need to have the slab(s) removed, the soil re-graded, compacted, and a gravel sub-base installed, and new slab(s) poured.
Compacting the soil won’t prevent this from happening again, but it will help add years to the lifetime of your patio.
Compactor
If you do replace the concrete slab you may want to consider using permeable (porous or pervious) concrete when you redo the patio.
Permeable concrete allows water to pass through and drain into the gravel sub-base.
Permeable concrete uses the same equipment and process as common concrete. The difference is larger pea gravel and a lower water-to-cement ratio to achieve a pebbled, open surface that is roller compacted.
