Waterproofing your garage floor is a time and money saving investment, because it's nearly impossible to keep salt and dripping water from your car off the floor.
Ignored, over a period of time, floor water damage - from simple pitting to serious cracking is inevitable.
So, how do you deal with it? Prevention can be accomplished in a variety of ways.
Keep the water off the floor with mats.
They catch the water and channel it away to a drain or the outside.
They come in a variety of sizes for cars or trucks depending on how much of the floor you want to cover, just the area under your car, or the entire floor.
The large mats will unroll and seal at the edges, ones that require no adhesives are easier to install.
Smaller "containment" mats have raised edges on the sides with a slanted front for easy vehicle access and are usually the size of the car or truck.
They catch dirt, salt and water and keep it from reaching the concrete.
There is a large range in types and cost of these mats.
Keep the water from reaching the floor with sealers.
Concrete sealers should be semi permeable to let the concrete "breathe".
If it cannot do so, it can trap moisture and cause increased cracking.
There are a large variety of sealers available from paints to epoxies.
Painting garage floors usually requires frequent maintenance, as most floor paints peal within a year or so on a garage floor because of the heavy traffic.
Sealers range in cost from around $30 per gallon to over $200 per gallon.
One gallon will usually cover one coat on a single car garage floor about 200 to 250 sq.
ft.
A double car garage using two coats requires four to five gallons.
Keep the water from coming in under the door with door seals.
There are two types: Threshold seals which glue on the floor where the door meets it and forms a barrier to water, wind, dust and snow when the door is closed.
Door mounted weather-stripping mounts on the base of the door and pushes down against the concrete apron when the door is closed, thus retarding the water, wind, dust and snow.
The front door mounted weather stripping does not seal as tightly as base attached units, however, they are usually easier to affix.
There are many variations of each type with some being do it yourself kits and some requiring professional installation and with a wide differences in their cost.
As a last resort, a simple solution,when the floor doesn't drain properly, is to keeping the water from running across the garage where you don't want it.
Buy a, treated lumber, 4 X 4 as long as needed to block the water from the area you want to keep dry.
This is usually the length of the floor for half the garage or two pieces joining at a right angle for a rectangular area.
Apply several coats of marine (boat deck) varnish to the boards and seal them firmly with construction sealer and silicone to the floor and wall.
This acts as a dam and prevents water from flooding the whole floor.
Another simple solution for an improperly sloped floor is to cut a channel with a concrete diamond grinder to the necessary depth into the floor.
Lead it to the outside discharge area or to a floor drain.
It's a good idea to use a chalk snap line to mark your channel.
Be sure to follow all grinding safety precautions and always wear protective goggles when doing so.
Do this when the floor is dry.
This requires experience using these tools and in judging the direction and depth of the cut.
You may want to visit http://www.
basementwaterproofinginfo.
com for more information regarding home waterproofing solutions and ways to keep the water away from your garage.
Ignored, over a period of time, floor water damage - from simple pitting to serious cracking is inevitable.
So, how do you deal with it? Prevention can be accomplished in a variety of ways.
Keep the water off the floor with mats.
They catch the water and channel it away to a drain or the outside.
They come in a variety of sizes for cars or trucks depending on how much of the floor you want to cover, just the area under your car, or the entire floor.
The large mats will unroll and seal at the edges, ones that require no adhesives are easier to install.
Smaller "containment" mats have raised edges on the sides with a slanted front for easy vehicle access and are usually the size of the car or truck.
They catch dirt, salt and water and keep it from reaching the concrete.
There is a large range in types and cost of these mats.
Keep the water from reaching the floor with sealers.
Concrete sealers should be semi permeable to let the concrete "breathe".
If it cannot do so, it can trap moisture and cause increased cracking.
There are a large variety of sealers available from paints to epoxies.
Painting garage floors usually requires frequent maintenance, as most floor paints peal within a year or so on a garage floor because of the heavy traffic.
Sealers range in cost from around $30 per gallon to over $200 per gallon.
One gallon will usually cover one coat on a single car garage floor about 200 to 250 sq.
ft.
A double car garage using two coats requires four to five gallons.
Keep the water from coming in under the door with door seals.
There are two types: Threshold seals which glue on the floor where the door meets it and forms a barrier to water, wind, dust and snow when the door is closed.
Door mounted weather-stripping mounts on the base of the door and pushes down against the concrete apron when the door is closed, thus retarding the water, wind, dust and snow.
The front door mounted weather stripping does not seal as tightly as base attached units, however, they are usually easier to affix.
There are many variations of each type with some being do it yourself kits and some requiring professional installation and with a wide differences in their cost.
As a last resort, a simple solution,when the floor doesn't drain properly, is to keeping the water from running across the garage where you don't want it.
Buy a, treated lumber, 4 X 4 as long as needed to block the water from the area you want to keep dry.
This is usually the length of the floor for half the garage or two pieces joining at a right angle for a rectangular area.
Apply several coats of marine (boat deck) varnish to the boards and seal them firmly with construction sealer and silicone to the floor and wall.
This acts as a dam and prevents water from flooding the whole floor.
Another simple solution for an improperly sloped floor is to cut a channel with a concrete diamond grinder to the necessary depth into the floor.
Lead it to the outside discharge area or to a floor drain.
It's a good idea to use a chalk snap line to mark your channel.
Be sure to follow all grinding safety precautions and always wear protective goggles when doing so.
Do this when the floor is dry.
This requires experience using these tools and in judging the direction and depth of the cut.
You may want to visit http://www.
basementwaterproofinginfo.
com for more information regarding home waterproofing solutions and ways to keep the water away from your garage.
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