Lee B wrote:

aemeijers wrote:
Lee B wrote:

Following up. Yes, I think they did take an existing cement patio and
build the florida room on top of it. The patio in turn abuts a paved
area at the same height. There used to be a pool in the yard, and
apparently the original owner was quite the party person (there is a
"Tiki" bar with fake bamboo at one end of the room!), so I suspect he
really didn't care about water coming in because with the pool it
probably got got wet a lot anyhow. I can't tell how the water gets
in; I never see it as it happens - just come home to find small
puddles. And it doesn't happen all the time. I do get some puddling
on the outside cement so I wonder it there is occasionally a "high
tide" the comes over the tracks. It's gotten better since I attached
some of those extension tubes to the downspout that was also draining
onto the cement.

I think the next step will be unglued indoor/outdoor carpet, which
will have to suffice for a while.

Thanks for the suggestions.

So how do you tell where the patio stops and the paved area starts? :^)

If this proves to be an ongoing problem, I'd look seriously at
removing some of the paved area, or at least cutting a slot and adding
a sloped-bottom slit drain leading to a drywell, parallel to the wall
with the slider in it. If the concrete was not in the way, how would
the drainage be in your yard? Clay and mud, or sand as deep as anyone
has ever dug?

--
aem sends...

They actually look different. The "floor" / patio material has a smooth
surface and is painted a brown. The paved area is normal "sidewalk"
color and texture. (see photobucket links below) If I had to guess, the
brown part was there first. Then someone put an inground pool in the
yard and added the concrete part. And placed the Florida room on top of
the patio. The pool has been removed, but the concrete has a round
contour where the pool would have been. I guess my problem is that I
want to think of it as an actual room, whereas it's more of a patio with
some glass walls sitting on top of it.

I don't know what the drainage would be like in that area. I just moved
in a year ago, and the pool had come and gone by then. The Florida room
runs across the whole back of the house, but the additional cement
walkway part only exists on the side where the pool was. On the other
side of the room, where there is just grass, I've never seen any water.
I didn't get a picture of that, but the dirt is maybe an inch or so
lower than the concrete floor.

I hope these wrap ok:
View from inside looking out; you can see extension of colored
cement.You can see where some water dried on the floor.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=basene008.jpg


View along the back of the room.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=basene004.jpg


Where the pool would have been
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=basene006.jpg


Is having the cement removed a huge expensive job? The occasional
puddles are annoying, but not enough to justify a huge bill at this
point in my life and economy. I wonder if it'd be possible to remove
maybe a 1-2 foot strip of cement right beside the pink part, and put in
a garden or something to match the other side.

Again, I appreciate the input.
Looks like they didn't actually remove the pool, they just filled it in.
If it was a concrete pool, I hope they punched a hole in the bottom
first. Big problem I see is that the old pool surround slabs, at least
on the one end, are higher than the brown slab. In a driving rain, that
will pond. Best solution would be to tear out the old pool surround, so
you can see what is actually under there, and regrade so there is a
dropoff at the edge of the brown concrete. How young and healthy are
you? Taking out concrete is cheap, if you can still wield a pickax and
sledge hammer. Most people rent a air hammer and bobcat, or hire the
work out. Shouldn't be too hard to cut out a strip along the sunroom,
maybe 24" wide, dig that out, and provide some drainage that way, along
with a planting bed. It'll cost a couple hundred for a concrete cutting
company, or less to rent a saw and do it yourself. You can figure out
what to do with the rest of the concrete later. I would price out just
the strip versus the whole yard before deciding- may not be much price
difference in the work. Cutting straight clean edges is slow, taking out
whole panels is fast, with the right equipment. If a real backhoe can
get back there, they could have the yard down to bare dirt in half a
day. If only a baby backhoe like a bobcat can, it'll take longer, and it
is harder hauling off the concrete, since baby backhoes can't reach up
into a dump truck.

--
aem sends...