I live in a house built in 1951 and concrete drive and garage floor are not
in great condition and should be replaced. May be a couple of years before I
get that done however. For now I would like to do a fix on the concrete in
the garage.

Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the
time there is standing water, mostly on the north side. The garage is
attached to the house, but is couple feet lower. The garage concrete sits
well above grade and no problems with gutters, and no leaks in roof. I
guess the water just wicks up?

Is there some product I could use to seal this old concrete and stop this
problem?

The floor was also painted at some point, but 90% of the paint is gone on
the north side, which is where the problem is. There are however small
patches of paint here and there.

Looking for a fix that can last a couple of years at least.

On Sunday, September 14, 2014 9:14:26 AM UTC-4, wrote:
I live in a house built in 1951 and concrete drive and garage floor are not

in great condition and should be replaced. May be a couple of years before I

get that done however. For now I would like to do a fix on the concrete in

the garage.



Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the

time there is standing water, mostly on the north side. The garage is

attached to the house, but is couple feet lower. The garage concrete sits

well above grade and no problems with gutters, and no leaks in roof. I

guess the water just wicks up?



Is there some product I could use to seal this old concrete and stop this

problem?



The floor was also painted at some point, but 90% of the paint is gone on

the north side, which is where the problem is. There are however small

patches of paint here and there.



Looking for a fix that can last a couple of years at least.

Without determining the source of the water and addressing that, no
solution is possible. Also, if the concrete garage floor is in such bad
shape that it should be replaced, it's hard to contemplate a solution
worth pursuing that's going to be worth it. If it needs to be replaced,
what's the point in say painting it? And any prep work to get it to the
state where it could be flat, ready to be painted, isn't likely to be
worth it if it still needs to be replaced in a few years.

But first step in any of that is determining what the water problem is.
IDT anyone here can do that withoug even seeing it.

I'd be reluctant to put anything ON TOP of the slab to prevent moisture from accumulating on top of the slab. That's because whatever you put on top of the slab WON'T prevent water from rising up into the slab, and the more water there is in there, the greater the liklihood of freeze/thaw damage if it gets cold enough in the winter for that slab to freeze. (I don't know where you live.)

Another possible source of that moisture is condensation. A concrete slab has a lot of thermal inertia. If it gets cold, it'll stay cold for a long time before warm weather warms it up again. If the weather turns hot and humid, you can have enough condensation forming on that cold slab to make it wet.

You might try duct taping some vapour barrier down over the worst area of the slab when it's dry, and then checking to see if the moisture forms above or below the plastic when it's wet there. That will tell you whether the moisture is accumulating from below or from above. Could the condensation be forming over the entire surface of the slab, and then draining to the north end of it by gravity? Is your garage slab smooth enough to test that hypothesis with a ball bearing? I'm thinking you could let the ball bearing loose on the garage slab, and see if it rolls to the north end of the slab.

The fact that the paint has peeled off in the area where the water is worst certainly suggests that the water is rising up from below, but if that were the case, one would expect mold to be growing both on and IN the concrete in that area. If it were condensation, you'd have much less mold growth because there would be no minerals or nutrients in the condensation that could provide a food supply to the mold.

Your best bet is to wait until you replace the slab, and put a moisture barrier down over the compacted limestone before you pour the concrete. That way you're preventing the moisture from even entering the slab, and dry concrete is happy concrete.

On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 06:14:26 -0700, wrote:

...snip...
Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the
time there is standing water, mostly on the north side. The garage is
attached to the house, but is couple feet lower. The garage concrete
sits
well above grade and no problems with gutters, and no leaks in roof. I
guess the water just wicks up?
...snip....

please tell me you don't have cast iron water piping. circa '51, it's time
for it to start failing, and leaking, and supplying water in all kinds of
surprising places.

On 9/14/2014 10:45 AM, RobertMacy wrote:
On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 06:14:26 -0700, wrote:

...snip...
Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the
time there is standing water, mostly on the north side.

...snip....

please tell me you don't have cast iron water piping. circa '51, it's
time for it to start failing, and leaking, and supplying water in all
kinds of surprising places.

I had a leak in the downstairs bathroom. Water on the floor, but no
idea where it was coming from. Never saw a drip anywhere for weeks.
Finally, I found a leak in a flex section of the baseboard heat where it
had to make a little zig-zag.

Replaced it, then about 6 years later it leaked the same way. Replaced
it with PEX. That has been OK for years now.

One possibility: Was there ever salt or other hydrophilic
chemicals stored there? If so then maybe the first step
is to just give it a good washing.


wrote in message
eb.com...
|I live in a house built in 1951 and concrete drive and garage floor are not
| in great condition and should be replaced. May be a couple of years before
I
| get that done however. For now I would like to do a fix on the concrete
in
| the garage.
|
| Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the
| time there is standing water, mostly on the north side. The garage is
| attached to the house, but is couple feet lower. The garage concrete sits
| well above grade and no problems with gutters, and no leaks in roof. I
| guess the water just wicks up?
|
| Is there some product I could use to seal this old concrete and stop this
| problem?
|
| The floor was also painted at some point, but 90% of the paint is gone on
| the north side, which is where the problem is. There are however small
| patches of paint here and there.
|
| Looking for a fix that can last a couple of years at least.

In article op.xl6lxsgm2cx0wh@ajm,
RobertMacy wrote:

On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 06:14:26 -0700, wrote:

...snip...
Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the
time there is standing water, mostly on the north side. The garage is
attached to the house, but is couple feet lower. The garage concrete
sits
well above grade and no problems with gutters, and no leaks in roof. I
guess the water just wicks up?
...snip....

please tell me you don't have cast iron water piping. circa '51, it's time
for it to start failing, and leaking, and supplying water in all kinds of
surprising places.

What if the garage floor has a water supply pipe buried in or under it?

My house was built in 1965. During a 2000 renovation, it was found that
both sewer and water pipes were buried in or under concrete. I never
had a problem that I knew of, but there are now new pipes routed outside
around the concrete!

Fred

On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 16:24:07 +0200, nestork
wrote:

Your best bet is to wait until you replace the slab, and put a moisture
barrier down over the compacted limestone before you pour the concrete.
That way you're preventing the moisture from even entering the slab, and
dry concrete is happy concrete.

+ 1 Especially since we know little about the slab, soil conditions,
local water table, climate or plumbing under the slab.

A neighbor had some cracks in his "sun room". Minerals leached up
into the pad. After it was cut out (a foot from the perimeter walls )
- it became obvious.

The room was an addition. The builder threw old concrete and large
rocks in for fill, no rebar at all, and no vapor barrier. Fixed now.
--
Definition of a camel: A horse designed by a committee

On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 13:14:26 GMT, wrote:

I live in a house built in 1951 and concrete drive and garage floor are not
in great condition and should be replaced. May be a couple of years before I
get that done however. For now I would like to do a fix on the concrete in
the garage.

Not sure why, but much of the time the concrete is damp and some of the
time there is standing water, mostly on the north side. The garage is
attached to the house, but is couple feet lower. The garage concrete sits
well above grade and no problems with gutters, and no leaks in roof. I
guess the water just wicks up?

Is there some product I could use to seal this old concrete and stop this
problem?

The floor was also painted at some point, but 90% of the paint is gone on
the north side, which is where the problem is. There are however small
patches of paint here and there.

Looking for a fix that can last a couple of years at least.
Does the darage have gutters on the roof? What is the slope of the
surrounding land? Sounds like you have a SERIOUS drainage issue!!!

On 9/14/2014 12:47 PM, Fred McKenzie wrote:

My house was built in 1965. During a 2000 renovation, it was found that
both sewer and water pipes were buried in or under concrete. I never
had a problem that I knew of, but there are now new pipes routed outside
around the concrete!

Fred


Mu brother-in-law bought a house in Levitown, PA. Built in the 1950's
they had copper tubing in the floor for radiant heat. In the 70's and
80's, homeowners started putting in baseboard heat when the copper
started to corrode away.