New workshop - dodgy garage floor - advice sought

I am setting up a new workshop in my garage. I need to address the state of the floor, before investing my hard earned cash in machinery It is 40+ year old concrete, which is dry and dusty in some areas, but with some very significant damp patches. I suspect it was laid without any damp proofing. I have done some research on the web, which has not been very conclusive. Most coating systems I have seen say don't apply if there is any damp present Does anyone out there have any experience of dealing with a similar situation? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated for a cost effective method of sealing the floor.

Regards

Stuart

Reply to
SB11
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You might do better to ask on uk.d-i-y. Not wishing to decry the knowledge of people on here about concrete floors of course.

Reply to
Dave Baker

conclusive.

effective method

Only really effective solution is to Kango it up and re-lay it incorporating a membrane. If the cracked bits seem stable and not moving relative to each other you may get away with an epoxy patching cement then epoxy floor paint, but it'll probably crack again I'm afraid.

I've just finished jack hammering out 1200 sq foot of cracked uneven floor in my new workshop, and I've re-layed a 6" slab of RC45 concrete with fibres incorporated, as well as 6mm reinforcing mesh all floating on 50 mm of polystyrene - obviously also with a dpc membrane. Needless to say a messy, time consuming and expensive process. I'll be p****d off if that gets damp or cracks !!!!

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

Watch where you store the kippers then.............

John S.

Reply to
John S

I didn't see any mention of cracks. Before adopting Andrew's extreme cure, you could try a couple of coats of diluted PVA glue. If nothing else it'll seal the dust to a degree, and if the 'damp' patches are only damp and not wet, it might help there. Cheap & cheerful but no guarantees.

Tim

Reply to
Tim Leech

if it needs more, can I suggest laying a DPC over the existing floor then pouring a 2-4inch layer of concrete over the top, perhaps reinforced with some chicken wire.

If there is a "significant" amount of damp, then anything less substantial is likely to be lifted by the water

Reply to
bigegg

I've used Watco products a few times, they do one that can go onto damp surfaces but I've not used that particular one. Worth giving them a call to see what they suggest.

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Jason

Reply to
jasonballamy

th a

With a similar problem a long time ago I tried a couple of coats of propriety sealant with very limited success.

In the end I bit the bullet and covered the whole floor with the thick grade of PVC floor covering.

This is a very pleasant surface to walk on and, while damp accumulates under the PVC it doesn't seem to get through to the workshop.

This sort of surface is worth preserving so areas close to the lathe and mill are either covered with duckboards or multihole mats. Stray chips fall through the holes and don't get trodden in.

Jim

Reply to
pentagrid

Its difficult to advise without knowing what "significant" damp patches means, how much you want or are able to spend and what scale of machinery you are using.

One suggestion, would be to cover the existing floor with a standard polyethylene DPM then lay 1" thick expanded polystyrene sheet over the top and "float" standard T&G chipboard flooring on top of that. You have to be careful with the EPS sheet whilst laying it - don't walk on it - but once the floor is on top it will take any amount of load, is easy on the feet and doesn't automatically chip any tool dropped on it. You can get EPS sheet in

8' x 4' sizes.

Of course that supposes you are not using the kind of machinery which needs bolting to the floor, I run a Myford 7 and a VMC mill on an EPS supported floor with no problem at all.

Reply to
Norman Billingham

Yes, there are epoxy resins produced for this specific purpose. Not expensive, I have waterproofed the whole ground floor area of a sixteenth century house, where it was not practicable to damproof any other way.

Speak to somebody like Rotafix Resins of Swansea, they are happy to sell direct to public in small quantities. I used to deal with a guy called Dave Smedley, on 01639 730481, although he may have moved on.

Ask if you need to know more.

Reply to
Chris Edwards

Jason, Thanks, that looks like it may well do the trick. Regards

Stuart

Reply to
SB11

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