Waxahachie, TX on Oct 23, 2011

When I cleaned my garage and washed concrete, I noticed some small almost hairline cracks.

A little while later, there was water on the floor in the laundry which is on the joining wall. Even later I noticed that the laminate floor in the kitchen which is next to the door of the garage were expanding a little. The same thing happened last year when I parked my snow covered car in the garage. How do I repair those small cracks so this will not happen again? Can I paint something to waterproof the floor or is there a better way?

12 Comments

Dan's of Central Florida,... Clermont, FL

Hi Dianne,
The first thing you need to do is figure out the reason for these cracks. Are they from the natural settlement of the home or some other reason? Until the root issue is taken care of the cracks will most likely continue to reappear and grow in the future. That makes most repairs temporary at best.
All that said, there are concrete repair kits available at the home improvement stores. Since ...»
they are so small (at this point) you might just be able to caulk them up with an elastomeric caulking (which will stretch with the crack). Adding a good coat of oil concrete stain will help keep water from getting through there for a while too.

on Oct 23, 2011 · Like 1
Kindeyes Waxahachie, TX

Thanks, Dan. These cracks are in the end of the garage that is closest to the house not by the garage door. There seem to be no other cracks in the garage floor although there are some larger ones in the driveway.The garage floor has been painted and is beginning to show wear around the cracks. Your idea about paint may be the solution that someone else has used. My biggest concern is that there appears to be a way that the water goes from the garage through these cracks to an inside ...»
wall and an inside floor which I do not like. Will painting it now and keeping paint on it seal it for now or it is just a try and see type of thing?

on Oct 23, 2011 · Like 0
Dan's of Central Florida,... Clermont, FL

I'd guess its more of a try and see. I'd do both the elastomeric caulking and the paint over that myself (the caulking is paintable). Depending on if the cracks are growing and at what rate, this should last you a good while. If water is still making it through all that, it's probably moving by some means other than the cracks.

on Oct 23, 2011 · Like 0
Peace Painting Co., Inc. Alpharetta, GA

It's hard to imagine water coming into the house through hairline cracks in a garage floor. It seems more likely it could be coming in from under a baseboard or door threshold. Can you post a picture?
Best, Charles

on Oct 23, 2011 · Like 0
Woodbridge Environmental ... Colonia, NJ

I agree with Peace on this. The floor of the garage should be lower then the rest of the house. Is it? Code requires this step up into the living area from the garage area for prevention of gas both liquid and some fumes from getting into the home. If the floor is the same grade level where there is no step up, I suggest that you stop using the garage for auto parking.
As far as the cracks are concerned. If the cracks were wide enough to perhaps a thickness of a ...»
penny or dime I doubt this is causing water to seep that far into the home. Even with those large sized cracks I would still doubt it.
Tiny spider web sized cracks on a slab is not uncommon. These are caused by the over troweling of the surface of the slab to make it really smooth and almost shiny. This action brings up more water to the surface which weakens the cement surface and as it drys it shrinks just a bit causing these cracks to develop. Larger cracks can be caused by poor quality prep job, cement, and a host of other issues not of a concern at this point.
I assume you live on a slab style home, or at least a few rooms are on the slab? Could there be an issue with overflows from the laundry? A leak that occurs under the floor would be consistent and happen all the time, which rules out a broken pipe. Assuming the slab in the garage is lower then the rest of the rooms, I would suspect the laundry room is causing this issue with the floor in the kitchen.

on Oct 23, 2011 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

You mentioned washing the concrete...was this with a mop or a hose? Adding liquid water to a space...and then seeing water damage in an adjacent area is a pretty logical jump for me....If the garage slab and the inside space are on the same slab height it would be very easy for water to wick its way under a framed wall. The sill plate of walls are sealed along exterior zones but interiors are typically not treated the same. Adding water to the inside of a home ( garage) make no sense to ...»
me.
If you want to dress up your garage then a epoxy surface is the best route to go. Proper prep here will ensure its looks good for years to come.

on Oct 24, 2011 · Like 1
Paint A Whitman, MA

If the wall is concrete as is the floor use drylock hydraulic cement..it sets in a matter of minutes.Expands as it dries to lock in place.
Withstands up to 3,050 lb. of hydrostatic pressure.If its a combination of drywall and cement then elastromeric caulking for drywall and drylock for the cement.Seal it all up with a drylock or behr waterproofer.You can find this at Any Home depot.

on Oct 25, 2011 · Like 0
Its Really Concrete, Inc. Marietta, GA

good luck w/avenger's advice - we do this work for a living &, other than plastic sheeting & nuisance dust masks, there's nothing for us in apron/vest stores - the only reason behr is becoming ' good ' paint is because the apron store's giving them lots of promotion - don't know many pro's who use it & $$$ is always the reason apron/stores stock stuff,,, drylock-type materials have never been a permanent solution to moisture/water transmission,,, even IF they were, the problem STILL would ...»
penetrate the floor/wall causing unseen problems & damage,,, negative side work is just expensive band-aid to us but, IF you're selling soon, go for it !

on Oct 29, 2011 · Like 0
Kindeyes Waxahachie, TX

Thanks. This is my forever house.

on Nov 18, 2011 · Like 0
Kindeyes Waxahachie, TX

KMS Woodwork has solved the problem for me. I used a hose with a very high pressure. The floor had been painted when I moved here two years ago. I did not see the cracks because the owner had parked his vet there to cover them. I think it would be best to hire a pro to fix this. Thanks to every one of you.

on Nov 18, 2011 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

If you plan to "hose" out the garage on a regular basis. You may want to install a "curb" along the wall (s) that lead into the laundry. Once that is installed sealing the whole area with an epoxy covering should keep the water out.

on Nov 19, 2011 · Like 0
Kindeyes Waxahachie, TX

Thanks again and again.

on Nov 19, 2011 · Like 0