I've a garage that was built many decades ago, probably in the 1960's, and it was built with a floor made of multiple slabs. They've pitched a little and spread a little. Worst spread is about 1.5 inches wide which is great at swallowing bolts and small sockets. And there's one slab that's about a half or more inches taller than its neighbor, leaving a ledge to trip over.
I'm not entirely sure what the most correct way is to fix this. Cut the slabs up and haul out and have a new floor poured? I'm not interested in the hot mud solution that I've heard about for this kind of thing. And I'm sort of facing some budget challenges coming this year with some other home projects and some other things. So I come here looking for feedback on a couple ideas and maybe get some product suggestions.
Thoughts on me cleaning out the spread joints with a shop vac to try and get as much junk out of there as possible and then using Quikrete to fill those gaps and pouring some out to try to smooth out the low areas to lessen the difference in heights between the high and low areas?
To try and make this bodge job a bit nicer and maybe last a little longer, are there any affordable-ish snap-together garage flooring solutions that can bend a bit and conform to a not so great flooring surface? I think that kind of thing would make this a lot nicer overall but I don't know if there's a go-to flooring to look at first.
If I can get five years out of this sort of fix, that's great, and at that point hopefully I'll have funding to change the floor professionally assuming I'm still in this house by then.
There are a lot of concrete floor leveling products on the market that could possibly work. Many you mix to about the the thickness of a slurpee and pour and it self-levels. A problem may be getting it to bond to the old surface. But, might be worth a try. You can get a reasonable amount of those products for your use for $50 to $150.
I have had good experience with them in residential use, not sure how they would hold up to car weight. But can't be any worse.
Google "Concrete floor leveler"
In reply to Purple Frog :
I looked up concrete floor leveler and the issue here is how big the differences in height are at their worst + the gaps between some of the slabs. It would have to be really thick, thicker than what I see recommended for floor leveler. I think for now I'll pour concrete into the gaps and if I still want to really level the floor, look for some bids on a more professional repair. I was seeing about $1500 in floor tiles at minimum and that seems like a lot when it's really not the right way to fix this.
SV reX
MegaDork
3/15/25 7:02 p.m.
I'm not sure what "hot mud" is, but mud jacking does work (lifts the slabs back into place and fills the void underneath).
There are different products and techniques. One is a soil/ cement solution that is pumped in under pressure. Another is an expanding foam product.
It's used frequently in commercial applications. I see no reason to not consider it for residential application.
SV reX
MegaDork
3/15/25 7:04 p.m.
Do you want level, or flat?
Most of the self leveling products are extremely viscous. They pour in liquid form. They don't work well to make something flat (when it's still out of level)
SV reX
MegaDork
3/15/25 7:12 p.m.
Inexpensive approach...
I wouldn't worry about level. Close the gaps and eliminate tripping hazards.
Vacuum out the large gaps and fill with Top and Bond or hydraulic cement. The skim over the patch with floor patch (sold in flooring dept). It bonds to both wood and concrete, and feathers well to zero thickness.
For unlevel spots up to 1/2" or so, just feather it out with the floor patch.
Let the floor patch set up for a few minutes, then just before it gets really hard use a scraper to "cut" the ridges and imperfections flat.
On the trip hazard you could move over 6 inches and cut out a bigger chunk. That would allow you to ease up on the height difference with a slope.
NOHOME
MegaDork
3/15/25 7:40 p.m.
Pic of what we are fixing would be helpful.
Surface area?
What is a reasonable budget for this project?
Traffic/load?
People give away driveway pavers if you look, so maybe smash the high points, a layer of bedding sand to bring up the low points and lay out 12X12"pavers in the space. Or whatever you can find for free. It is a lot of work.
I thought of the industrial rubber flooring with maybe a filler underneath, but I think you are mostly looking for "free"?
Used conveyor belts are cheap / free. They would do a good job of covering the floor.
For the 1/2 "step" can't you just grind it down to get rid of the trip hazard?
I have used some epoxies to fix concrete floors and they worked fairly well, but can be expensive. I don't mean epoxy floor coverings, but actual epoxy that fills holes or sticks concrete together.