Concrete is suitable and among the most preferred garage flooring material. Concrete surfaces are considered firm and will last-long when properly installed. Despite its strength, It is still not free from wear and tear. Continuous exposure to heavy objects will, over time, weaken your garage surface, leading to the formation of cracks and pits. To reinforce your floor, you can install the tough and durable Garage floor epoxy. The following steps will come in handy when resurfacing your garage.
Tools Required
- Power washer
- Push broom
- Trowel
- Power mixer
- Floor squeegee
- Bucket
- Protective gear
Materials Required
- Concrete cleaner
- Enough resurfacer
- Concrete crack sealer
- Plastic sheeting- to protect walls
Everything you will need for this repair is available at home centers and comes at affordable prices.
Step 1: Prepping The Concrete For Repair
The garage should be cleaned and free of any bond breakers, e.g., oil stains. Scrub with a concrete degreaser, a stiff brush: then use a pressure washer to remove dirt and loose concrete. A garden horse will come in handy if the pressure washer is unavailable. After the concrete dries up, sweep the rest of the debris with a push broom.
Step 2: Find Deep Pits And Areas That Deteriorated Underneath
Remove all loose concrete with a hammer, chisel away all loose fragments along cracks. You can tap around the garage with a hammer, listening for hollow sounds that indicate places deteriorated underneath. The places with hollow sound should be hit hard to expose damage for repair. Sweep the area clean again, and vacuum the dust from the surface. Find and mark the deep pits and divots. The market offers various products to use depending on the size of the repair you are making, the depth, and the owner’s preference.
Step 3: Concrete Floor Patch: Fill Large Cracks, Craters, And Pits
Mix some resurfacer; use a paddle attachment on a corded drill to mix the resurface to a thick consistency. Fill the cracks, craters, pits, and divots with the resurface mix. The trowel will assist in transferring the resurface: fill the damaged places living no air bubbles. Once the cracks are filled, smoothen for it to be flush with the rest of the slab. Allow the patches to dry, which may take a bit of time depending on weather conditions. Ensure you put a weather strip on expansion joints, helping maintain the joint while you take a break.
Step 4: Applying The Resurfacer
(i) Mist the concrete so that it’s damp; this will ensure that concrete will not absorb water from the resurface mix, making it adhere better.
(ii) Using your floor estimates, mix your resurfacer to the consistency of pancake batter. Use the corded drills and their paddle attachment to blend the resurfacer. If you mix too thick, ensure you add some water, or if it’s too runny, add some resurfacer
Spread it smooth, then let it set. You need a friend who will assist in mixing while you spread to give better results. Start at one end of the concrete and apply towards the other end. Using a squeegee, push forward under moderate pressure to spread the resurfacer evenly. Drag the squeegee back to eliminate edge ridges smoothening the coating
Work quickly and with precision for quality results because the resurfacer dries within 30 minutes. Work and in back and forth motion till the resurfacer is smooth. Ensure that you do not cover the weather stripping joints between your slabs. Smooth concrete poses a danger because it’s slippery: to avoid this, the texture should be added. After the resurfacer settles for 5 minutes, in one direction, drag a clean push broom across the surface to create texture lines.
Let the resurfacer dry for 6hrs before walking on it; if you also wish, you can add another coat after 24hrs following before driving on your new slab.
