[Spridgets] concrete question

[Timothy H. Collins]

Robert,
Putting my Civil Engineer's hat on. . .Putting a new layer of 
concrete over the old is not a good idea for your situation. The new 
will never bond 100% to the old so water (which it appears you have 
in abundance) will penetrate between layers. This will cause problems 
with chemical reactions and with freeze thaw. I'd bet the perimeter 
of your garage floor freezes occasionally which will destroy the new 
layer. I don't know what type of aggregates you have in Canada, but 
alkaline reactivity is an example of "chemical reaction." If your 
concrete has pop outs with a tan color aggregate in the bottom of 
each hole, you probably have this situation. In most locals in the 
US, there are laws that say; "thou shalt not flood thy neighbors 
land." Seems like the public road is contributing to your lake 
problem. Enlist the help of your CA government - ask for a "bail out" 
(pun intended). We're doing bail outs here in a big way! Get rid of 
the water for lotsa reasons.

Price: Portland Cement, an ingredient in concrete, is an energy 
intensive material to produce and transport so expect to pay more 
each day you wait to do the project.



At 10:43 AM 10/15/2008, Robert Duquette wrote:
>Who would like to venture a guess at what having a concrete floor 
>poured would cost?
>
>My floor is crumbly and about 2.5 inches too low compared to the 
>driveway, at the lowest point.
>
>I figured, that someone would rough it up to remove the loosest 
>parts, and then pour over it.  The guy who came to give me an 
>estimate last night was actually recommending raising the driveway 
>as well to help with my problem.
>So, he was recommending cutting out the old concrete, adding a base 
>and then pouring 4 inches of concrete.  I'm told that it's roughly 
>580 square feet.
>( But, I think it is roughly 21 x 23. )  I wasn't impressed with his 
>decision to tell me what needed to be done instead of quoting on 
>what I wanted done and the price just floored me.  ( pun intended )

Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/