Garage - floor pools water in winter from car snow melt

[sportbikerider78]

Looking for some general advice.

We have a great 3 car garage and I always park our 2 vehicles inside, almost all year round. We get TONS of snow in Syracuse NY and I live in the country on a long (1/4mi) driveway. It has some snow cover from Dec-March every year. I track lots of snow inside the garage and get lots of moisture. Parking outside is not an option.

I kick the slush off the cars before they go in to get the big stuff. I sweep/squeege the water out as much as i can every day. I still get water pooling and causing the garage door seal to freeze to the floor causing opener issues and seal issues (despite putting non-stick products on the seal).

What are my best options to prevent/minimize pooling water? Re-pour the floor and put a drain in? I could punch a hole in the block wall and drain to the backyard if needed.

 

[peakbagger]

I have been fighting that battle since my garage went in. The concrete guy was told slope it to the front doors. He said yes, I went to work I came back and it was curing. First time it rained, no slope and puddles. I bought a industrial squeegee from graingers and drilled a hole through the slab on the worse puddle. I have had a few folks look at it and they suggest either chemical etch or running blastrack over it to roughen up the surface and then topcoating it with an epoxy and sloping it. The cost is a bundle. There are various concrete thin sets but most pros indicate that road salt from the cars will rapidly break the bond and I will be wishing I didn't put it down in a few years. I know many folks who had the slope put in properly and it works fine, you don't need much.

 

[tomc585]

Drill a hole in the lowest spot. If it dosent drain put in a drywell at that spot. If your not washing cars in there you can get away with a 10-30 gal system. No need to tear up the whole floor.

 

[GENECOP]

Unfortunataly the damage was done during the initial pour.....I doubt any kind of floor drain would work since the ENTIRE floor would have to pitch toward the drain for it to really work...If the floor is pitched properly toward the doors, which might be the case since you indicated the weather stripping freezing.......you could put Strip Drain system across the doors, inside the garage. This system will empty at one end and pipe to a dry well outside....If your floor lacks the pitch, you could overlay with pitch a new slab, and add the strip drain.....

 

[sportbikerider78]

I think the strip drain is a great idea. But I will likely have to repour to get the right pitch across the entire floor. Likely not a huge cost.

Too bad I did a complete epoxy coat on it.

 

[semipro]

Never seen it done but could you:
Choose the lowest or central point and build a hole or sump there. Use a hole if the groundwater level is low and unlikely to seep into the garage. If groundwater level is high build a sump and install a small sump pump with the exhaust going outside the garage.
Use a masonry blade in a circular saw and cut grooves in the existing floor that feed radially to the hole/sump. The grooves should increase in depth as you get closer to the hole/sump to gravity drain.

 

[sportbikerider78]

It is possible, and I thought of that. What put me off is that I think too much debris would get stuck in those holes and it would get very eaten away by 5 months of salt from cars.

 

[semipro]

Maybe you could coat all or just that portion of the floor, including the grooves, to prevent salt damage?
The coating may enhance water flow also.
I would think a shop vac would take care of of debris clogging the grooves.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I also don't have a central spot water pools. There are about 3 low areas by about 1".

 

[semipro]

I also don't have a central spot water pools. There are about 3 low areas by about 1".

Bummer. Sounds like the grooves would make a cool pattern though.

 

[velvetfoot]

I don't have this specific problem, but I put in a glued down sill under the doors. It seems to help with door sticking problems.
Something like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/G-Floor-...im-GFTHRESH16MB/203451252?keyword=garage+sill

 

[Ashful]

I also don't have a central spot water pools. There are about 3 low areas by about 1".

No problem. A proper 3-car garage would have three drains, anyway! I'd be cutting to lay pipe out thru that block wall, from drains installed at your three existing low spots.

Masonry overlay coats may work well in a basement or interior space, but probably won't hold up so well to the rigors of garage life.

 

[peakbagger]

By the way, In NH, if you cut a drain in floor you legally need to have subsurface disposal permit. The theory is if you have an oil or gas leak it will get under the slab and into the soil. I expect there are a lot of after the fact drains that don't comply.

 

[Swedishchef]

By the way, I NH, if you cut a drain in floor you legally need to have subsurface disposal permit. The theory is if you have an oil or gas leak it will get under the slab and into the soil. I expect there are a lot of after the fact drains that don't comply.

+1 for my area as well.

 

[sportbikerider78]

By the way, In NH, if you cut a drain in floor you legally need to have subsurface disposal permit. The theory is if you have an oil or gas leak it will get under the slab and into the soil. I expect there are a lot of after the fact drains that don't comply.

LOL there is always some nonsense. Pay this, fine that...
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[pen]

Is this a heated or unheated garage?

If it's an unheated garage, i think I would put a small piece of 1/2 inch or 3/4 in plywood at the ends of the door and use those as bump stops, and reset the garage door to stop on those instead of all the way down. This is just a temp solution to help keep the seal from hitting down on the floor and freezing shut.

 

[xman23]

The guys that blacktoped my driveway created a path to drain the water off the flat surface. Instead of a puddle. As the were rolling it out they put a little water on the surface and I created a crease from the deepest spot to the side.. I cut in a floor drain to my outside cement porch. I have seen saw cuts in a floor that could run the water to a drain. A lot cheaper than replacing the floor.

 

[ironpony]

there is a rubber tile flooring about 3/4 inch thick you could lay over the whole floor. it comes in different patterns and has holes to allow drainage. One is called race deck I believe, there are less expensive brands. it would keep you dry all winter then you could pick it up and clean under it and relay for the summer. some work but it might be the easiest solution.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Is this a heated or unheated garage?

If it's an unheated garage, i think I would put a small piece of 1/2 inch or 3/4 in plywood at the ends of the door and use those as bump stops, and reset the garage door to stop on those instead of all the way down. This is just a temp solution to help keep the seal from hitting down on the floor and freezing shut.

It is an unheated attached garage. He gets heat from the cars and it is insulated all around.

I will look more into cutting some grooves in the floor. I want to make sure I don't invite paths for mice to come in. I kill about 15 of them every year in the garage already.

Race deck is something I have looked at but i will end up with a frozen salt lake of rubber if the drainage is not fixed.

 

[stee6043]

A couple years back I installed a tile called RaceDeck FreeFlow which would likely help in your situation. I did not install this for drainage as my garage has proper drains but I suspect it would help eliminate pooling/freezing inside the garage since the water flows below the flooring. Perhaps also seal the edge closest to the door to prevent water from flowing under the garage door.

http://www.racedeck.com/