Concrete Crack Repair, Concrete Preparation

Repairing Concrete Cracks in Minnesota

by Joe Sheehan

October 6, 2010

When it comes to prepping a concrete floor for polyurea/aspartic coatings, properly filling cracks and saw-cuts is critical to the long-term success of the flooring system. Improperly filled cracks, either with poor process or product, is a recipe for failure.

Cracks are challenging for a number of reasons. The first reason, is cracks are vents for moisture release from the slab. They also collect moisture, debris and may expand as concrete freezes and thaws – especially areas, such as Minneapolis, where the seasons change so drastically. All of these factors make concrete crack repair challenging.

So how do you repair concrete cracks?
After extensive testing, of all the existing products and processes, we have found a method with proven, long-term results. It comes down to two things; the process and the product.

The Process
First, all cracks must be jackhammered open (or chased). This opens the crack and creates fresh concrete for guaranteed adhesion with our crack filler. This also removes weak spots or soft spots in the path of the cracks in the concrete. Once the cracks have been opened, they are cleaned and vacuumed out to remove dirt and debris.

The Product
Next, we mix a two part polyurea quick cure crack material. It is then poured / filled into the crack creating a vertical fill. You can see this in top-most picture. We fill the crack so that it is level with top of the concrete floor surface and let it cure.

Once the crack-material is cured, we grind off the excese material and grind the surface so that it is uniform and smooth. It’s now ready for our pure polyurea/aspartic elastomeric coating system.

Contact G-F One Coatings for more information or call us at 612.919.4414

Before and Afters, Concrete Crack Repair, Concrete Preparation, Garage Floor Coatings, Spancrete / Weatherproofing

Case Study: One Rough piece of Spancrete in Minneapolis

by Joe Sheehan

October 6, 2010

Here’s one for the record books.

This case study was designed to show you how we seal and coat a spancrete. Below are some pictures of the job.

History: The home was built in Roseville Minnesota in the late 60’s on a lake. Underneathe the spancrete garage they had built a theater and exercise room. Soon after they had completed the new rooms, the spancrete had begun to leak – causing considerable damage to the new investment.

The leaking had started in the late 80’s. At that time, there were no coating technologies available to correct the problem. The only solution at the time was to caulk shut all the cracks. After that, the coated the floor with a heavy layer of epoxy and glued directly to the epoxy “old-school,” heavy duty linoleum sheets. It lasted 20 years.

Challenges: The first step would be to remove the existing linoleum, epoxy and caulk. After which, the concrete had to be ground smooth. Once the material had been removed and the concrete ground, we then had to identify and repair any existing cracks.

Solution: The solution was to fill all the cracks with a flexible, “membrane-like,” vertical crack filler. Once the cracks had been filled and ground smooth, we had to apply our polyurea/aspartic, elastomeric coating system.

Conclusion: Harsh Minnesota winters and freeze / thaw cycles can wreak havoc on garage floors – including spancrete. Since spancrete tends to flex and move more than conventional garage floor, the choice of the coatings is absolutely critical to it’s longevity. G-F One Coatings has specialized in repairing, waterproofing and coating spancrete garage floor since 2005. See GFOneCoatings.com for more information or call us at 612.919.4414