Suspended garage floors give you the full size of the garage added beneath it. You can use the excavated space under the garage floor as a workout area, a second garage, a storage space, a man cave, and so much more. However, suspended garage floors are prone to leaks, causing water damage to the space below. 

There are a few options available to you to prevent your suspended garage floor from leaking. Here, we’ll go into why these floors are so prone to leaks and what you can do to keep the space under your suspended floor nice and dry.

How Suspended Garage Floors Are Installed

Suspended garage floors must be constructed with great care in order to ensure that they can hold the weight of your cars and maintain their structural integrity. They are constructed in a few different ways, depending on what is going beneath them. 

• Suspended pre-cast slab system. The pre-cast slabs are constructed off-site and then craned into place. They usually require a concrete topping after placement for a level surface.
• In-situ systems. These are constructed with reinforced concrete. Once the concrete has cured to have the strength to be self-supporting, the formwork is removed.
• Composite slabs. These are done with steel beams and metal decking so that the steel and concrete’s strength work together. 

Regardless of the construction, concrete reinforcement must be placed in the proper location for strong, durable floors. The mix must conform to exact specifications. 

Why Are Suspended Garage Floors Prone To Leaks?

Concrete is strong, yes. However, it’s also porous and absorbs water easily. This causes cracks to form and can result in leaks in the living space below. Degrading concrete just makes the problem worse and worse. 

Garage leaks are a common problem, but suspended garage floors are especially prone to leaks. Leaks are most common along the joint seams and in the corners, which is why caulking is essential. 

Leaks can occur due to:

• Wet cars, as from when it was snowing or raining outside
• Inadequate grading
• Concrete shifting
• Poor drainage
• Leaking water sources
• Condensation
• Plumbing issues
• Joint seams/sill plates
• Lack of insulation
• And more. 

Garages usually lack the waterproofing that your home gets. Plus, your garage door typically isn’t fully sealed. As such, it’s important to do what you can in order to prevent leaks.

How To Tell If You Have Leaks

If you have a suspended garage floor, you can check underneath it for watermarks on the underside of the slab and the walls of the space below. You can also watch for efflorescence, which is when there are white patches on your concrete. Other signs of leaks include damp spots, mold, and mildew.

Good, Better, And Best Ways To Prevent Leaks Under Your Suspended Garage Floor

Trying to repair a leaking suspended garage floor would be an expensive, time-consuming process. Fortunately, there are things that you can do in order to prevent this from happening. All of the following options work, but some are better than others. We’ll do the best option last. 

Good

Caulking and crack sealing are good options. The suspended slab is sealed so that water can’t get down. All areas with cracking are fixed, including the joints. Sealers fill in the tiny gaps that water could get through. If you do this, ensure you have your floor assessed annually for more cracking. 

Better

For a better option, do all of the above and then apply a floor coating for twice the protection and stability.

Concrete always wants to crack and needs to be checked regularly. Coatings are flexible and can move with your concrete, staving off potential cracks. With this option, you’d do a 2-coat system. 

The water resistance and longevity of the coating depend on the type you get. When it comes to coatings you will want to make sure that you are getting the best products because all coatings are not designed the same. We highly recommend polyaspartic coatings, because of their flexibility and durability. On average this should last 20-plus years depending on the existing condition of the concrete, the type of use it sees, and whether or not it is properly maintained. 

Best

For the best way to prevent your suspended garage floor from leaking, have a waterproof membrane installed and then place a garage floor coating system over the top of the waterproof membrane. The membrane is more flexible with more longevity and protection than a coating alone. This is a 3-coat system for optimal protection.

Get The Most Out Of Your Suspended Garage Floor

Here at Solid Custom Floor Coatings Utah, we offer professional floor coating services to prevent your suspended garage floor from leaking. We can also install a waterproof membrane, then implement a floor coating system over the top of it for optimal protection against leaking. Contact us today to learn more about our floor coating services and how we can improve your property.

Spring is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start planning for your garage spring cleaning. After months of cold and wet, the weather is warming up, and it’s the perfect time to freshen up your home after so much time spent indoors. This is especially true of your garage. With how big garages are, though, it can be intimidating trying to figure out where to even begin with your garage spring cleaning.

We’re here to help with some helpful tips for your garage spring cleaning! Bust out your cleaning supplies and trash bags and get ready to jump on in.

Why It’s Important To Clean Your Garage

It’s important to clean your garage on a regular basis for the sake of your health and safety, to keep your things in good condition, and to ensure that the things you have you’ll actually use. With how cold garages can get during the winter months, cleaning it was likely the last thing on your mind. 

If there’s space to park your car in your garage, you likely just ran from the car to the home. If needed, you’d dig out snowblowers and sleds. If there isn’t space to park in your garage, you probably only went in there for aforementioned wintery items. This can cause your garage to need cleaning all the more.

Garage Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring cleaning your garage is a project, to be sure. But set a day aside, round up some helpers, and at the end of the day, you and your garage will be pleased with how beautifully fresh, clean, and spacious it’s become. Continue reading for our helpful tips for your garage spring cleaning to make the job more manageable.

#1. Take Everything Out

If you park your cars in the garage, put them in the driveway or on the side of the road. Then, take everything out of your garage. This is so that you’ll be able to clean every nook and cranny, and so that you’ll be able to determine what you’d actually like to keep. 

Many people tend to accumulate things and don’t realize just how much stuff that they do not use or need is cluttering their space. When you’re doing your garage spring cleaning, it’s the perfect time to remedy the situation.

As you take things out, you can sort them into piles like: keep, sell, donate, recycle, and trash. You can always change your mind before you put them back. This is also a good time to start organizing by putting like items together, like Christmas things in one pile, sporting goods in another. 

#2. Do A Deep Clean

From top to bottom, make good use of your cleaning materials. You likely want to wear cleaning gloves while doing this, as you don’t want chemicals to come in contact with your skin. You also don’t know if you’ll come across dead bugs or pest droppings as you clean, and you don’t want to touch those with your hands!

Don’t forget about your floor when doing your garage spring cleaning! Garage floors can get incredibly dirty from what your car brings in with it, being the place where you store your outdoor gear, and constantly being tracked over with dirty shoes. 

If you have a garage floor coating, your job is really quite easy here. All that you need to do to clean your garage floor coating is to sweep it and then wipe it down with some soap and water. With a clean garage floor, your entire garage can look fresher and brighter.

#3. Organize It

Easier said than done if you don’t have any storage racks or shelves, we know. Garage storage racks can pay for themselves over time due to how easy they make it to keep your garage clean and organized. 

You’ll want to put the things that you don’t use often, like your Easter baskets, up top, as you don’t need them in easy reach. For the things that you do use frequently, put them on the easy-to-reach areas. Organize according to category, like camping things all together, tools all together, the like. 

This is also a good time to check and ensure that you’re not accidentally storing things in your garage that shouldn’t be there. For instance, pet food can attract pets and paint’s composition can change when exposed to hot and cold. Store everything in appropriate places. 

Make Garage Spring Cleaning Easier On Your Future Self

Committing to keeping your garage clean is the key to making things easier for future you. Installing garage storage racks and a garage floor coating can make that so much easier! Solid Custom Floor Coatings Utah provides both garage storage racks and professional floor coatings services. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you transform your garage.