concretefloorgarage
On our property there is a fairly old garage that hasn't been tended to in some time. The floor is cracked and buckling. What are possible fixes for this?
I've attached a photo. If you look closely you can see that it has heaved up sharply through the patches.
Particularly if you have an oversized boiler already, extending the hot water makes more sense.
It's not terribly difficult to insulate it properly - especially for a mere 10 or 15 feet. Use 1" PEX and build an XPS (waterproof styrofoam insulation sheets) box, keeping the lines (supply and return) separated with insulation, polyurethane foam it to fill and seal, done (and done better than buying the absurd products sold with two lines in a 4" tube with not nearly enough insulation around or between them, for stupid high prices.)
This link to a more-specifically heating-related forum may provide some insight.
If you extend the gas line instead, you need another device to burn gas, venting for it, etc.
If you extend the hot water, all you need is radiators/baseboard/etc. and you do NOT have an ignition source or a fuel source in your piano-storage-barn, which may positively impact your insurance (if any) and/or peace of mind.
Here is picture of a (much larger than you need, industrial-style and steam-pipe carrying) bridge at the Wright Brother's Museum
Effectively you should have something that looks like a 15 foot long box, probably 12" square, between the buildings - rather than exposed steel as in the picture, wood or siding/roofing to match your buildings. Or it can simply look like a large metal pipe or duct, which is one way to deal with keeping it dry when not trying to match the roofing/siding. As mentioned WRT the burial depth, a long power outage causing loss of heating in the winter will be more prone to freezing this type of arrangement than one that's well-buried. Personally, I'd bury it, it's not that hard or expensive to do, and it's invisible.
Is this over a crawlspace? Fix your dampness and ventilation problems first before you invest a lot of time/money into the cosmetics. You will probably find more issues. Why do you want to do this twice (now, and again in a year)? My suggestion is to do it right, once.
Concrete shrinks as it cures, so cracks are probably only a cosmetic issue.
Best Answer
a) Grind concrete until it is flat, then grout the remaining cracks. You'll have an even thinner but flat floor, problem will likely re-occur.
or
b) Pour thicker new concrete over the top, with steel mesh, to make a more resilient replacement floor. Might still crack, as base is suspect.
or
c) Cut out & remove the failed floor, inspect the base to determine true cause, remove failed layers, install proper bedding, insulation layer & damp proof membrane, re-pour concrete.