My house currently has a 3rd car garage that I would like to convert and extend my family room. The biggest question is how to raise and level the garage floor with cement (preferably). I spoke with the city and the fact that there is no vapor barrier is not an issue. However, the thin 1 3/4 inch pour at the shallow-end seems to be an issue. It sounds like my options are:
1) Place rebar in the stem walls (and adjacent foundation) at 16" on center and use standard concrete. From what I read the pour is too shallow already and adding rebar to the shallow part could risk cracking.
2) Use wire mesh instead of rebar to reinforce the concrete (I am not sure if this is acceptable in the CA building code or if the strength is all the matters?)
3) Use some sort of cement/fiberglass mixture. This was a contractor suggestion but I don't have any details.
4) Use a polymer concrete that is designed for this depth. The only problem with this is it will be more expensive and I can't find any mixtures specific to my depth.
Best Answer
I have done the exact same thing using concrete with pea gravel as the rock and fiberglass. Rebar is two thick and will cause problems, mesh might work but in the thin area I think it will still cause cracking.the concrete company can add the chopped fiberglass strands and these hold overlays together quite well, even when it cracks the fiberglass is like micro rebar pieces holding everything together. I also use finer rock but not all the way down to mortar but use pea gravel , some also call Turkey grit. This is stronger than mortar and won't crack as bad as a standard concrete batch at the thin area. If memory serves the fiberglass cost about 15$ per yard, the only negative I have found with the fiberglass is it can end up with some of the fibers sticking up a very slight amount and for bare feet (this was around a pool on a different job) I needed to put down an epoxy coating . other than that I love the fiberglass and use it especially on pours with irregular shapes and thin pours.