Found out my garage slab was poured wrong, 2 years after moving in

I was fixing a crack near the garage door last week and decided to check the slope with a level. Turns out the concrete pitches toward the house instead of away from it, so water has been pooling right against the foundation. I found a local building code rule online that says the grade should drop at least 6 inches over the first 10 feet. My neighbor said the original owner did the pour himself, which explains a lot. Has anyone else in Edmonton dealt with a bad foundation slope and what did you do to fix it?

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mark6762mo ago

That neighbor comment is key, because if the original owner did the pour, you probably have zero recourse with any warranty. A buddy in St. Albert had the same issue and he ended up doing a mudjack to lift the low side, which cost him around four grand. But honestly, for a garage slab, the cheaper fix might be to just cut a shallow channel across the floor right at the door and route that water to the sides, then seal the heck out of the crack. Edmonton freeze thaw cycles will make that pooling worse every winter, so dont sit on it. You can also build up a small asphalt ramp right outside the door to push water away, but that only works if the slab itself isnt too far out of level. If its really bad, a self leveling compound on the interior might be your best bang for the buck, just make sure you rough up the surface first so it bonds.

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abbyc332mo ago

Did you mean the slab is settling on the low side toward the door, or is it actually the door threshold that's sinking? Self leveler on a sloping slab can work, but it won't fix the root cause, and it'll just crack again if the ground keeps moving underneath.

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