Water in garage from cars...what to do?

[harpoonalt]

We have a fairly new house and no drains in the garage floor. I guess garage floor drains are now illegal.It's supposed to be pitched so the water from melting snow goes out to the door and outside. Instead we get puddles of water right in front of our entrance door which is annoying. Pitching the water to the outside only makes the water freeze the doors down. I now just use a wet/dry vac and keep ahead of the water, but it's a real pain. So I'm looking for some sort of solution from someone who's been there. One suggestion was to cut holes in the concrete and install grates near the door and let the water go down into the rock below. Sounds reasonable but I don't want to create more problems than I solve. There is at least a foot of rock under the floor. Solutions?

 

[Fred Barbour]

harpoonalt: Your not alone! Everyhouse I've ever owned has been like this. I guess builders don't know the concept of a 2 inch slope. I've thought about many solutions but never tried any. I also thought about cutting into the concrete and putting in a drain but haven't done so.

This provblem drives me nuts as well! I look forward to hearing solutions from the membership.

Fred

 

[wh22366]

I faced with a similar situation of water coming in from rain/snow melt and cars. I dug an 18" deep drain ditch in front of the bays and filled it with 3/4" stone, pitching it slightly in the direction I wanted things to run (I have a dirt driveway). I compacted it with the rear wheel of the tractor. It worked good in warm weather, but I was concerned what would happen when the ground froze. I found as long as I keep the area over the ditch scraped clean, the top inch or two of the ditch functions OK when the ice melts or we get a winter rain. It helps that my doors face south. There are occasions when built-up ice gets ahead of me, so it's chop it out and push water out with a broom or big squeegee.

I thought about installing grates, but I figured I spend too much time cleaning things out. Good luck.

 

[Reverend Blair]

The easy answer is to fill your garage with so much junk that you have to park outside.:laughing:

My BIL is a mechanic and of course he does side work at home. He had a similar problem...when he squeegeed the floor he ended up with a skating rink in front of the door.

His solution is to use use sawdust to soak it up. He just saves the sawdust from firewood and home-improvement projects and sprinkles it on the floor. It works well, it's free, and it soaks up any automotive fluids that spill as well.

 

[yooper1]

I know this is not a "cure" but how about those mats (rubber) that have holes in them and vary in size?

kind of like these:

Rubber Floor Mats - Floor Mats & Antifatigue Mats at Best Price

or these from Home Depot

Buffalo Tools Anti-Fatigue Rubber Mat Flat 3 Ft. by 5 Ft. - RMAT35 at The Home Depot

Apache Mills Weave Utility Gray 24 in. x 36 in. Recycled Rubber Scraper Mat - 60-945-1719-20000300 at The Home Depot

I bought the 1st one at Home Depot for in my basement where water seeps in during the spring thaw and it has kept the area usable.

Seeing as the problem is liquid water, if you place a few of these in the wet area, you will be able to keep your feet dry....I would think.

Or, is there garage snap-tite flooring that has the same texture?

Like I say, it is not a cure, just a quick work around

If the water is freezing there, then maybe this will not work

 

[JDgreen227]

The easy answer is to fill your garage with so much junk that you have to park outside.:laughing:

My BIL is a mechanic and of course he does side work at home. He had a similar problem...when he squeegeed the floor he ended up with a skating rink in front of the door.

His solution is to use use sawdust to soak it up. He just saves the sawdust from firewood and home-improvement projects and sprinkles it on the floor. It works well, it's free, and it soaks up any automotive fluids that spill as well.

Had a level garage floor when built in '89 and it still is, although the concrete pad in front of it was sloped the right way back then, but after 21 years of settling the pad is sloped so it tends to retain water instead. When there is a lot of water in the garage, I use a squeegee to push it out and then onto the grass along the pad (unless it's winter) Another way to move the water outside is with an electric leaf blower, be sure the outlet you plug it into is GFCI protected, even if the blower is double insulated. Wet concrete is a really good ground. I personally think they do not slope the garage floor because it's a headache getting the proper slope. A pad is easy to slope because all you need to do is slope the forms and screed the excess concrete off, but if your garage walls are block or poured wall, how do you slope the wet concrete? The only way I can think of would be to fasten angle iron to the side walls at a slope prior to the pouring, and use those to screed off the wet concrete...be a real headache with a 36 foot wide garage though. If someone knows a better way, I would like to learn how it is done.

 

[two_bit_score]

Wow. The problems of living in the NE that I have never dreamed of. Amazing.

 

[Tig]

I used to live near a carwash. Stopping by for a quick cleanup on the way home helped a lot on messy days.
Other than that, I find one has to watch the temperature and let the car melt off outside or shovel the slush off the garage floor before it completely melts.
Just part of the fun of winter.

 

[Tig]

how do you slope the wet concrete?

Guide pegs sitting on the gravel. Remove them once screeding is done and the grade is established. It still takes a good finisher to get it right.

 

[Greenrancher]

What I do:

1. If it's very slushy, I knock off as much slush as I can on the driveway before putting the truck in the garage.
2. I have some heavy-duty rubber mats (3' wide x 20' long) that are ribbed on one side. I put them in the wheel path and park on them. They are not the best solution, but they do keep the water contained somewhat and catch the melting slush.
3. I bored a few holes in the control joints in the garage floor through the concrete with my hammer drill. Not as effective as a floor drain, but at least I can sweep the standing water into the control joints and it will drain away.