LESLIE: Robert in Delaware is on the line with a cracked slab. What is going on at your money pit?
ROBERT: My money pit – your show is so aptly named. I’m getting my house ready to sell it. And I’ve been doing stuff but there’s one thing that I’m afraid to do.
My two-car garage has a through-and-through crack through the middle of the garage concrete. I can see dirt. I estimate the slab to be 3 inches and maybe more but I don’t know whether I have to get an engineering review before I try to solicit contractors. Or am I over-thinking this?
TOM: Well, if it’s just a garage floor, I think you are over-thinking it because the garage floor is not structural – it’s basically the floor covering. You know, it’s that slab covering the dirt. It’s not really supporting any part of in your house; it’s really just supporting itself. Cracks are incredibly common.
I would seal the crack. I would fill the crack up. QUIKRETE has a variety of crack-seal products in different colors that you should consider. There is a product called Quikrete Gray Concrete Crack Seal. There’s even a video on Quikrete’s website that shows you exactly how to use it.
How wide is this crack? Is it like a ¼-inch or so?
ROBERT: It’s, I’d say, between an eighth and a quarter but I’ll give you more data. The house is unbalanced to the point where the garage door does not close outside the crack anymore.
TOM: Has the slab moved? Has it shifted?
ROBERT: I think the entire ground – it’s a 35-year-old home. I think the ground around my home, for a couple hundred yards, is – has moved since I’ve lived here. And so, I have not seen any internal cracks in my basement. I have not seen any external cracks in the walls around the exterior of the home.
TOM: Just the slab in the garage, right?
ROBERT: Right. But it’s not a flat crack.
TOM: So you’re telling me it’s displaced?
ROBERT: Yes.
TOM: One side’s higher than the other?
ROBERT: Correct.
TOM: OK. So you might need to do a two-step process here. You could use a crack filler to seal the crack and then you can use Quikrete’s patching compound to kind of smooth over those areas and make it a little more even so you don’t catch your foot or your heel on that. But it’s entirely fixable. It’s not structural. And I think if you take the time to watch the videos and make the repair, you’ll be good to go.
ROBERT: Alright. Thank you so much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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