Concrete questions

[Randy Day]

I'm looking for product recommendations and advice on reconstructing an old concrete basement.

The house I'm renting (1930's or so) has a 5' x 10' buckled/missing floor section where a tree root has put pressure on it. I'd like to know if there's any point to putting down a new patch over the area, and, if so, what type of repair material is appropriate.

Also, I'd like to put down some sort of sealer/paint over the whole basement floor - a 6' basement doesn't allow much clearance for flooring! ;)

All advice & suggestions are welcome. Since the landlord has offered to pay (within reason) for the materials, this seems a good opportunity to learn about concrete repair!

Thanks,

Randy

[buffalobill]

quit playing in your landlord's basement and go buy your own house and fix it. :)

that basement may have uninsulated-cold-damp-humidity-mold-radon-ventilation-carbon monoxide problems, so let's avoid this project and recommend the landlord to a shorter friend of yours when you move to a house with more habitable square feet.

any chance the tree root is heading into the sewer for a drink? if there are tree roots pulled out by the sewer cleaning company like there are in the old sectional sewer lines in the older homes in buffalo ny, the cure here seems to be the pvc sewers that don't leak and attract the roots like in suburbia here where those tree roots rarely appear.

sounds like insufficient thickness of concrete and if you are personally making a one man project out of this size of a job of 5' by

10' you'll never get finished mixing up all those cubic feet of concrete by hand and having them look even.

better to look over all the concrete that's cracked at the property and measure it all up including the basement for a concrete outfit's estimate, for tear-out, properly tamped gravel, and trucked in and installed and finished concrete.

[Joseph Meehan]

If the tree is still alive, there is no reason to try and patch anything. You need to fix the cause of the problem first.

You could try an epoxy paint product, often listed for use in a garage. You will need to do some serious cleaning of the existing floor first and in an enclosed basement the fumes from the cleaning materials could be a serious problem. Not doing a proper job of cleaning means you are totally wasting your time and money.

I suggest that it is a better time to learn that landlords are responsible for keeping their properties up and it is totally their responsibility for maintenance.

[m Ransley]

Not you kow, you can spend 10- 1000,

[Randy Day]

Heh. Would if I could! It's not an option ATM, unfortunately. :(

Let's say "more than one of the above". Don't know the radon sitch, but the HiEff furnace shouldn't be a CO problem.

Well, the upstairs is really nice, it's inexpensive (for obvious reasons) and it's in a nice, convenient neighborhood

- you know how it is.

Just as a point of pride, when I go I'd like to leave it in better shape than when I arrived.

Quite probably; it heads in that general direction. I guess my biggest question is that, since the damage appears to be quite old (dust, detritus, etc.) is there a chance the upward pressure has ceased?

Otherwise, yeah, a patch doesn't stand a chance...

Judging by eye, I'd say 2 inches over a layer of sand, and whatever is below that. Remember, this *is* a prewar house.

You could be right. I don't have much concrete experience; that's another potential benefit to practicing here: I get the experience and the short-term benefits, the LL gets the mistakes.

And no, I'm *not* saying I'd do anything deliberately! :)

That might be what happens eventually. I can always get estimates. Then again, maybe the landlord doesn't *want* to know (those basement walls seem kind of crumbly, but that's a whole other thread! :)

[Randy Day]

[snip]

That's what I was wondering, whether it might have stopped growing under that section at some point...

If not, is there any option that does not involve a backhoe and an axe?

That's the kind of product I had in mind, and yeah, I suspect I'd have to leave the doors open and the furnace fan going. Definitely a project for warmer weather.

I absolutely agree. If I wanted to be a dick about it, I could try to force him to get the repairs done, then watch him jack up the rent on the newly-improved property.

Or I can DIY the repairs I can do, keep his cost down, and enjoy the benefits AND the low rent.

And even if he decides to up the rent after it all, I can leave having gained experience at DIY.

How do I not win?

[hallerb]

I have done things like this.cheap rent often equals landlord who doesnt care. pay me one way or other

Some thoughts any idea of the tree, and its location. As long as it isnt right on top of the house you can trim the roots. As long as the tree is far away you cant kill it, no more than pruning branches will kill it.

trees are actually very dedicated to living,,,, hatchet, pickax, lopping shears. I had to do that here, to install new basement toilet, underside of house full of roots

roots can go a LONG ways in search of water. Many times you can tell the type of tree from the appearance of its roots:) Uncover some take photo to garden center, its worth a try.

[Joseph Meehan]

Sorry, they don't stop growing where there is water and there is no easy fixes. In fact if you chop the tree down the roots may be growing a year later.

I think you will win, if you can make sure the tree roots are not going to undo all you do.

[Randy Day]

Time will tell...

It's a big one, and it's only about 8 feet from the house. I suppose that counts as 'too close'.

I'm pretty sure which tree it is, I was rather hoping the root had finished its concrete-cracking journey to the water source. From the responses I'm getting, probably not.