Building basement parking leak repair options

What are possible ways of remeyding a building's basement-level- parking which is being leaked on through; asphalt,concrete, and rebar cracks in the first floor parking spaces - the concrete parking floor/ ceiling is about 15 in. thick with a half-inch layer of asphalt- covering. With a first-rate handy man and a helper, would it be possible to solve this problem? Inexpensively? One recomendation has been to rent a machine which widens the cracks surface enough to allow a substance to be injected which will dry and seal the crack. I've heard mixed opinions on this solution. Any advice on this matter would be interesting.

Reply to
Condo
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I assume you want to try something from the bottom side, not remove the asphalt, etc. The very best solutions are probably best applied on the top side. You might also look up epoxy injection and Mountain Grout, though these will be expensive.

There is a product that is meant to be used for your application called Xypex. Here is their website:

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I have used their product on new work with a view toward preventing your problem, not as a repair. It is fairly easy working. The cost is dependent on the number of feet you are retrofitting.

Reply to
DanG

No answer on the stopping the leaks, but seeing as how this is not an ordinary private residence, have you had an actual engineer look at it? I assume we are talking a condo building or small office, where the parking structure is cut into a hill and the uphill slots are directly over the lower slots? (There are a couple just like that around this town.)

Anyway, water leaking off cars, at least here in frozen north, has SALT in it. If that salty water has an easy path to the rebar in the slab, the rebar could be compromised. That they have already put asphalt over the slab indicates this is not a new problem. Hopefully the original structure was overbuilt enough that this isn't a problem yet, but without looking and testing, there is no way to be sure. Something can feel perfectly solid and secure, but one overloaded truck or one minor earth movement or winter frost heave followed by spring thaw, could bring it down. Even if you don't think it needs an engineering site survey, your insurance carrier and probably city code people would probably be a lot happier.

If the structure has not been compromised and can still be considered safe, the engineer can also likely suggest ways to remediate the leaks. I'm no expert, but it is likely to involve scraping the asphalt and repairing from above. Gravity always wins, and the way to eliminate future further damage is to keep the water out in the first place. No, sadly, it isn't likely to be cheap. But this is definitely a pay me now or pay me later situation, with 'later' having a very large possible downside if somebody gets hurt when something falls down.

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Reply to
aemeijers

One solution: inject an expoxy into the cracks at 1000 psi. The high psi will supposedly insure that all hair line cracks will be found and sealed. Question: Won't that kind of pressure further damage the concrete to which the epoxy bonds? I'm not sure how epoxy bonds to concrete but it seems like stong pressure would fill even the micro- cracks thereby strengthening the entire structure.

Reply to
Condo

We have a somewhat similar problem in our condo, but not parking area and no blacktop. We have concrete deck around the outdoor (under roof) atrium which is second floor. The ceiling beneath is painted, and had peeling paint and mineral deposits from water seepage. The atrium is pretty well protected, but still gets rain in. Prior to painting last time, we pressure washed the 2nd floor deck, hit it with muriatic acid (per the instructions for concrete sealer) and then sealed it. Caulked the expansion joints and all is well.

Don't know how much water seeps through asphalt, but filling in cracks would probably go a long way toward solving the problem. Perhaps an asphalt sealer afterward. Would clean it out well to get rid of as much salt as possible before considering sealer. Salt damage to rebar in concrete is a big problem in Florida for aging buildings. 13 story condo across the street had their balconies jack-hammered and patched a couple of years ago. I assume the jack-hammers were for removing loose/broken concrete. Our condo, only two-story, has had some rust bursting concrete because we have iron railings embedded in concrete on balconies, atrium deck and stairways and the areas had never been sealed. Didn't bother painting the iron work either, so it was badly rusted prior to major work being done.

Reply to
Norminn

Hipex is a good solution. I used it too

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Reply to
radire

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