Sanding concrete flaw in driveway ...

[temp2]

Hello,

A small area of my driveway in front of the garage has a raised area that actually slopes slightly toward the garage. The result, of course, is that water enters under the garage door and pools in the garage. Using a level, I found the area on the drivaeway that slopes inward. It's about 1 ft. wide and maybe 1.5 ft long. Anyway, my first thought is to sand or grind this part of the driveway to be more uniform with the rest of the driveway in front of the garage. I'm not a contractor; not even a weekend warrior. Not sure what I need. What kind of sander or grinder? Since it's such a small area, will a hand- held tool work OK. Is is something I can rent?

Thanks in advance.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 5/8/2008 10:52 AM [e-mail] spake thus:

Grinder, not sander. Yes, you can rent them. They come either in hand-held or "walk-behind" versions. They take a little care in use in order to get level results without divots and such.

Count on also renting or acquiring a respirator (not a dust mask). Plus sealing off any nearby living areas you don't want coated with fine concrete dust.

[Joe]

It's depressingly easy to make a permanent mistake with a concrete grinding rig. The ability to get it dead level where you want it takes also a fair amount of practice. Get a couple of quotes from concrete guys, check rental prices and then decide what is best for you. The upside is that the neighbors will give you a lot of respect for tackling the job. Tell them that the concrete dust is just like limestone fertilizer for their lawns. Good luck.

Joe

[ransley]

Why not just spend 10 minutes and raise the low area with concrete patch now, then think about it for 10 years. Or use a circular grinder, eat dust, and gouge it all up, and then you will still need to patch it smooth.

[Red]

If you have the time, patience, & elbow gease, they make a handheld stone for grinding concrete flaws. Not worth the effort on big flaws, but used on one your size it is doable and safe from overdoing with a machine.. You can get one at most hardware stores.

Red

[David Nebenzahl]

On 5/8/2008 1:31 PM Red spake thus:

Why would the O.P. want to buy one (a fairly expensive tool, not to mention grinding disks) when they can simply rent one at any decent equipment rental place? (BTW, the rental place will usually make you pay for a disk, although the last time I rented one, I simply used the disk already in the grinder and wasn't charged for it.)

[Greg M]

I have zero confidence in any kind of concrete patch lasting more than six months before cracking apart, especially considering raising the grade could produce a lip at the entrance of the garage. Repeated tire loading across that grade difference would break apart your skim coat patch. Perhaps an easier solution would be to address the weather stripping at the bottom of the garage door by either replacing it or by adding some kind of threshold like this:

Greg M