Not related to a pool, but I know we have concrete experts that might be able to help.
Summary:
What can I use to waterproof seal a ~1/4" gap between 2 concrete slabs in my house to prevent water from seeping up onto the floor?
Details:
Our house has a ~20' x ~50' room, part of which was once a carport but in the 80s expanded and enclosed for a TV repair workshop. We use it as a play room and it had nasty carpet in it that the wife unilaterally decided to rip out so that she could stain the concrete. Discovered a nasty black tar like substance on the concrete that is not easy to remove and a layer of mortar(?) between the 2 concrete slabs that attempted to smooth the transition between the two. We have aborted on the staining and now I am having to install laminate floors.
We had to grind down the slab interface to make it more flat and found that the mortar had also been used to fill the gap between the 2 slabs. I can just flip it out with a screw driver so it clearly did not bond with either slab which explains why on occasion when we get a LOT of rain and water pools outside against the slabs (I need to also try to reduce this) the carpet would sometimes feel wet along the crack.
Now that we are putting in laminate, even with using a vapor barrier, I want to do a better job sealing this crack so that the wood floor is not damaged by water that might wick up between the slabs.
So, any thoughts on the best product to fill the gap? I am wondering if using some type of cement product would work or if I would be better off with a caulk or epoxy product. Seems like a little flex might be good, but I am not sure.
Surprisingly, the 30x20 slab that was added has no relief seems (wrong terminology), but there are no cracks anywhere in the room, so things must be pretty well settled.
Thanks for any info anyone can provide.
Summary:
What can I use to waterproof seal a ~1/4" gap between 2 concrete slabs in my house to prevent water from seeping up onto the floor?
Details:
Our house has a ~20' x ~50' room, part of which was once a carport but in the 80s expanded and enclosed for a TV repair workshop. We use it as a play room and it had nasty carpet in it that the wife unilaterally decided to rip out so that she could stain the concrete. Discovered a nasty black tar like substance on the concrete that is not easy to remove and a layer of mortar(?) between the 2 concrete slabs that attempted to smooth the transition between the two. We have aborted on the staining and now I am having to install laminate floors.
We had to grind down the slab interface to make it more flat and found that the mortar had also been used to fill the gap between the 2 slabs. I can just flip it out with a screw driver so it clearly did not bond with either slab which explains why on occasion when we get a LOT of rain and water pools outside against the slabs (I need to also try to reduce this) the carpet would sometimes feel wet along the crack.
Now that we are putting in laminate, even with using a vapor barrier, I want to do a better job sealing this crack so that the wood floor is not damaged by water that might wick up between the slabs.
So, any thoughts on the best product to fill the gap? I am wondering if using some type of cement product would work or if I would be better off with a caulk or epoxy product. Seems like a little flex might be good, but I am not sure.
Surprisingly, the 30x20 slab that was added has no relief seems (wrong terminology), but there are no cracks anywhere in the room, so things must be pretty well settled.
Thanks for any info anyone can provide.