Sesely

I am going to turn my now two car garage into a part of the house and I was hoping to be able to put ceramic tile on the floors. I was hoping someone could give me input on what would be the best way/product to level the current concrete with. Thank you!

kmp21

How far of level are we talking about? You can use self leveing agents thinset, adrex, raco mix with water and trowel over low spots.

Sesely

It's not too bad, but there are a couple of dips in floor and also two very large cracks that are about a half inch wide by two feet long.

nealtw

It should have a 2" slope from front to back, if the driveway is still in place you could have water problems later. Ready mix companies often have the best salutions and can put you in touch with the right people.

inspectorD

The only way to get a good job out of this is to do a floating mud floor.
We do this over any concrete slabs where we install tile.
First, goes down a 6 mil plastic, then hardcloth/ wire mesh 2x 8 foot sheets or similar, and last goes the mortar based mud job. Find your high spot, and float it with a 12 foot straight edge from there.
Basically this lets the floor move by itself and not let the cracks and dips show up telegraphing through your floor from below.
And don't forget, as Neal stated, you need to control the water from comming in at the old door openings.
Hope this helps, you can get more great advice from John Bridge, he is a guru for sure.

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Sesely

Thanks for all the info. The driveway is still intact, I take it that's not a good thing. If you were in my shoes as far as the floor goes what would you put down? Tiles just seemed to be a good choice incase down the line there ever was a water problem. But it is going to be a bedroom/ bathroom so I am open to any suggestions anyone may have. Also, to add to my original question, what do I do with the floor drains? Is it ok to cover them with new concrete?

nealtw

Is the rest of the house slab concrete floor at about the same level?

Sesely

Yes it is. The other half is already a finished family room. It was finished when I moved in.

nealtw

I like the suggestion that Inpector gave you. Waterproofing from the driveway is my only question. you wouldn't want water getting under his mud job. You should have a few inches of foundation showing above the drive way, which you won't have. The first thought was to cut a coule feet of driveway out and lower the dirt level but often the foundation isn't filled all the way up under the garage slab.

inspectorD

The driveway/door opening area?
You could use some block and build it up, then seal it all from the outside. There are plenty of waterproofing types of products available.
You need to build a wall anyway, so block would also get you off the ground.
If your not comfortable with this, hiring a mason will get it done.

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