Removing part of a concrete garage tire stop?

7293 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Lurch96, Jan 5, 2013

Lurch96

Discussion Starter · Jan 2, 2013

I'm currently building a house with an attached garage. Normally when the foundation is poured the builder puts in a 3' wide raised area / tire stop running the back length of the garage. We decided to extend the garage by 4' so that my truck would have plenty of room to park but they accidentally also extended the tire stop 4' as well so that it is now 7' wide, taking up enough room to where my truck will not fit inside the garage.

I suggested they fix this by using a concrete saw to shorten the tire stop back to 3', then patch the area as needed to make it geometrically correct and then finally put down some sort of epoxy sealer to hide the patch marks.

The builder strongly advises against that, saying that it might damage or cause issues with the rebar and foundation if they cut into the wires while shortening the tire stop. They suggested to simply pour more concrete on the rest of the garage to make it level with the tire stop. I am strongly against this idea however, as I feel it is a huge bandaid and also would result in having no tire stop at all, in addition to several more problems.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how best to fix this issue? The raised section is only ~2" tall. Is it really that difficult to cut away a few inches of concrete without causing damage to the slab? Thanks in advance!

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stadry

· #2 · Jan 2, 2013

have your bldr send a guy over w/7" grinder & diamond cup wheel,,, you might also suggest he revisit conc 101 to find out why there shouldn't have been any rebar or wire in the 2",,, failing this, you could also switch to a smaller diam tire on the front axle :laughing:

seriously, you're correct & he's not as wire mesh ONLY works twice - once when it adds strength while the conc's in tension ( green curing conc ), & 2nd, when it holds the crack'd pieces together :yes:

this would be MUCH easier than adding a 2" o'lay even IF the o'lay is bonded,,, it would also prevent the bldr from charging for the addl 2" of conc :thumbup:

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Lurch96

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 4, 2013

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm going to try to find out just how deep the tension cables are. Assuming we can grind/cut the step back without cutting or exposing the cables, then that's what I'll plan on doing.

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stadry

· #4 · Jan 4, 2013

tensioning cables should be located 1/2 on a vertical axis - that's SHOULD BE ' :laughing: on most jobs, ' those guys ' got paid & they're gone :yes:

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Guywithskills

· #5 · Jan 5, 2013

Coming from extensive concrete background, you were right in the beginning. Cut the step out, reform to 3'. there normally is no reinforcing in the drive floor and if there is, it is seperate from foundation and house floor. Insure the new poor has 4" of concrete and a turndown (that goes under the step a minimum of 4") at the step. Do not let him pour it 4" higher, this will cause issues with garage door clearances for your truck, also if you wash the drive floor, will run into the house. Lots of reasons there is a step as a standard. Forget grinding, not even a considertion. Grinding is for removing a 1/4" and a small area or rounding the edge of something. This would exceed the cost of a new pour and just not right.
The builder is just going to have to suck it up for his sole error. End of discussion, the fact you wanted to have the depth to fit the truck... and then extend the curb out to the door, this made it all pointless. Dont accept a "half bake solution" he was paid "full bake money." In the end, he will be glad he corrected it with sound solutions.
If he is smart as well, he will do this without a fuss and have it go in his favor. Your expectations are reasonable.

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Lurch96

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 5, 2013

Thank you sir, excellent points!

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