leveling/sealing concrete floor joints

[Tyler Davis]

I've got a problem when rolling my heavier machines around the garage. The casters fall into the concrete movement joints and get stuck. These are the empty joints meant to allow curing movement- they are not true expansion joints with felt or wood spacers. Is there some sort of self-leveling silicone that I can pour into the joints that will cure and allow me to roll 500 lb machines over top of it? Hopefully something sold at HD or Lowes

[David G Baker]

I have used a product to seal the cracks in my concrete slab in front of my garage and in areas where the concrete has chipped out due to the freeze and thaw problem that happens in cold country. The product works quite well. It is designed to patch concrete cracks and comes in caulking tubes that can be used with standard caulking guns. Standard item in HD.
It is flexible and should hold up to the weight of your tools but I can't swear by it.

[Ben Franz]

I used a self-leveling sealant made by Sikaflex, sold at the local borg in the concrete/masonry supply area. Comes in large tubes (28 oz?) and isn't cheap. Light gray in color but seems to be paintable. It takes about a week to cure to a firm but still pliable consistency. So far it has held up well to medium loads but I haven't rolled in the real heavy stuff or the car yet.

[Chuck Thoits]

I have the same stuff Ben has. It was put in about 10 years ago and is holding up just fine.And I have rolled a car over it on a jack with 3" wheels.
Got mine in the small tubes at Fasten-all.

[Tyler Davis]

thanks guys

I will try the Sikaflex

it seems like it would take a lot of $10 tubes to fill ~20 linear feet of cracks - or does it expand?

[Chuck Thoits]

No it does not expand. If you have a large deep gap you could put a backer in first to take up all but the last 1/4" or so. We have a Harris company around here that sells "caulking rope" to fill voids before caulking masonry.

[Ben Franz]

I used 2 large tubes to fill about 45 lineal feet where the joints were about 3/4" wide and deep. I filled to about 1/4" of the concrete surface. I'm not sure about the backer rod holding up to a compressive load - it's just a closed cell foam and may collapse under an extreme point load like a small diameter wheel.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

I've got a problem when rolling my heavier machines around the garage. The casters fall into the concrete movement joints and get stuck

Toss a dowel rod into the joint before you roll the machine over it.