The repair of a damaged concrete floor doesn't need to

be a hard or tough repair job. It may surprise you how

easily this can be done yourself.
Often caused by constant wear and tear, concrete floors end up becoming rough
and difficult to clean. With concrete floor repairs, there are three types of
repairs that are the most common; surface cracks, pitting and spalling of
concrete - this requires more effort but equally as repairable as surface cracks.

HOW TO PREVENT AND REPAIR SURFACE CRACKS

Concrete floors crack - pure and simple. It is not a material that stretches or
bends without breaking. It does have the ability to shrink and expand with
temperature, however, it cracks as a result. This is why it is important to
have expansion joints built in to allow for this cracking. These encourage
expansion to occur along the groves instead of across the surface of the
concrete causing cracks.
If you are suffering from cracking concrete, an Internal Crackfiller is an
extremely thin pure epoxy that is formulated to penetrate well down into the
crack.  Indeed, it is so strong that the resulting ‘repair’ will be stronger that the
original concrete itself.  With this, it is important to know that the sub-base
must not be poor or unstable, or this could render any crack filling exercise as
time wasted.
When it comes to choosing the best and strongest product to repair your floors,
it is important to choose a cementitious resin solution that is specially made for
levelling rough or damaged concrete and is also able to withstand heavy levels
of traffic. A suitable resin is able to easily fill unwanted dips and grooves. We
also recommend the use of epoxy, polyurethane crack repair/filling compound
as this cures to a strength that is greater than concrete. It also accepts floor
coatings and floor paint.
Non-cementitious products can also be used, however, this is not as strong.
Mixing the product with dried sand or a cement mix will provide an extremely
tough topping that is well proven across many industries.
Avoid:  water based or latex based concrete crack fillers and/or repair products
as they are not sandable, will not accept paint, and will shrink over time pulling
away from the repair.
RECOMMENDED CRACK REPAIR PRODUCTS
For cracks that are 0.1mm - 10mm, we recommend using the Internal
Crackfiller. This is a pourable ultra low viscosity twin pack epoxy that is
designed to penetrate well into the crack and cures far harder than the original
concrete.
Repairing Expansion Joints in Floors
In order to best repair an expansion joint, use joint sealant material that will
easily withstand the wear and tear of the typical machinery and tractors used in
grain stores. Simply ensure that the surface is clean and dry and pour the resin
into the joint, leaving the surface nice and flush.  For the best and neatest
finish, mask either side of the joint and pour the resin just slightly proud of the
top.  Peel up the masking tape and just as it has started to cure, run a knife
blade along the surface cutting off any excess material.  This leaves the joint
completely filled and with a super smooth finish with the surface, ensuring
fewer snags with digger buckets etc. It is important that you do not leave it too
long before cutting off the excess as after the resin has fully cured, this will be a
lot harder to achieve.
Stop water penetrating under doors
Using an epoxy mortar will help water penetrating under doors. This can be
mixed in quantities as little or as much as you need.  It is resin rich so that you
don’t even have to prime the surface. Mix up the quantity required (you can
even do this with a gloved hand) and roll into a form of a log, placing it along
the door line.  This can then be smoothed over and feathered down to nothing
either side in order to form a very small ‘speed bump’.  Extremely easy and
effective!
Another solution is using a very strong cementitious product whereby you
simply mix the powder with the polymer.  This can then be troweled into. A
benefit this as a solution is that it can be applied to a damp (but not soaking
wet) surface.

Repairing General Concrete Floor Holes

Any of the above-mentioned solutions can be used for general holes and each
has their own qualities.  However, it is recommended not to use products that
are fast curing on deep and large areas, as the heat caused will simply crack the
repairs.

Damp Areas
Dampness can be experienced anywhere over the area but is mostly found
emanating from expansion joint and cracks, or around the perimeter of the
building where the dampness is either tracking through the concrete from the
outside or is coming through the external walls.

If the damp is coming up through the concrete, a primer can offer a fantastic

long lasting cure for this.  Whilst primers are indeed used for priming and
sealing a floor prior to the application of a coloured top coat, a primer can, in
fact, be also be used as a sealer coat and will take an extremely lot of wear and
tear by itself.  If damp is penetrating through, we normally find it is only around
maybe the first 3-400mm, and in such circumstances, we advise to coat say a
metre-wide strip around the perimeter.
If the dampness is coming up through joints or cracks, it is important that the
void is completely dry before filling.  If heat is needed, then a blow torch or hot
air gun (even a hair dryer) can be used to dry the surface.