Found a trick for sealing old concrete cracks in my bunker

I used hydraulic cement instead of regular patching compound on the floor joints and it actually stopped the moisture seepage I'd been fighting for 2 winters. Has anyone else tried this stuff for fixing cracks in a shelter slab?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles6402d ago

Did you have to prep the crack a certain way before applying it?

sage_moore372d ago

Yeah I just cleaned the area really well and let it dry fully before applying anything, that seemed to make a big difference. I used a good quality crack filler that was flexible enough to move with the weather changes. Made sure to push it down deep into the crack with a putty knife and then smoothed it out flat so it wouldn't look all lumpy after it dried.

blake7922d ago

Gotta push back on that a bit. Hydraulic cement is good for stopping active water flow, but for floor joints in a bunker it can actually cause more problems. It's really rigid, so when the slab shifts from ground freeze or settling it'll crack right next to the patch and you're back where you started. I made that mistake on my own shelter floor two years ago, had to chip it all out and redo it with a flexible polyurethane sealant instead. The hydraulic stuff worked great for a vertical wall crack where water was actually streaming in, but for a flat floor joint that just seeps moisture it was a waste of time and effort.