Patching Up Your Concrete Floor

Don't like the look of a floor with cracks and holes? Well, this is not exactly an appealing sight. And the longer you look at it, the more it annoys you. It might be time to fix and patch up those holes on your concrete floor. Patching up your concrete floor is not difficult for a regular person to do. You don't have to be a professional to know how to do it.

However, it's not just all about pouring wet concrete into the hole on your floor. This is not enough to make for a lasting repair, and a long-lasting repair is what we want. We have to know how to do the process correctly. Otherwise, we'll end up with a pathetic-looking repaired floor, with the patches easily coming off or roughly different from the rest of the surface.

Prepping the Holes: We have to prep the part of the floor that we need to fix. Grab a hammer and chisel and the chip off some of the concrete until the bottom of the hole is levelled. Then undercut the sides a little so that the patch you'll put later on won't get loose. Then clean the area with water and wire brush. Get rid of all the unnecessary particles and dirt in the hole.

Applying the Concrete Mix: After the hole is prepared and cleaned, apply on a concrete bonding liquid with a brush. While the bonding agent is still sticky, make the concrete mix (by mixing the concrete with water). Then apply the concrete mix into the hole. Make sure that you pressed the mix adeptly into every inch of the sides of the hole. Then proceed to fill the hole until it is covered completely.

Smoothing It Out: Have a straight-edged board ready. Make sure it is at least a foot longer than the width of the hole. Move the board back and forth to smooth out the patch. When we poured the concrete mix earlier, there the top should be a little mounded. And as we smooth it out with the board, we press and compact the patch more.

As the patch gradually dries and feels firmer, we then smooth it out with a magnesium or wood trowel. Move the trowel in a fanning motion to level the edges of the patch with the floor. Do this over and over as the mix dries up. To polish the patch further, we use a steel trowel on the last few passes we make.

Additional Tips: If the hole on the floor is 1 inch or deeper, we will have to use a concrete mix with coarse, crushed-stoned aggregate. For shallower holes, though, we need a sand mix. The same steps will apply in using either of the two.

And it's done! All that's left to do is to wait until at least the next day before walking on the patch. If you are repairing your garage or the driveway, wait for about a week before driving on the patch. We only have to do three easy steps to fix a hole on the floor.