Many people have the problem of water seepage up through their floor causing a water problem in the garage. The question is whether applying a coating to the floor will help stop the water from seeping up through the slab. This is a very common problem, you also see it in below ground basements and usually not inside a main living area but it can happen. The cause of this water seepage is a high water table or an artesian well.
A high water table is the term used to describe the level of water that you can find when digging a hole in the ground. Have you ever dug a hole and then had it fill up with water as if by magic? This is the water table at work. The level at which the water line equalizes is called the water table and it can move higher and lower as the seasons progress.
This makes sense because if you have a lot of rain there will be ample amounts of moisture in the ground to keep it high but if there is no precipitation for months you would expect the level to go down. A swamp is just ground with a very high water table. If your garage floor is lower than the table then the pressure of the water trying to equalize its level will force it up through any cracks or fissures in the concrete.
The other normal cause, an artesian well, is similar but the water is not located evenly under the entire ground like the water table problem. Instead, there is a path for water to be moving under the ground and it just happens to lead to the surface at your garage. The term artesian means the water bubbles up out of the surface under its own pressure. Like the water table problem, the force of the water wanting to rise will cause it to seep up through the floor.
Applying a garage floor coating, even a high end epoxy product which seals the surface very well, will not keep the water out. The force of the pressure will actually lift the epoxy off of the concrete in spots and allow the water out. If you have this problem the only solution is to drain the water away from under the slab.
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