The Concrete Prep Saga

I did finally decide to finish the floor in Epoxy. Trip to Charlotte to pick up a couple Epoxy kits (only stocked at a few Lowes stores in the state, and a good excuse to go to IKEA too), and the prep work begins. I diamond ground the outer edges of the slab and a few other spots where the finishers didn't do so well. Then used "the wire brush of death" - aka a wire wheel on an angle grinder - to create a controlled recess in the black expansion board that formed the edge of the slab up to the stem walls. The intent here was to create a recess that I can later fill with a waterproof joint sealer, as I learned pretty quick that this crack basically just sucks in whatever liquid makes it to the edge of the slab.

Then the fun begins. I've noticed over the past year that in the right rain conditions, I can get water backing up under the garage doors - worse on the right side. A quick check with the level indicates that there's a low spot right where the garage doors come down. I decide I'd REALLY like to have a recess at the front of the slab, so any water that does come down the doors literally CANNOT get into the garage. How hard can removing a 1/4" x 9" x 18' of concrete be.

3 days of work later, and after destroying 1x 7" Diamond blade, 3x 4.5" diamond blades, 2x Masonry Grinding wheels, 1x Angle Grinder, 2 dusk masks, 2 pairs of safety goggles, 2 pairs of gloves, and the better part of 2x 4" diamond cup wheels, a channel was born:During this process, I also pressure washed the slab, then cleaned it, acid etched and pressure washed it again. Then I decided it wasn't good enough yet, acid etched and pressure washed it yet again to get a surface I was comfortable with epoxying over. Then started filling all the spider cracks. Lots of them. Also filled in the relief joints, and after drying time, ground everything down one last time. Though a day later than hoped (now Jan 15th), all the cleanup is done, and ready for epoxy!