Hi Guys,

I'm stalling on beginning my basement project because I'm concerned about two aspects of the current concrete floor in my basement:

1 - Uneveness

2 - Control/Expansion Joints

With the control joints, my basement slab is divided into about 8 'sections' of concrete, and after nearly 30 years of settling, they are uneven in random ways - nothing extreme, but more than the 3/16" over 10' requirement.

First, what is the best way to map the 'topology' of an uneven floor? This is more difficult than first imagined. It doesn't appear to be an easy case of spreading some floor leveller in the low spots (would be very expensive if I tried to do the whole floor) as the different floor sections (each maybe 6' x 8') seem to slope slightly differently - any ideas with a basement floor like this?

Also, with the joints (~1" deep grooves between concrete sections to create areas of preferential cracking during settling), should I fill these in (with leveller or concrete) before beginning any flooring or construction?

Thanks for any help you can pass my way as I can't seem to find much on the internet about joints in concrete slabs and how they affect the basement finishing process.

Regards...