Concrete Problem?

[tegguy]

So I have posted a question before about my driveway and everysaid it was normal. Well I'm back with another one........ I have included pictures below but my driveway is 6 months old (brand new house) and it appears as if the top layer of it is washing away. I can wipe my finger on it and get grayish powder. Some of the photos are walk ways so there has been no heavy objects on them. I know some of these look like they happened when it was curing but none of these were there when it was curing. What I tried to show in the last picture was my driveway has lost texture in that area and is basically smooth.

Thoughts?

 

[fatboy621]

I'm no pro when it comes to concrete but it looks like they may have worked it too much with the bull float when finishing it. This will work too much of the cream to the top. Makes it easy to finish with the broom but not strong and will wear easily and have small places chip out.

 

[joes169]

Every picture you attached shows leaf imprints. That would leave (no pun intended) that the driveway was poured in the Fall of the year.

When leaves are finished into the surface, they will eventually deteriorate and leave a void behind. It's really only a asthetic issue, although a good contractor will remove all the leaves they can see while finishing. That said, it's not always real easy to see the leaves under the cement paste on the surface.............

 

[fnieto]

Cool....fosils!



Damn....."FOSSIL"......

 

[tegguy]

I kinda figure thats what the leaf ones were but if you look at the 3rd photo from the bottom you can see the area that is whiter than the rest thats almost like the top layer of concrete has been washing away.

 

[va.grouseman]

Fatboy is right. If the concrete is worked too much in order to make finishing easy, it brings that sweet grout to the top but what's worse is at the same time it's driving the gravel down. And there is your strength and your catalyst gone. We think of the grout, (cement), as being the catalyst for the gravel and so it is, but the gravel is the catalyst that holds the grout together also. Sometimes when the cement comes to the job site too dry, they will lay too much water to it to loosen it up. And then at other times, if it's a real hot day and the mud is curing to fast and getting away from the finishers, they will keep laying the water to it to try to save it. Again working the grout to the top so they can leave a nice finish, pack up their tools and drive away. And you will be holding your finish in your hand in a year or two.

 

[tegguy]

Thank you for the information everyone.

To me this sounds like a workmanship defect and should be covered under warranty but what does everyone else think? Also it sounds like the structural integrity of the concrete is in question.

 

[NZ0J]

The other spot looks to me like they broomed a little late, and the broom didn't work into the surface as much there. I highly doubt there is anything wrong with the structural integrity of the concrete.

 

[Kevin54]

Another vote here for worked it too much. And it may be just the camera, but some of the pics looks like it's been painted.

 

[tegguy]

Another vote here for worked it too much. And it may be just the camera, but some of the pics looks like it's been painted.

If it was painted (I don't think it was) it would have been done by the builder prior to us moving in. I spoke to the area super yesterday and he was not happy with how it looked nor was he happy that it was able to be damaged by a pressure washer. He has my submit another warranty claim and took pictures and was sending an e-mail to the warranty manager.

The damage due to the pressure washer was never looked at in person they just denied our claim. I have gone to the houses around us that were built in the same time frame and none of them have cracks (we have 1 that goes all the way across not on a joint). All of them were broomed in the same direction (we have about 3-4 different brooming directions) and none of them appear to be washing away like ours. 1 has pressure washer damage also though.

 

[A_Pmech]

To me this sounds like a workmanship defect and should be covered under warranty but what does everyone else think?

I think you're nitpicking to extremes.

Seriously. Relax, take a deep breath and enjoy your new house. It's just a driveway.

 

[tegguy]

I think you're nitpicking to extremes.

Seriously. Relax, take a deep breath and enjoy your new house. It's just a driveway.

Not trying to nitpick anything but I don't wanna let it go and then 2 years down the road it's so bad the HOA wants it fixed and I'm stuck footing the bill.

 

[Kevin54]

If it was painted (I don't think it was) it would have been done by the builder prior to us moving in. I spoke to the area super yesterday and he was not happy with how it looked nor was he happy that it was able to be damaged by a pressure washer. He has my submit another warranty claim and took pictures and was sending an e-mail to the warranty manager.

The damage due to the pressure washer was never looked at in person they just denied our claim. I have gone to the houses around us that were built in the same time frame and none of them have cracks (we have 1 that goes all the way across not on a joint). All of them were broomed in the same direction (we have about 3-4 different brooming directions) and none of them appear to be washing away like ours. 1 has pressure washer damage also though.

Like I said, it just may be the way the camera took the pics, but it appears to have sort of a gloss to it, and is just sort of an unusual color for concrete, at least with the gray that I normally see around here.

 

[A_Pmech]

Not trying to nitpick anything but I don't wanna let it go and then 2 years down the road it's so bad the HOA wants it fixed and I'm stuck footing the bill.

I don't really see any problems in your photos. It looks like an average driveway.

My guess is IF the concrete was over worked you'll get a few patches of spalling in 5-10 years. If it was badly burned it would have detached already.

One easy way to check the quality of the surface is to drag a heavy chain over it. The sound will have a "tinny hollow" tone to it where the finish has detached from the base. A deeper "hollow" sound would indicate the sub base has subsided beneath the slab.

 

[tegguy]

So just wanted to post a follow up....

I had the city inspector out here for a drainage issue and showed him the pressure washing damage and other concrete issues and they believe something is wrong with the concrete

Also I used my floor jack to jack up the rear end of my truck to do some work to it and it turned the concrete to powder.

 

[NZ0J]

So just wanted to post a follow up....

I had the city inspector out here for a drainage issue and showed him the pressure washing damage and other concrete issues and they believe something is wrong with the concrete

Also I used my floor jack to jack up the rear end of my truck to do some work to it and it turned the concrete to powder.

Did the contractor spray the top with water when they were floating the concrete? I'd guess there is nothing wrong with the rest of the concrete, maybe just the surface. If they really put the water to the top of it during finishing, they would have raised the water/cement ratio on the surface making it weaker.

 

[tegguy]

We do not know what they did when the laid it we were not there.