I had concrete poured on Monday for my pole barn. I've attached some pictures. Some of the lighter areas I photographed are slightly lower and rougher is this normal.
Concrete work.....Does this seem normal?
- Thread starter THETANK
- Start date
jack stand
Well-known member
From the pictures, looks like a nice finish.
ConCretin
Well-known member
They did a nice job on the approach aprons. Overall, the finish looks pretty good but there are definitely a few areas with grade and finish issues. Unfortunately, it's pretty tough to 'repair' these issues without making them even more noticeable. You could lightly grind any towel marks but not much you can do about low/rough areas. The good news is that the color will lighten and make the rough areas less noticeable.
Normal? These days it might be but that doesn't make it right. With that said, I could live with it and start enjoying my new shop.
Normal? These days it might be but that doesn't make it right. With that said, I could live with it and start enjoying my new shop.
Cardboard Man
Well-known member
That's a damn nice looking shop. I don't see anything wrong with what you have there. You could knit pick anything but better to move in and enjoy it. Once you have all your stuff in there you wont even look at the floor.
Thanks, I did not have much to compare it to except my attached garage which seemed to be more refined. I don't think it would be worth messing around with it. It is only in a couple of small areas and it is going to be a workspace not a museum. Just wanted to see if those with more experience saw any obvious issues I should be concerned with .... Thanks again.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Those aprons look well done. I think I'd be happy with that job.
CraigStu
Well-known member
I am curious our basement and attached garage have really nice smooth finish concrete. Has that look like in the 1st and 2nd pics above. Absolutely no dust. I have had other add-on garage bays that had to be painted or the dust was a pain. How does that nice finish get done?
karoc
Well-known member
Epoxy finish would do wonders, I believe to get good finish need several guys working it before starts setup. Did they have enough guys there in your opinion
racecougar
Well-known member
Rick B.
Well-known member
Unfortunately shoddy work is becoming the norm. Businesses and contractors today want to maximize profits by cutting back on materials and quality labor. In recent years I've had problems with several contractors to the point that I almost expect to get hosed by every company I hire.
I had a landscaper resod my yard and it died less than a week later. I had to force him to replace it and even then instead of removing the dead sod he had his guys throw new stuff right over the old. You can imagine how that raised the lawn and caused rain runoff to pool up around my foundation.
I had my driveway replaced and the company owner tried to save money on concrete by cheating me out of 7" of width on each side! I guess he didn't know I measured the width before and after. His response? "Well, everybody tries to save a little here and there." So I saved a little by refusing to pay him the balance of the quoted price. I used the money to have a nice paver border set in on each side.
I had a landscaper resod my yard and it died less than a week later. I had to force him to replace it and even then instead of removing the dead sod he had his guys throw new stuff right over the old. You can imagine how that raised the lawn and caused rain runoff to pool up around my foundation.
I had my driveway replaced and the company owner tried to save money on concrete by cheating me out of 7" of width on each side! I guess he didn't know I measured the width before and after. His response? "Well, everybody tries to save a little here and there." So I saved a little by refusing to pay him the balance of the quoted price. I used the money to have a nice paver border set in on each side.
Scotto
Well-known member
I had a similar burnished finish done on mine and I have some of those lower, rougher areas well. I think the concrete started to set up and got away from them a bit (it was a 95 degree day when mine was done) so it cured up a little faster then expected. After a year in the shop I don't worry about it anymore - I saved like $2k by going with the crew I did so I can live with it, lol.
Those bad spots are awful, it looks like they were never touched. imperfections around pipes and obstructions are normal but that is ridiculous. Hopefully there are no water sources nearby and you don't need to level any furniture on it.
Jeff C
Well-known member
I’m of the same opinion as these… a year from now you’ll never notice. 99.9% of people that visit will never notice.
rayra
Well-known member
'good enough' finish by a 'good enough' contractor. In a pole barn. Could have been a lot nicer and cost a lot more.
Corection now might require grinding, some self-leveling topcoat and an epoxy coating to conceal the sins. But that's a lot loftier goal. Frankly it is serviceable as is.
Time to ask this stuff is BEFORE the pour and while seeking a contractor to do the work. Such a floor is a lot of money. And I suggest the next persons be there DURING the pour and know what is acceptable and have discussed it with the contractor BEFOREHAND.
Asking AFTER just won't help what it is.
This googling up a 'garage' forum and posting these sub-par works doesn't help anybody, except as a negative example.
Corection now might require grinding, some self-leveling topcoat and an epoxy coating to conceal the sins. But that's a lot loftier goal. Frankly it is serviceable as is.
Time to ask this stuff is BEFORE the pour and while seeking a contractor to do the work. Such a floor is a lot of money. And I suggest the next persons be there DURING the pour and know what is acceptable and have discussed it with the contractor BEFOREHAND.
Asking AFTER just won't help what it is.
This googling up a 'garage' forum and posting these sub-par works doesn't help anybody, except as a negative example.
Thanks for all the helpful responses.... A lot of research has went into this building to get it the way I wanted it. I have been planning for a couple of years and have read this forum extensively since joining over four years ago. Through all the research and in attempt to account for everything I could think of, still some minor unexpected issues have come up but overall it has been a good experience.
An Amish crew of 5 did the concrete work and prepped the base material and seemed to work diligently the whole time they were on site. The finish inside was a machine trowel with the aprons being hand troweled. It took them about 4.5 -5 hours from the time the concrete trucks started pouring until they finished up.
Building is 40x48x14 with 16x24x8 Attic in the back half
I plan on coating the concrete with either Ghost Shield or PS100 Concrete Sealer in about 1 month.
Garage Doors are getting installed next week!
An Amish crew of 5 did the concrete work and prepped the base material and seemed to work diligently the whole time they were on site. The finish inside was a machine trowel with the aprons being hand troweled. It took them about 4.5 -5 hours from the time the concrete trucks started pouring until they finished up.
Building is 40x48x14 with 16x24x8 Attic in the back half
I plan on coating the concrete with either Ghost Shield or PS100 Concrete Sealer in about 1 month.
Garage Doors are getting installed next week!
Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
I agree with everyone the aprons looks nicely done. The floor looks like they used too fast a mix OR the mix was getting old by the time it arrived onsite.
I was the Construction Quality Manager for Metro in L.A. on light rail and highway projects for 25+ years. Spec's require placement a maximum of 90 minutes or 300 revolutions of the truck otherwise it was overtime and had to be turned away. If they were rushing because they knew it was about to "go off" - concrete beginning to chemically cure - then it would easy to get the finish variations you have. Especially if they re-tempered - added water to try to extend the finish time. It looks like it in the 4th pic where you can see the wall corner. Nevertheless, I'd not worry about it. It'll be fine for your intended purpose.
I was the Construction Quality Manager for Metro in L.A. on light rail and highway projects for 25+ years. Spec's require placement a maximum of 90 minutes or 300 revolutions of the truck otherwise it was overtime and had to be turned away. If they were rushing because they knew it was about to "go off" - concrete beginning to chemically cure - then it would easy to get the finish variations you have. Especially if they re-tempered - added water to try to extend the finish time. It looks like it in the 4th pic where you can see the wall corner. Nevertheless, I'd not worry about it. It'll be fine for your intended purpose.
PWC Repair
Well-known member
It looks like a very average hand troweled or 'floated' finish. Nothing to write home about but certainly nothing to be ashamed of. I opted for the 'power troweled' finish myself BUT it comes with extra cost. My guys were all done pouring and placing concrete by 1pm. Then 2 guys were there with 'whirlybirds' until 5 pm. Then one guy still there until about 8pm. My floor came out VERY smooth.
Shadowdog500
Well-known member
If you are talking about the apron that is normal, and yours looks excellent.
My Morton building looks the same. The floor drops a couple inches inside the door to keep any rain that get in from going past the low part. Since that part and the apron could be wet from rain it needs to be broom swept so people don’t slip.
The parts that look odd near the column is hand finished. They had a couple guys doing the hand finishing around my columns too since the power trowel couldn’t get in the corners.
The one spot in front of the column looks like a blemish like something fell on it while wet or something. I’m sure they can grind and level that of it really bothers you.
Beautiful looking shop.
My Morton building looks the same. The floor drops a couple inches inside the door to keep any rain that get in from going past the low part. Since that part and the apron could be wet from rain it needs to be broom swept so people don’t slip.
The parts that look odd near the column is hand finished. They had a couple guys doing the hand finishing around my columns too since the power trowel couldn’t get in the corners.
The one spot in front of the column looks like a blemish like something fell on it while wet or something. I’m sure they can grind and level that of it really bothers you.
Beautiful looking shop.