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Help - Construction Issues

AshlandTriumph

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Nov 28, 2017
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4
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Virginia
Hi everyone, long lurker but first time poster.

Having a 28x36 garage built with room trusses that has been going well and is near completion but an issue arose that I would appreciate some advice on. The foundation is Cassion with poured piers and load beams - basically a modified slab. The slab came out appearing great and it wasn't until the framers started taking measurements that they determined there was a dip where the center garage door was slated to go of just over an inch. At the time the contractor said they would epoxy the area so the door would close, i responded that they could epoxy the entire floor but not just that area to which they agreed.

The building was pretty much completed including the installation of the doors when they came back and said after discussing this with a few concrete installers the better option would be to raise the structure and pour an inch and a half over the entire floor. I agreed as they told me it would be exactly the same and I would end up with a thicker floor - not that that is really a huge benefit to me.

The process was different than i had imagined but they used a couple dozen bottle jacks and raised the structure enough to slip another treated floor plate under and then lowered it in place. I saw the start of the process but had a business trip and missed the whole event. The concrete was poured the next day and a bonding agent was used between the new and old slabs.

I arrived back the evening of the pour and was only able to look at the floor with a flashlight and was limited to the area immediately near the doors. I have since had the opportunity for a better view and have a number of concerns.

First the door tracks and now embedded in the concrete, as is the door trim with the weather stripping. The flashing around the door frames is also embedded in the concrete but has since pulled away so there is the potential for water to enter the space where the flashing sits. The area behind the door tracks is not finished well and has some visible gaps, the perimeter where it meets the floor plates is of course not smooth as they couldn't get close to the walls, the same holds true to the stair case. The expansion joints are a bit rough as they used a power waster in an attempt to clean out some of the pour.

My concern is I am going from a nice smooth floor to one that is generally smooth but not the same as the original but more concerning is the amount of damage that will occur if the garage door track, flashing, weatherstripping etc have to be removed. I told them this needed to be remedied and their response is it is better to patch a small area as opposed to the dip they were dealing with. I have not brought up the gap between the flashing and the concrete but will when I talk to them next.

Is there anything else I should be concerned with that I should look for? Everything was going fairly well, just a few hiccups with the contractor but this in my opinion is pretty major.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance
 

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kd3pc

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Aug 10, 2013
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Northern Neck
Sorry, but that is not a solution.

They should have just left that space that mates to the bottom of the garage door as it was, putting in some framing to leaving an inch and half notch for the door to drop down into. I poured my entry this way on purpose and many in our area do this as a normal thing.

Raising the sides was .....?? Insane

Sorry for your misery
 

spudley

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Dec 27, 2016
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702
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Northeast Wisconsin
Apparently they didn't lift the entire structure or the door tracks wouldn't be submerged. They should be able to replace the flashing but I think they should take the door tracks and weather stripping off, cut the tracks off at the new floor level, grind off the **** finish, and reinstall the tracks with a 1/2" clearance from the floor. Water will eventually collect and rust any metal touching the concrete.
Then they should provide an epoxy floor free for their f'up.
I'm with Slim, how can anyone think that would satisfy a customer.
 
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AshlandTriumph

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Nov 28, 2017
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Virginia
Thanks for all the replies, great sanity check for me.

The entire structure was raised so the rails, weather stripping etc were actually off the ground and inch and a half but there must have been more concrete poured so these pieces are embedded. Not an excuse as it should not have happened at all.

Always fun when you are dealing with something you did not create. They told me the original forms must have been knocked at some point - probably when the concrete guys showed up at 5:30 am and were using headlight from multiple trucks to pour and guide the pour.

Thanks again and any other input would be greatly appreciated.
 

K13

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Oct 24, 2007
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2,223
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St. Albert, AB Canada
It it was raised they can't be into the concrete very far. Probably pretty easy to just pull them out and fix the floor around them which your contractor should be doing.
 

johnyg

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Nov 11, 2015
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319
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boca raton fl
sounds like the begining of a **** show.....maybe get a home inspector or ind. contractor to evaluate your situation. this is a big nut...you want it rite !!!!!
 
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joes169

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Sep 19, 2011
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663
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WI
What a mess, spending a little time with a straight edge at each door originally by the concrete guys could have saved everyone a ton of headaches here......


Here's my initial thought: Pouring and finishing a 1.5" to 2" cap is far more difficult than a 4-5" concrete pour. The concrete just doesn't move the same, as it lacks any ability to "self-level", so it's rarely anywhere close to flat. If they screwed up the first pour, it's likely the second isn't much better once you start looking closer.

Second, they should have either raised the everything up higher, or they could have simply had it cut higher. Concrete is intended to last a lifetime, at a minimum, most everything else around it, not so much.

Last, they should have really installed a much tighter control joint pattern in the thin cap than the slab below. They should have respected all of the existing control joints (they will likely telegraph through) and added a substantial amount more.

Best of luck.
 

850xpeps

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Lifting the garage door rails shouldn’t be too hard. But that should be their baby.

I would never expect any builder and I would never myself as a builder resort to lifting an entire building because a garage door doesn’t touch in the middle. They could
Have easily feathered in a nice patch that’s bonded. Now instead they potentially left you with an unbonded(I know they said they would bond to the slab below but was it done right), thin slab that might crack worse and become small pieces. Drive some heavy equipment on it and then drag a chain across it and see if it sounds bonded.

I wouldn’t have let them do any of this work. They would have been better to grind the outside edges of the slab where the door sits and slope it out.
 
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AshlandTriumph

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Nov 28, 2017
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Virginia
Thanks again everyone some great food for thought, sadly this is a well know builder who has taken a path that is probably going to cost me in the future even if everything visible is remedied.
 

850xpeps

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Hopefully everything works out. Sometimes stuff sounds worse than it is. Hopefully they’ve bonded it right. The rest can be fixed easily enough.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

CraigStu

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May 22, 2014
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Blacksburg, Va
Actually I am not sure it is a big deal. Usually the wood 2x8, the trim, and the track, would all be sitting ON the concrete anyway. How much worse will it be if they are embedded 1/2 to 3/4 inch IN the concrete?
 

Toolfool

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Aug 22, 2011
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Tallahassee, FL
I wouldn’t have let them do any of this work. They would have been better to grind the outside edges of the slab where the door sits and slope it out.

This is exactly what I was thinking as I read this thread. It sounds like the only real problem was where the bottom of the door meets the slab. And sloping out would be a plus.
 
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AshlandTriumph

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Nov 28, 2017
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Location
Virginia
Thanks again everyone, I am going to continue to bring up my concerns with some additional points made here and see what they propose. The thing I hate the most is how much you are impacted by someone else's mistake and they don't want to go the extra mile to not only make it right but to compensate for the mess they created.
 

850xpeps

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Aug 6, 2017
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Thanks again everyone, I am going to continue to bring up my concerns with some additional points made here and see what they propose. The thing I hate the most is how much you are impacted by someone else's mistake and they don't want to go the extra mile to not only make it right but to compensate for the mess they created.



Welcome to the world of building. I take pride in what I do and I’ll be honest most people don’t want to pay for that care. They think I can do it in the same time a hack can. Not the case for the most part. Pride takes planning and time to make sure your not sacrificing down the road and chasing fixes one after the other. I’ll say it again that most people think a good job is one that’s done. You unfortunately have the ability to spot mistakes and want them fixed. Most contractors I’ve met don’t won’t fix them right. It will cost them more in the end then someone who spend more time addressing the issue. Your best bet is flood the floor make sure you have the slope you want and get some money back for some hillbilly fix they did.
 
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