HELP! My concrete pad nightmare...

[fwee6]

Hi everyone,

Looking for your insight and expertise on this one...

Take a look at the pics.
My concrete contractor stripped the forms yesterday to find out his crew didn't use a ******** on my curb walls. I am horrified.
His suggestion is to hire a professional concrete cutting company to remove the curb walls, then reform again with proper anchoring and rebar.

I don't want this. I paid to have the slab and curb walls poured as one.

Questions:
- you can see in the pics that even the edges of the slab are compromised....should I push to have the entire job redone?
- would his suggestion of re-doing the curb walls make any sense? I know many people pour a slab first, then put a curb wall on top of that later. But with how poor the edge of the slab is I'm very worried about doing this....especially 10 years down the road when it deteriorates.

What would you guys do? Appreciate the feedback.

 

[bry@n]

Personally, I would contact an engineer to ask if there would be any structural difference. I'd have to admit, I would want it redone because I wouldn't trust the rest of the work if they failed to do the walls correctly.

 

[thymer]

Wow, that really is awful. I too would wonder if there are voids in the main floor area after seeing this. Would go for a complete re-do.

 

[Zrexxer]

That's the worst concrete work I've ever seen. And I used to be a construction inspector on big concrete jobs, so I've seen some real ****.

I wouldn't have any confidence in the entire placement given what's visible in those pictures. I suggest you hold out for a completely new monolithic slab.

 

[kd3pc]

Re-do, but if this guy's crew is this sloppy, you need to make sure HE is going to be there as should you....to make sure things are done correctly.

 

[Rookie2]

I don't see how he could cut the wall away without compromising the floor. I expect the floor to start cracking as you read this.

Re do Re do !

Call HOLME'S

 

[James-W]

I'd have to admit, I would want it redone because I wouldn't trust the rest of the work if they failed to do the walls correctly.

I concur wholeheartedly with this, I would NOT trust the rest of the work either. I would want it redone by a DIFFERENT concrete crew, one that knows what they are doing and will do the job properly.

 

[tmcelheny]

If it was a guarantee that the floor was done correctly.... And there is a footing and frost wall that extends into the earth then yes, they could be cut drilled dowled and re poured... If its just a slab on grade with no footer/grade beams or frost wall then the floor would have to be cut back, excavated for a grade beam style wall and or frost wall with footer... Even then you will have to dowel the floor to the new concrete...sad to see it

 

[bczygan]

Do you have all his money?
Does he have a bond covering all the expense needed to remove and replace?
What are the performance specifications for this trade in the contract?

These kind of contingencies should be prepared for on every job.

Now all you can do is hope for the best response from the contractor, and search the contract for legal recourse.

 

[Elginz]

That is bad, I vote start over. I feel for you. It doesn't look like you could cut the curb off and pour on top of the floor as the floor under the curb has voids, so the integrity of the floor in those areas is not there.

 

[AndyCBR]

Hi everyone,

Looking for your insight and expertise on this one...

Take a look at the pics.
My concrete contractor stripped the forms yesterday to find out his crew didn't use a ******** on my curb walls. I am horrified.
His suggestion is to hire a professional concrete cutting company to remove the curb walls, then reform again with proper anchoring and rebar.

I don't want this. I paid to have the slab and curb walls poured as one.

Questions:
- you can see in the pics that even the edges of the slab are compromised....should I push to have the entire job redone?
- would his suggestion of re-doing the curb walls make any sense? I know many people pour a slab first, then put a curb wall on top of that later. But with how poor the edge of the slab is I'm very worried about doing this....especially 10 years down the road when it deteriorates.

What would you guys do? Appreciate the feedback.

If it were a few small honeycombs it could be patched but voids at that level compromise the integrity of the stem wall where the load will act on the slab.

You could saw off the stem wall but I assume you would be in the middle of the footing so then do you saw off the whole footing?

One option would be to reform a larger stem wall that would capture the old stem wall but this would come at the expense of making the entire structure a few inches bigger on all sides and encroach on the interior.

Unfortunately, I don't see a good way to affect a repair. For the size of the slab a redo may be the best option but not sure what leverage you have with the contractor.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Ben Buck]

Call Mike Holmes!!!!!

Good grief that's awful!!

Totally Unacceptable!!

 

[12ozd]

Demo and re-pour.

 

[malibu101]

I simply don't know what to say.
You have to wonder- Did anyone on the crew ever place concrete before? This should be beyond embarassing for the so-called "concrete contractor" and, I feel, must be rectified by him no matter what you have to do. Without paying anything more.

Seeing that there is other new construction in your pics I assume things are inspected?
My gosh, you at worst case minimum you have to at least have something that passes inspection.
At no additional cost to you.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I am in heavy civil construction Quality and we's simply reject that work. It would not be allowed to be accepted in a Use-As-Is basis nor to be repaired. That is simply an unacceptable lack of consolidation.

And he wants YOU to hire someone to fix his work? You hired HIM to give you acceptable work. Make him demo and replace. He is going to b!tch like crazy and you may have to sue him but it's simply not acceptable as is.

 

[joes169]

That's garbage, the contractor know's it, and his crew know's it. There's no way the contractor would want that in his own yard, and there's no reason you need to accept it. I would remind the contractor of that if he gives you any push-back. Also, I'd certainly get the building inspector, at a minimum, to take a look at it first.

That said, I see your location, and as a concrete contractor myself, I'd actually cut the crew a little slack. What I'm seeing isn't necessarily a lack of skill, but a lack of time IMO. I'm willing to bet that the crew is still in their winter mindset, and they used too much accelerant, and it got away from them. I'm betting that the concrete was hot, and it set at least twice as fast as they expected, looking at the pictures. The reality is that it happens to all of us, it's just a matter of how we deal with it when it does happen...........

 

[tdkkart]

Wow, that's a flippin' disaster, you couldn't mess that up any worse if you really worked at it.

Cut it up and re-do it all, I don't imagine the slab is any better.

 

[Horror Business]

Rip that **** out and start over.

 

[BRIANBB]

These are all new construction going in. I wonder how the rest of the concrete work is on the home foundations? Get the house finished and sell as fast as you can.

 

[pepi]

Let me see, he is telling you only the part you can see is FUBR, all else is good to go.... Yes, I believe him, do you?


"I paid to have the slab and curb walls poured as one."

^^^^^ If that is in your contract YOU win, it was not done. Tell him you will see him in court and stop the construction, and paying. Consider yourself lucky to have spotted this, not so lucky for him.... Horrid workmanship and guaranteed to FAIL.

 

[ADSR]

Demo and re-pour.

This!

 

[The Cobbler]

woww, scares the **** out of me seeing this as I am getting quotes on a monolithic pad pour with curb...

 

[D3B Dave]

I would tell the Contractor to start over. If the crew was bad enough to do the walls like that, it makes me wonder what else they did poorly. When the slab is torn out you will most likely find more poor work.

 

[Toolfool]

A reputable contractor would have the entire slab gone before you ever got to the site. There should be no discussion.

 

[fwee6]

Job is being 100% redone. I respect the business owner for stepping up and admitting fault. That crew of his was fired, and we agreed that only he is to complete the re-do under my watch.

Thank you everyone for your insight and comments.

 

[dfiler2]

That is good to hear, the contractor probably realizes that redoing the job is the cheapest fix. He may salvage his reputation and get referrals in the future, good for him. You can now call Holmes back and say "Never mind".

 

[Kevin54]

Job is being 100% redone. I respect the business owner for stepping up and admitting fault. That crew of his was fired, and we agreed that only he is to complete the re-do under my watch.

Thank you everyone for your insight and comments.

Make sure they oil and "thump" the outside forms before the concrete starts to set. This will knock the stone back some so it is not seen. also make sure they work the concrete down around the forms. When they thump the form boards, it is nothing more than using a hammer to go around and thump the boards. A lot of guys won't do it, and you end up with voids.

It does sound like your contractor is a stand up guy.....so far. If he tears it all out and redoes the complete job at his cost, and you are satisfied afterwards, make sure that you get a few of his business cards, and spread some work his way. At least he fired the other jamokes that screwed things up. Hopefully he didn't give them their last paycheck.

 

[jbogacki]

Great news for you. I agree with the above, if its redone right and you are 100% happy - spread some business his way.

I built my house. I did a lot of work myself but had to sub some items out since I work full time. I didn't pay out until I was 100% satisfied. I got burned once by being a nice guy.

 

[wantacoe]

Wow, You may have found a good contractor who just happened to have a bad crew. I know it can be hard to find good workers, doubly hard when construction is booming. If I were you I would take the day off work when it is redone just to make sure there are no more problems. Good luck.

 

[jd_1138]

That's great news.

 

[Flivver250]

Glad he manned up.

 

[vision8]

Use a ******** and add as much rebar as you can to support both the wall and floor wall, slab and connection. You are in Calgary, more rebar less stell mesh to support the frost heave and temperature swings. I am in Southern Ontario and put 2,000 lbs of rebar in my 30' x 50' floor slab alone ! No cracks no shifting , no inclusions.

 

[mnavillus]

questions?

Is there a bond in place? If so, then there should be a no brainer to have the work redone!

Looks like a lot of new construction in your neighborhood from the pics! Did you hire the concrete contractor or did the builder hire him?

How is he your contractor going to ensure the rework installed correct the second time?

I would be suspicious that the rest of the workmanship is correct!

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Why in the world would you accept a repair?

Hold to your guns and tell him to remove the entire thing and start over. When it is removed, consider hiring a structural engineer to test the pad for compaction prior to their reforming. Consider hiring the engineer to look at their forming & rebar prior to the pour, and to observe the new pour & workmanship.

 

[dakotart1984]

This is the exact reason Im willing to pay for a reputable company to do work that I cannot do. Should the event something like this happen, they would be willing to make the job right, no matter the cost. Was this the case with when you were looking at quotes? That is downright horrible. Everyone else here is right, Id be afraid of the integrity of the slab.