Help! New Floor Nightmare

[challenger70]

First time poster, long time reader : ).

So I finally had my garage empty and had an opportunity to get my floor redone (20x20) 2 car brick unattached garage). Being as it is getting a bit chilly in Chicagoland, I was concerned about the weather but was assured it would be fine. So I requested 3500+psi concrete, fiber mixed in, vapor barrier, 4+inches of compacted stone underneath, 4+ inches of concrete, the control joints to be centered in the garage, and a good seal on my garage door.

I feel like the prep was done properly, I witnessed it all myself. the execution of the pour and finish is where I feel the wheels fell off this project.

I will list the issues (as I see them) 1) he centered the control joint with the apron control joint outside of my garage (14+ year old separate job) which is about 4" off center. I should add we discussed this being in the center and he even had his guys mark it off as such? 2) he used the rubber seal on the bottom of my garage door as his guide for where to level the concrete for the main door. This is a seal that is deformed from the old crappy floor. So now there is a 1" gap on one side and it seals relatively tight on the other. The gap is so big I can easily fit my hand under the door when it is closed and 1" of garage seal can't even fill the gap, almost but not quite. He put an expansion joint all around the 3 sides (not the main door side) and sometimes the concrete goes over the top and sometimes it does not quite make it to the expansion joint. I would expect a nice clean edge all around, this looks like a 2 year old (not very talented 2 year old mind you) did it.

So to recap, the control joint was not placed where discussed and agreed, the edge looks like ****, the door does not seal and there are some what I would call blemishes all over the place. Seriously who the hell pours a floor to the bottom of a rubber seal on a garage door and not to the door itself, especially if the seal is not even.

So the guy comes back yesterday and is playing all this off like this is all normal. I tell him I am upset enough to want to redo the whole damn thing and I really am. He says he will caulk around the outside, put some patch material around the door area to seal it better (there will still be a 1/2" gap) and grind the blemishes out. He plays off my comments like I don't know what I am talking about and plays the whole thing down like there is nothing wrong, and said "it is better than what I had", no **** it was an 70+ year old do it yourself floor!

Am I over reacting? What should I do? Do I have any recourse?

I might be able to tolerate this floor with the above mentioned fixes, but it still really pisses me off, that I have to do these stopgap repairs to a brand new floor.

I appreciate any advice, thanks!

 

[Kevin54]

I would have it ripped out and done over by someone who knows what they are doing. Make sure you take pics and lots of them as you might just end up in court. There is another thread on here by another newbie who got screwed over on his foundation, and almost the same deal as your guy.....the owner doesn't know what he is talking about.

But you are spot on, you want a floor level under the door and not a huge gap. Get a long 6' level and go around and take pics. A long level will show up flaws better than a short level. Also get another contractor in there, see what it would cost to do it right, and get a statement from him as to what is wrong. all of this is ammo for court. And yes, everyone hates going to court, but this guy got your money, and all you got was a ****** floor. I doubt he is going to want to rip it out and do it right, because he doesn't know how to do it right. And besides that, your money has probably already been spent, so court will be your only recourse.

And with the problems you have, you just can't patch them and expect them not to show and flake off later. Caulk won't fix concrete either.

 

[EricVonHa]

Sorry to hear and see. Not much to do there but spend a ton of time or grind the surface.

Truthfully, it takes as much time to jackhammer it all out and start over.

You're looking at 2 days either way.

The "finish" work is horrible. The guy doing the finishing was obviously inexperienced and it appears as though the concrete got harder and quicker than anticipated. There is really no reason to leave unfinished and blemished areas *if* there is enough working time. So, my guess is that it got too hard too fast.

Not your fault at all, but, you really gotta be on top of these guys as they do the work. You need to be there especially during the day of the pour.

Have them tear it out and do it over. They should want to do the right thing.

I had a 24x16' section re-done for similar issues. Got too hard too fast. Contractor was awesome to deal with. They even paid for the replacement of the heat melt system mats.

 

[aleccolin]

That's a **** concrete job, I do this for a living. Our finishers would be unemployed if they produced anything approaching that level of crappiness. Did they have a vibratory screed, or just an old twisted 2x4? Did they hand trowel the whole thing? You can see where it's not even closed up, let alone flat. There is a lot more to concrete flatwork than most people realize, but it's clear this jackass didn't have a clue what he was doing. You don't need expansion joint like that for an interior slab, and if you do use it, you're supposed to get the closed cell foam kind with the tear off strip at the top, leaves a nice clean void to caulk later. The only real viable option at this point is to get a thick epoxy flooring system like Stonhard installed where it can be built up in the low areas to actually level the floor, or just tear it out and start over.

If you DO tear it out an start over, you may want to consider using a self-consolidating concrete (SCC) mix to pour it back. Stuff basically self-levels and consolidates so the added material cost is made up in savings on finisher time. At the very least you may want to talk to a couple homebuilders and find out what concrete guys they use.

One more thing, get a copy of the concrete delivery tickets from the concrete supplier. If they didn't order 3500 PSI concrete that's more ammunition for the small claims suit.

 

[challenger70]

Well I am thinking I may be able to do a stop payment on the check, I just wrote it Friday night, but I won't be able to until i get home from work. I am also figuring I am screwed until spring as it is Winter time and the window is probably closed. This ***** I spent a good hour arguing with him that this was a **** job and he said it was "97%, no job is perfect". I am putting in a few calls to other places to get an expert opinion.

 

[ratdoggy]

My DIY stuff looks better and I've only done a pad for my kids basket ball thing to sit on

 

[challenger70]

It definitely didn't get hard too fast, they were using heaters to speed up the drying process as it was borderline freezing by the time they finished up.

 

[joes169]

The pictures are hard to see, they're pretty small, but from what little I can see, and the latest info you provide, the floor may be a victom of "Carbonation" from unvented heaters.

http://www.lmcc.com/q_and_a/concrete-dusting-2.asp

Although the edges may not be "great", I doubt they'll pose much issue, especially as you fill the garge back up.

Also, I wouldn't lose much sleep over the control joint being 4" off. I do the same thing occaisiionally, as it generally looks more awkward for the interior & exterior joint to be offset so little.

The door gap is unacceptable, I'd string a dry line (really tight) accross the opening to get a true reading how bad it really is.

 

[MarkG]

I have no idea what concrete work runs, but I know, in general, you USUALLY 'get what you pay for!' For stuff like this, I'm leery of hiring the 'cheap guy'.

This holds true with just about every other product and service as well. Getting a few references and seeing a couple of his past jobs in person isn't a bad idea either. Good luck.

 

[challenger70]

I have no idea what concrete work runs, but I know, in general, you USUALLY 'get what you pay for!' For stuff like this, I'm leery of hiring the 'cheap guy'.

This holds true with just about every other product and service as well. Getting a few references and seeing a couple of his past jobs in person isn't a bad idea either. Good luck.

I paid $3,550 for the removal of the old and this new floor, with the fiber in the concrete and vapor barrier, 4" of stone and 4"+ of 4,000 psi concrete.

 

[challenger70]

The pictures are hard to see, they're pretty small, but from what little I can see, and the latest info you provide, the floor may be a victom of "Carbonation" from unvented heaters.

http://www.lmcc.com/q_and_a/concrete-dusting-2.asp

Although the edges may not be "great", I doubt they'll pose much issue, especially as you fill the garge back up.

Also, I wouldn't lose much sleep over the control joint being 4" off. I do the same thing occaisiionally, as it generally looks more awkward for the interior & exterior joint to be offset so little.

The door gap is unacceptable, I'd string a dry line (really tight) accross the opening to get a true reading how bad it really is.

Thanks for the feedback everyone I truly appreciate it. for me it's not just 1 thing it's a combination of all of them that add up to a **** job, 1-2 things I could probably work out and deal with.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I would think that with all the GJF members, you could get a good referral from someone in your area who could do a good job on a simple concrete floor in a small garage.

You're not the first and only guy in the Berwyn, IL area that needed some simple flat work.

Once you're talking to someone who knows what they are talking about, they'll tell you whether to pour on December of wait until the spring. Good luck!

 

[challenger70]

So I had another contractor come by and he was appalled a the finish, surprisingly he said that some of it will not grind out, and he was wondering why an expansion joint was even used around the outside. I am beginning to think it is a way for this to sell some add ons like the caulking around the outside that he normally charges extra for that he offered me for free.

There are also noticeable gaps between the expansion and my foundation which will be nice if I ever decide to wash my car in the garage, or snow melt from a car gets in there and refreezes...

Thanks for all your input everyone!

 

[EricVonHa]

How did you make out? Did the original contractor make good on his work or ?

 

[Cairo94507]

I would have stopped that check immediately. Did you check to see if this clown was licensed and bonded?