New House Approach Concrete Issue Top Flaking Off

[AdamMopar]

We built a new house in Iowa last year and just moved in at the end of January. Starting to see issues with the concrete on our garage approach with the top layer coming off. I attached one example though there are alot more spots.

They poured it in November and it was the last job they did, it didn't get to freezing that evening but got close. It definitely froze within a few days. We kept getting bumped over and over down the lost and our overall build was delayed over 3 months.

Our sidewalk was poured a day later and so far I don't see any issues with it, but it doesn't get much traffic. The sidewalk surface quality in general looks much better than the driveway which I noticed from day one.

I actually think the company that did it for our builder does do quality work, they did all our other concrete and I have been pleased with it. I think they just pushed it too far.

Has anyone dealt like anything like this before? I know another person, same builder, same concrete contractor, same issue. They tried an overlay product which failed, and there issue has gotten much worse and still is unresolved. The concrete contractor blamed it on snow blades and salt melting off vehicles.

The tricky situation is they are supposed to pour our driveway out to the road, a large patio, and a few other things this spring. With good weather I don't doubt they will do a good job, but I have a feeling if I insist they pull this out and repair it will be a long drawn out battle.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thank you.
Adam

 

[jkuro]

Concrete was poured to late in the year and didn't have sufficient time to cure. The pour was probably subject to freezing temps and is spalling. Concrete contractors tell you it's ok to pour this late in in the year all the time. They have to make a living. Good luck getting them to remove and replace.

 

[starquestMM]

Did they use any insulating blankets?

Freezing withing a few days generally isn't a problem. It doesn't take too long for typical concrete to develop enough strength to be able to withstand the destructive expansion of the freezing free water.

If the concrete was weak/low cement to begin with than it would take longer to develop enough strength to withstand freezing. Another thing could have been chemical additives issues.

In my job, early open cylinders or rebound hammers can solve a lot of these issues.

 

[FredWanaker]

do you use salt on it?

 

[hellrzr]

Like mentioned above, looks like spaulding. Could be from the cold but more than likely they threw water on the surface while they were finishing to make it finish easier and look smooth. The problem is this causes spaulding. If you have them lined up for more work and they are a good company that stands behind their work they should tear this out and replace it without much issue. I would also be interested if they did use insulated blankets or at least burlap to protect it for a few days. In the summer the concrete will reach strength in 2-3 days but in November it can take a few days and even up to the standard 7 days to reach strength. Lots of issues with fly ash these days also so that could have played a role. The bottom line though is that it's not right and you aren't happy and they need to fix it.

 

[hellrzr]

If your curious, go to the link below to see the Iowa DOT spec on cold weather protection. Sounds like you were on the boarder line with the cold. I really think it's more likely they added water to the slab. That would also explain why the sidewalk is ok, because they probably didn't add water to the surface when they finished it.

Go a little past half way down to see the table 2301.03-2 Concrete Pavement Protection Requirements.
Something to keep in mind for future work.

Section 2301 | Revised 4/21/2026

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

Could be the cold, or it could just be a bad pour. Sometimes it just happens. I have a patio where one section has problems but the rest is fine, and I don't even know what should be different about them.

 

[ddawg16]

If you work the concrete too soon you get results like that.

Concrete is an art.....and I'm really f'ing serious.

You have to know when to start working the top for the final finish. Too soon and you get the above...too late and it's rough as hell.

Too soon brings up too much water.

 

[oilslick]

Could it be related to air entrainment?

 

[AdamMopar]

Thanks all for the input.

No salt was used at least by me, but the builder had someone moving snow up until we moved in. I need to check with them. Those guys did end up knocking a bunch of edges off which also annoys me.

They did not cover it with blankets after the pour.

I am pretty sure it rained a ton the next day when they were there saw cutting it.

Requested to meet with the concrete contractor and the builder last week, of course it didn't happen.

 

[Walkers]

It does not look like high quality concrete work to me.

 

[AdamMopar]

The other thing is the finish and color look way off from the sidewalk. Sidewalk broom finish looks amazing. The driveway looks pretty rough, noticed that right away.

 

[brownbagg]

spalling is when concrete freeze and the non entrain air has no where to go and it pops out, lamination which is close to the same thing is when they poured it too wet and the wet cream on top due to the extra bleed water, had nothing to bond too.

so it was poured to wet which weaken the bonding and they over work the creme on top. sometime you can let the bleed water evaporate before finishing. these, the bleed water was mix into the top cream. Cream I mean the top cement paste, not concrete, its water cement and sand

 

[ConCretin]

It's impossible for anyone on here to diagnose the specific problem from a picture especially since the OP indicates that an overlay product has already been applied and failed. To determine the likely cause, detailed information would be required regarding the concrete (slump, air entrainment, accelerator, etc.), weather conditions and most importantly, finishing procedures.

One thing we can say it that the surface has failed and it is most likely a workmanship issue. If ambient temps didn't drop below freezing for a couple days, the concrete didn't freeze. If salt wasn't applied, that's obviously not the issue. In my experience, defective concrete is very rare assuming of course the specified slump isn't exceeded, which I'd put back in the workmanship category.

If I had to guess, I'd tend to agree with Brownbagg. Likely some combination of excessive water and poor finishing technique.

The other thing we can say is that a long lasting repair will require that the defective surface be removed before a repair material will adhere. No matter what you put down, it will require a sound substrate, which you do not currently have. There are products out there you can apply that hold up pretty well one you get down to sound concrete. It's still just a repair though. If you have any recourse with the builder, I'd be looking for that concrete to be removed and replaced.

 

[dcg9381]

We had something similar happen, but due to heat, not cold. The top layer of concrete dried too fast and flaked - looks pretty much like yours does. It's not a structural problem, but is a cosmetic issue. Don't have a good solution to it - you can grind it, but you'll get into the aggregate and it won't look the same as non-ground areas.

We did have a front porch that was poured "too high" - they were able to chip that out, grind it out, then coat it and it's held 100%, but that area was maybe 100 sqft.

I agree that pouring concrete around weather is a bit of an "art" and easy to screw up under the wrong conditions - too hot, too cold, or too much water. How much luck you'll have getting a concrete sub to fix a cosmetic issue - that's going to be tough.

 

[BombShelter]

We never used to pour so late in the year but we're a little north of you, usually we'd wrap up mid-October because you know what happens, yep you're looking at it first hand. Hopefully the foundation wasn't done by the same guy.

We have a concrete supplier up here, they used make the lighter colored concrete and the boss hated it and never ordered from the company, yours look like the same tone, a little lighter colored than "normal", we used to see similar results after a few years on jobs we lost and they went with that supplier.

The other product I didn't like was fiberglass filaments, without a good sealer (it might have been too cold to apply). the ends will wick up water and you'll get the micro-cracking with the freeze/thaw cycle. I haven't done concrete in a decade but they told me they might be using plastic fibers now but in the old days the projects that used it looked a lot like yours after a few years.

We never had that problem but any concrete guy will have to **** it up and replace, overlays don't work. There should be something like a three year warranty with the home, this should be included, get the ball rolling and don't be a nice guy. Builders are notorious for going out of business once the subdivision is done.

 

[AdamMopar]

Just to clarify there hasn't been an overlay done. That was done for another person I know by the same company and it didn't go well.

I finay got to talk to the builder this week, and they are going to take out and replace all the damaged sections.

They still say it was too much salt within a 90 day or so window. I disagree, but I guess we will see how it goes. At least not as bad as I was expecting the discussion to go.

Thank you.
Adam

 

[Jeepster04]

Nice that they are takng care of the issue. Certainly looks like they either put way too much water in the mix, threw water on top b/c everyone thinks that makes the finish look better, or they finished it too early while the bleed water was still on the concrete... or all of the above...

 

[The Cobbler]

to me that broom finish looks weird, me thinks something wasn't right from the get go .

 

[AdamMopar]

I agree with you. It definitely looks worse compared to their other work. They did say they use a different concrete for the driveways to try to avoid issues, CF4 I think they said, which I am not familiar with.

 

[AdamMopar]

Thought I would give a final update. After the builder being relentless it was salt damage, I finally got to meet with the concrete contractor this week. He said it was not salt damage, he remembered the job and said they were fighting too much water coming up out of the gravel bass to the surface and had a lot of trouble finishing it. He said there had been too much rain leading up to the poor and for some reason in the center was the worst.

They were planning to tear out and repour this week along with pouring the main driveway. Unfortunately more rain, but at least we are close and they stepped up and took care of it.

Thank you.
Adam

 

[The Cobbler]

great news!

 

[markrenner371]

it should heat exserted from concrete ,less water used to cure it
may be

 

[KissRocks]

Where in Iowa are you located? I'm located in Waterloo, Iowa. I have almost exactly the same situation happening on a section of a very large slap, and I'm curious if the crew is the same.

 

[AdamMopar]

Where in Iowa are you located? I'm located in Waterloo, Iowa. I have almost exactly the same situation happening on a section of a very large slap, and I'm curious if the crew is the same.

Sent you a message.