Wavy new floor!!! Now what?

[hemiredneck]

I had the floor done by the same guy who did my foundation. I figured why not, he did a great job on foundation and he gave me a great price on floor. I'm now kicking myself. The floor is nice and flat around the perimeter by the walls (of course), but once you get closer towards the center, it gets ugly. In one particular spot, if I stand a sheet of plywood on edge, I measure about 3/4" drop in the center. Now building stairwell and bathroom walls and the waviness is really becoming apparent.

I have a 12"x24" floordrain in the center of the floor, so the entire floor pitches to the center about 1". The entire floor is 32x40.

I considered ripping up the whole thing and starting over, but that would be a big setback. Any suggestions would be great. Floor leveler?..Grinding?.. Help!!...And going after the "floor" guy does'nt seem like an option...he thinks it's the best floor he's done yet!

 

[scoobers]

First off: Sorry to hear about your poor experience. I've had work done by someone that screwed up bad. It ended up costing me 6K in repairs. It was an expensive lesson

Is your foundation guy bonded/insured. If he is, I don't see any problem with calling him up explaining the situation. If he is reputable, he will have no problem fixing it.

If he isn't reputable, he should have no problem fixing it either because of the quality of work.

It looks fun to take my skateboard on, but for doing your garage floor, it looks like a soup sandwich. Call him up... see what he says

 

[DelmarvaJK]

I've seen several companies that make a "self leveling" concrete... That's probably your only choice in this situation...

 

[ConCretin]

Sorry you have to deal with this. The pictures don't open large enough for me to see exactly how out-of-level the floor is. Is the gap under the straightedge 3/4"?

An acceptable floor shouldn't show more than 1/4" under a 10' straight-edge. I'd probably allow a bit more than that in localized areas but I wouldn't accept 3/4" under any circumstances.

As much as I hate to say it, you might want to reconsider removing and replacing the slab. Repairing the floor will be almost as difficult and expensive and will never be the same as a new floor.

Try not to think about the short term headaches (including breaking the news to your finisher) and decide how much this will bug you long term. This shouldn't be your problem and your finisher needs to learn what a proper concrete floor is.

 

[BRIANBB]

Mate,

Floor scale is best for you which can help you to solve your flooring related issues and you can best manage to your flooring plans within limited budget. With exact forecasting with scale you it would be easy to invest and plan to your flooring plan

What?

 

[darkk]

I have a 12"x24" floordrain in the center of the floor, so the entire floor pitches to the center about 1". The entire floor is 32x40.

I'm confused? If you have a center floor drain, don't you want it pitched to the drain? You need at least 1/8" per foot pitch to drain water effectively so I'm confused why you're complaining.

 

[hofiveo]

mate,

floor scale is best for you which can help you to solve your flooring related issues and you can best manage to your flooring plans within limited budget. With exact forecasting with scale you it would be easy to invest and plan to your flooring plan

^^^^ troll ^^^^

 

[spotco2]

I'm confused? If you have a center floor drain, don't you want it pitched to the drain? You need at least 1/8" per foot pitch to drain water effectively so I'm confused why you're complaining.

The way I read it, it's not an issue with the pitch towards the drain, it's the waves in the entire floor that's the problem.

Some guys know how to work with horizontal concrete, others know vertical. They don't always know both.

I've got a buddy that pours walls and has done them for 30 years. I asked about a driveway and he said no problem. He'd just have to pour it standing up and push it over into place because he didn't really know how to do it laying down.

Get your foundation guy back out and have them remove their mistake and give you your money back. Then have someone that deals with pads to pour your floor.

 

[pauls340]

Nice avatar pic! I've been using a non-cementitious ionically bonded product called
Mg-Krete. As with ALL concrete repair products, you will be able to see the repair. We do small to very large skim coats at 1/8" thick tapered to zero/ feather edge. You get that concrete clean and dry, you will not be able to delaminate Mg-Krete....at ANY weight. I did a 5200 sqft 1/4" skimcoat at a gas station 4 years ago and it's still there. Zero shrink, no water involved, freeze thaw doesn't hurt it. Where are you located?

 

[pauls340]

Here's a pic of Mg-Krete Self Level called Lock the Top. This Tire Shop is going to epoxy over it.

 

[wdrumheller]

Here's a pic of Mg-Krete Self Level called Lock the Top. This Tire Shop is going to epoxy over it.

That's a really cool idea. Let gravity do the leveling work I guess?

 

[pauloman]

might be a good time for a solvent free epoxy floor which would also level the floor. Mix sand into the epoxy to bulk it up in the low spots - the sand will sink to the bottom and not be visible, it just reduces the amount of epoxy you need.

you might even use a cheaper 100% solids non floor epoxy and then come back with the pigmented floor epoxy on top.

 

[scottydosnntkno]

Sue him in small claims for the amount a legitimate concrete quotes for repairs.
If it destroys his business GOOD.
He should be on the working end of a shovel because he made that mess.
In essence, he stole $6000 from you.

nothing like brining a cannon to a knife fight

 

[Coursey]

This thread scares me. I am getting ready to have a floor poured. The guy is supposed to be good, but with concrete it is kinda a one shot deal.

 

[madosta]

This thread scares me. I am getting ready to have a floor poured. The guy is supposed to be good, but with concrete it is kinda a one shot deal.

Just make sure you let them know up front your expectations, they will work harder to do that.

Ever do something you haven't done before? Ever hear the saying "Hindsight is 20/20." ?

I've made mistakes... ugh. Good luck though.

 

[hemiredneck]

Nice avatar pic! I've been using a non-cementitious ionically bonded product called
Mg-Krete. As with ALL concrete repair products, you will be able to see the repair. We do small to very large skim coats at 1/8" thick tapered to zero/ feather edge. You get that concrete clean and dry, you will not be able to delaminate Mg-Krete....at ANY weight. I did a 5200 sqft 1/4" skimcoat at a gas station 4 years ago and it's still there. Zero shrink, no water involved, freeze thaw doesn't hurt it. Where are you located?

Skimcoat sounds like a possibility, but I'm not sure how it would work with the floor drain being a little lower in the center of floor. Would it all settle towards the center drain before hardening? The condition is nothing I can't live with, It's just irritating. I feel like ripping it up and starting new would be such a setback.

I guess you get what you pay for. I paid 1800.00 for the concrete when it arrived (no additional markup), and the guy charged me $900.00 for labor.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Here's a pic of Mg-Krete Self Level called Lock the Top. This Tire Shop is going to epoxy over it.

Photo is not self explanatory, please enlighten us to what exactly took place in this photo, sounds like a nice product.

 

[hemiredneck]

Here are a couple more pics of a 4x8 sheet on edge, and a 3/4" gap at the center of 8' long sheet. Yikes!

 

[tncatadjuster]

Have you flooded it to see if he gave you rivers or lakes?

 

[pop pop]

You're going to have gaps depending on where you measure when you have a slope to a center drain. If you gage it from the drain toward the perimeter, is that part flatter? Or maybe I don't understand your problem.

 

[oilslick]

***** to not be happy with that much Crete. I tell ya most people I encounter have something that pisses them off about their floor, puddles,cracks, and wrong slope. I think it is karma coming back to get me for some **** I did as a younger dumber self! My floor turned out waaaay shittier than yours, paid my guy 200 and that was to cover tool rental as well as labor. I overpaid!seriously you can trip on some of my lumps! 32x54 with a shitton of steel so she ain't come out.

 

[kerr]

Honestly , Its a long ways from the end of the world . Most any house dont look so good untill the trim guys get done . As long as water went to the drain , no biggie .

 

[hemiredneck]

I have a hard rubber tire scissor lift and if I park it in a certain area, there are only three wheels touching the ground. Yes, the whole floor does pitch towards the drain in the middle...I guess it has to, before pouring I set the drain grate 1" lower than the line on the outer perimeter walls, and any water I've had in there has gone toward the center...in a round about way. I guess I just need to buy a good squeege to help it along.

 

[Weedwaka]

I would love some more info on the mg krete.

We had a **** concrete guy as well. He made a real mess. Just a bum.

 

[06 DIESEL]

While your floor should slope to the drain, 3/4" gap under a 8' section is way, way too much. If it was my floor they would be in there with jackhammers taking it out on their dime. They say with concrete you only have one chance to make it right. I fully agree with this and the longer you wait to take it out the harder it is going to be on the guy to get it out. I would rather take a week worth of setbacks than have a sub-par floor that I have to live with forever.

 

[rockchucker]

Unacceptable. No other way around it. Dude needs to take care of it.

 

[CNGsaves]

OP needs to fix the first post as pictures are tiny.

+1 on forcing the concrete installer to jack hammer that mistake out and start over. Nearly 1" dip is totally unacceptable.

I'd start with "Come To Jesus" meeting (onsite video rolling while walking around concrete job and pointing out ERRORS) where installer is sternly questioned about WHAT THE HExxx happened?? Will be OP decision whether he wants to give the guy one more try or not. If no confidence, then pursue another vendor to jack hammer out and re-pour that will be paid for by the original installer who screwed up!!

Document all the problems with pictures, video's of "CTJ meeting" onsite, emails to vendor, recorded phone calls, etc. - - - - these might be needed for small claims court later on.

 

[pauls340]

You can find info on Mg-Krete at www.spggogreen.com or www.imcotechnologies.com. You can then track down a rep or distributor.

 

[starquestMM]

would it be cheaper to replace or tile over?

 

[NWphotog]

Here are a couple more pics of a 4x8 sheet on edge, and a 3/4" gap at the center of 8' long sheet. Yikes!

Any idea what happened? Did he not screen it right? Did it start hardening up too early? Seems like a mighty big area to pour and work but that is no excuse.

 

[hemiredneck]

The whole day of the pour just went bad. It was one of the coldest days we had all winter, the concrete came in 2 loads, front loaders. The first truck came, that was fine, then the second truck got lost and drove around for so long that it had to go back to the plant to dump the load before it hardened up. By the time the next truck got there 3 hours had gone by. I don't know if that really was an issue because of the cold weather, the concrete was'nt setting up fast. When the "Flooring Contractor" got out his "equipment", like his power screed, it would'nt start. I had to change the tension rod for him and get him some mixed gas, pull the spark plug and dry it out, etc. That was the moment I realized that he was ill prepared. He had 2 other guys with him to help for the pour, and after, he was in and out all day, with power trowel. He did'nt leave till 9 pm that night. By then the damage was done. All the troweling won't fix what was lacking in the screeding. The finish is smooth, it's just wavy. Ever heard the expression "you can't polish a turd".

 

[jose jj jacinto]

there is always a way out of something like this, sorry thjat has happened to you. you can always heavy duty diamond grind the floor, or cut a keyed channel around the low spots, fill it with cementitious self leveling, and grind flush with existing concrete. quicker, and less expensive. call me if you have more questions..

JJ