Any concrete experts? Come inside

I'm having a portion of  my mom's driveway repaired. I am on restrictions since my last surgery and my wife won't let me do concrete work since I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 lbs lol.  If she wasn't here, I'd do it anyway.

I hired a couple that does home improvement projects, they said they could do the driveway, but since it was a fairly large project they were going to bring in a friend that also concrete for a living to help them. 
I drove by this morning and it looks like absolute crap. It's not level, trowel marks, etc.  I have questions for anyone that does concrete:

1 - the repair sits a few mm below the driveway. Can/should they just put more concrete or leveling compound on the repair area to bring it to level?
     1a - will this hold up to vehicle traffic over time?

2 - The temps overnight dropped into the low 40's. Should there have been additive added to the concrete due to the temps during curing?

3 - there are expansion joints in the original driveway. They didn't extend these into the repair area. I'm assuming they should be?

4 - would the proper next step be for them to rip everything out, or can it be salvaged? Or, should I find a new contractor?

I was told the next step is to seal it, then paint. So yes, this is the finished surface!!!!! I see that they don't know the first thing about concrete since the form is a, not level, and b, not level with the original driveway surface. There was no way they could screed to get the proper finish. The contractor is coming in a few hours to collect the final check. At this point I'm going to tell him that at best we're parting ways, or I might ask him to break up and haul away the crap that's there. Maybe I don't want him doing anything though.

Wow, that looks like ass.

Oy!  Even a crap job has to have the expansion joints, they filled half of one.

I wouldn't pay one dime for that!

I would also insist they tear it out and haul it away.

Then I would find another contractor.

That is shocking. I can't even imagine how that happened. I am sorry you have to deal with that. 

Expansion joints are usually cut in after it's cured. But otherwise, that's a crap job. I'll check with my concrete expert wife about floating another layer on top to level it, but it sure isn't a job that deserves pay.

Thanks all, and keep the comments coming lol.  

I wish I'd have looked at it before they poured. Maybe I'd have notice that the form height varied by about 2" and there are steps in the form.

That is awful!! 

I'm in commercial construction. There's no saving that. That needs to be torn out and the area cleaned up by the "contractor" and then you need to cut ties.

Concrete wouldn't work, but I wonder if there's a polymer that can be laid down an inch or so thick to fix this.  Concrete has to be at least 1.5" and asphalt 2" minimum.

I saw Bob Villia once make a driveway of munched up car tires in lieu of asphalt, it took heaves and frost very well but probably has to be thick.

I mean this with all of my being:

What the berkeley?

Have you checked around for hidden cameras for the prank show you must be on? Maybe there's one in a tree,or did they leave a box on the porch or something? Hidden cameras can be hard to spot. 

Spearfishin said:

I'm in commercial construction. There's no saving that. That needs to be torn out and the area cleaned up by the "contractor" and then you need to cut ties.

That's kinda what I'm thinking. I mean, the form can't even be reused because it's not level, or level with the intended finished surface. 

This is why I don't hire stuff out. I would have done a much better job than this. 

DrBoost said:

Spearfishin said:

I'm in commercial construction. There's no saving that. That needs to be torn out and the area cleaned up by the "contractor" and then you need to cut ties.

That's kinda what I'm thinking. I mean, the form can't even be reused because it's not level, or level with the intended finished surface. 

This is why I don't hire stuff out. I would have done a much better job than this. 

Any topping is going to come with the risk of it coming off in the future, a risk that's amplified if the wrong product is used, or applied incorrectly. And if they can't place the concrete any better than that (that's really poorly done), there's zero chance they can procure the right product and apply it appropriately. 

Ye gads!  I had a picture in my mind of how bad this might look before I scrolled down and looked at the pictures. 

Shocked at how much worse than I had imagined. 

I'm forced to agree with those that recommend starting over.   I wish you the best of luck getting this remedied.

I could put together a team of tweakers who'd do better work than that. There's no way to fix it, and if you leave it, you'll be overcome with self-loathing and depression (At least I would).

Holy cow. I run a concrete crew. That is much worse than I was expecting to see. I think my three old son could do a better job. In my opinion there is no saving that concrete. The contractor should demo the slab and you should split ways in my opinion.

regarding the expansion joints, some contractors will put the joint in when doing the finishing work. Some contractors cut the joint after the concrete is cured. Both methods work

Holy cow. I run a concrete crew. That is much worse than I was expecting to see. I think my three old son could do a better job. In my opinion there is no saving that concrete. The contractor should demo the slab and you should split ways in my opinion.

regarding the expansion joints, some contractors will put the joint in when doing the finishing work. Some contractors cut the joint after the concrete is cured. Both methods work

As a former concrete expert and someone who has a bit of experience with those "miracle polymer" toppings, I can wholeheartedly say just have that chipped out and start over.  The toppers never bond well and will fail in a year or two.

I have a suspicion that you aren't gonna get anything from your contractor unfortunately.  Sorry you got such crap work.

I remember the first time I did concrete..

That all has to come out.  A thin repair won't work long term.   

I don't know what else I can add besides 4th or 5th "Tear it out".

I used to own a concrete company. I've never seen a job that bad done by someone that has seen concrete before.

Ardex is a company that makes some really good topping products but even their stuff can't fix that. The K301 would probably work but in your case I would fire up the quick-cut saw and find a Bosch Brute.

Keep coming back to this cause its so bad.

I have sympathy dread for you in dealing with these clowns in getting your money back and/or getting this taken out.

Your contractor was listening to Steve Miller.....Take the money and run.....

I took a lap around the block and followed Mr Asa to gawk at this again.

About the low temperature, yes, you would add calcium chloride to speed the hydration process. When I was selling concrete I had a cut off of 45F for any kind of pour. It rarely happened here in St Pete but there were a few jobs we postponed because of temp concerns.

In this case, be happy they didn't add it. The quicker you bust it out, the easier it will be.

Do they have a license?  Insurance?  You deserve a full refund and having them cart away the mess they made.  I would be willing to bet that the mix is all wrong too and it falls apart in a year.