Any concrete experts? Come inside

RX Reven' said:

I just Googled "horrible job pouring concrete" and this was one of the first images:

Honestly, not being an expert, this looks comparable to me.

I totally appreciate how you're not looking forward to the unpleasant conversation and how it's a family friend and how you've got so much else on your plate.

My friend, the job is beyond ridiculous, maybe you can have some industry standards about thickness, finish, etc. to take the subjectivity and emotion out of the conversation.

I really feel for you...maybe offer to pay him half of what was originally agreed in exchange for him removing the mess so you can get someone competent to do the job?  

 

Unfortunately that's not comparable.  It's much better. It's got control joints and an expansion joint, it matches the slab next to it (which means it's likely 4" thick), it's reasonably flat, doesn't appear to have had excess water added, and had the edges tooled.  It's not pretty, but it's flaws are cosmetic not structural. A good finisher might even be able to top it and make it look ok.
 

Sadly not the case with this one. 

In reply to DrMikeCSI :

Yup. That's a control joint, not an expansion joint. It did its job and controlled the crack, but needed an actual expansion joint. 

He is insistent that he wasn't finished, and he can finish it. 
Here is his plan:

"I was going to grind it all smooth, then cut the expansion joints, then seal and paint."

He does have a large surface grinder that he borrowed. I mentioned the 1.5" difference in height, he really didn't have a reply to that. 

he said the slab is 5" thick. Not sure how, that would mean the rest of the driveway is 7" thick lol. 
 

I asked about rebar. Uhhh, here's the pics of rebar. 

In reply to DrBoost :

That existing concrete look pretty new. Is it originally just sitting on black dirt without any gravel bed?

What does he mean "wasn't finished?" A big part- the most important part- of concrete work is finishing it. But you don't get to set the schedule on when to finish it, the concrete tells you when you need to finish it,  the day it is poured. You don't let it dry and "finish" it later! And shouldn't there be compacted aggregate under the slab, not just poured onto the dirt? 

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

No. 
 

Compacted dirt is a satisfactory base for a driveway. (Although black dirt may have a lot of organics)

No,no,no,no, just no.

The concrete on dirt is normal in Florida, no freeze/thaw heaving. The "rebar job", well it just isn't. The best case would have rebar epoxied in holes in the edge of the old work, wire mesh in field. You can start fights over if the mesh should be 1/3 up from the bottom or 1/3 down from the top. (1/3 up from the bottom; correct).

The fact it was bag mixed tells me there is no way the water to portland ratio was maintained for any kind of strength. Too much water= weaker concrete.

Nicely say, no thanks, and find someone who knows what they are doing.

In reply to jgrewe :

Dr Boost is in FL. Concrete on dirt (without compacted aggregate) is normal. 
 

I'm not sure we've confirmed the job was bag mixed. I don't think it was. 

SV reX said:

I'm not sure we've confirmed the job was bag mixed. I don't think it was. 

Does the photo with the pallet full of bags not suggest that?  (genuine question, I know basically nothing about concrete)

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

I don't see a photo with a pallet full of bags. I see a photo with 3 empty pallets and no bags. 
 

If that was bag mixed, it would have taken more than 3 pallets. And it would have taken an enormous amount of time (like 3 days of mixing).

The pour looks like it was poured too wet, not like it has 500 cold joints in it.  And this doesn't look like the work of a guy that wanted to work harder.

Its possible but it hasn't been confirmed, and the pour doesn't look like it to me. 

I see it now. 
 

If that was bag mixed there is absolutely no saving it.

In reply to SV reX :

9 and 10 post above. It looks like 2.5 pallets of sacks of concrete mix. It also looks like there are more broken pieces of concrete that weren't removed before the new pour began. It looks to me like there was a void under that side of the pour that allowed the concrete to break.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Yeah, the pics on page 3 are quite different than page 1.

it's a big mess on both pages.   I don't know what else to say...

Coming back later "to finish" concrete FFS. 
 

Good luck extracting yourself from any further effort (from) or payment (to) the friend. Tell him TYFY.