After almost 4 years I don’t have any cracks...

[cavvie]

In my driveway, sidewalk or garage. We built our home almost four years ago, and the concrete has held up well. There are a few lines in the expansion joints but nothing that wouldn’t be expected.

Our PB had the deck poured to our new pool a little over a month ago. There are lots of cracks, small and large. And the spa stone work looks terrible. What would you do for these issues? Should they redo the sections cracked? Redo the stone on the spa? Just the top of the spa? Go over the patio?

I think there was too much water in the concrete mix resulting in weakened concrete, but I could be off. Would love to hear your questions, thoughts, opinions on this matter. Including photos.

 

[mas985]

The PB probably did not properly compact the soil around the pool before doing the concrete and stone work. I would try and get the PB to redo it.

 

[cavvie]

The PB probably did not properly compact the soil around the pool before doing the concrete and stone work. I would try and get the PB to redo it.

Def going to talk to them but they are being very difficult. I expected the pool build to start in May, it started in late June and we still aren’t done. Weather has been very little of a favor, we’ve had a drought so can’t blame the weather. Anyhow, if you have any advice on what to say would love some verbiage.

 

[JamesW]

Do you know what the psi of the concrete was?

Did they use rebar or steel mesh in the deck?

Did they allow the backfill to compact before installing the concrete?

What does the contract say with regard to warranty?

 

[ajw22]

Anyhow, if you have any advice on what to say would love some verbiage.

In my opinion that work is not good and workmanlike manner in accordance with the generally accepted standard of care in the industry.

Take lots of pictures and document in writing your situation and discussion with the contractor. I think a judge in small claims court would agree.

 

[Pv2]

not sure about the concrete decking - it does crack sometimes, and it may be harder to "complain" about, but that stonework is really bad. I
joints are way too wide (skimping on stone? no clue how to fit?) aside from the cracks and breakage. definitely needs redoing by a better mason.

 

[Neto]

I would be ****** too, I dont think they will do anything on the concrete but they should for the stone work, it just looks bad

 

[cavvie]

Do you know what the psi of the concrete was?

Did they use rebar or steel mesh in the deck?

Did they allow the backfill to compact before installing the concrete?

What does the contract say with regard to warranty?

I don’t know the psi of the deck. We built a garage at the same time and that was 3000psi. But i will ask about the psi.

I was planning on going to the concrete company to get the receipts for the mix, apparently they have to keep them to record ratio for f water to mix?

No rebar used just gravel. :/. I have no idea if they allowed the backfill to compact. I will def ask, I think I have photos because I’ve been taking a ton at every stage.

will also ask about warranty. PB is supposed to meet Monday but he doesn’t respond to texts. I highly regret choosing our PB, which makes me almost regret the pool. .

we are starting to think we may have to go to court. I am having an inspector come when the pool is done to look at the equipment.

 

[cavvie]

I would be ****** too, I dont think they will do anything on the concrete but they should for the stone work, it just looks bad

Yes! It looks terrible! Not level, huge amounts of mortar because they don’t think they wanted to cut the rock, and now it’s cracking and breaking and we haven’t even used the spa. Just really poor workmanship

 

[cavvie]

not sure about the concrete decking - it does crack sometimes, and it may be harder to "complain" about, but that stonework is really bad. I
joints are way too wide (skimping on stone? no clue how to fit?) aside from the cracks and breakage. definitely needs redoing by a better mason.

We haven’t paid the last 12% so I’m hoping we can agree with the PB to a remedy before we pay. I also will have a pool inspection before I pay from a guy out of the area. I made a big mistake going with this PB

 

[mguzzy]

We haven’t paid the last 12% so I’m hoping we can agree with the PB to a remedy before we pay. I also will have a pool inspection before I pay from a guy out of the area. I made a big mistake going with this PB

Do not pay the final 12% until the pool job is completed to your satisfaction... Sometimes chasing them in small claims court is hard to do once they have your money. And it will give you some leverage to negotiate with. Also, contact the contractor licencing board in your state and get ready file a complaint.
That is just about as crappy job as I can imagine. The fact that you had someone else do a driveway at the same time and it looks perfect out to give you an idea of what you should be seeing. Too me it looks like they didn't have the mix right and it cracked. You said you thought the mix was too wet, did you see it, and perhaps get any pictures of it? I'm sure they will try to blame you for not keeping it wet. The stones will have to be reset.

 

[jimmythegreek]

The stonework is just really poor quality. It makes it harder when the actual stone isn't good quality makes getting them even harder because of thickness issues. The concrete as settled. The sub base was not compacted at all or not well. To have a middle crack this soon is not good. Take the level and check in a few spots using the crack as an edge check both sides to see if it valley'd or humped. The ticket will usually show the ordered slump and mix and the driver is supposed to mark how many gallons were added on site. My supplier keeps tickets for a year. Dont pay the final til you are satisfied

 

[Chickinvic]

That looks like Crud. I would be shocked to see that look in a 1 month old deck. Just horrible. Definitely don't pay that balance.

 

[RoyR]

He said, no rebar....well, there you to.

 

[Snikwah]

Wow... no rebar in the concrete decking? That is insane...I hope you can get this corrected.

 

[Rich D]

Rebar in concrete decking seems to be a regional thing. It would be very rare to see it around these parts. Always use to be wire mat, then after fiber mesh came along a lot do not even use the wire any more. This even includes large commercial projects. We prep for large truck dock pads all the time and I have never seen rebar in them. The placement of expansion joints and control joints is more of a art then most people would think. Something went catastrophically wrong with this pour. Could be a combination of some or all the reasons mentioned (Another might be the the concrete was too thin). In any event I personally would be looking for a complete demo and re-pour. If you need to have the same crew do the work it might be worth while to get a testing company to supervise the pour. They will check for proper compaction of the first 12-18" depth of the base, proper rebar of wire place placement (if required per plan), proper concrete specs and timing, proper concrete depth.

If they are going to re-pour, when they come to demo the deck I would have them first cut a long section out about 18"wide from that middle crack to the edge of the coping and have then remove that section so you can check to see if there was massive settling under the concrete. If it did settle then it will most likely continue to settle and cause the same issue down the road. You can not fix this issue by just compacting the top. The correct fix is to remove all the soil back down to the original dig depth and re-install with proper compaction in lifts. If it is sandy soil you could roll the dice and try flood settling from the top but there is no guarantee that will work.