We recently moved into a new home that we had built (we moved in in November).

The driveway, small section on the side of the house by the garage, and a pad we had placed in the backyard were all poured in mid-November, right before we moved in. The concrete in these areas is splotchy and looks nothing like the areas that were poured at an earlier date … those areas look great / normal (front porch and rear patio).

I am gong to talk to the builder about this and I’m curious what they will say. To me, it looks like this all needs to be pulled out and redone (at least, when I Google it that’s what I see).

I don’t see any other houses in my neighborhood with the same issue.

Is there any other “fix” for this? I don’t know the first think about concrete. All I know is the way these sections look now really bothers me. I also worry about long term impacts as well.










For reference, here is a section of our rear patio that was poured on a different date and looks normal:

What was the temperature?
When it's cold enough, lime is added to the mix to prevent freezing before the concrete starts to set.
Maybe an incomplete mix after they added the lime?

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
What was the temperature?
When it's cold enough, lime is added to the mix to prevent freezing before the concrete starts to set.
Maybe an incomplete mix after they added the lime?

I believe it was low 40s.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
What was the temperature?
When it's cold enough, lime is added to the mix to prevent freezing before the concrete starts to set.
Maybe an incomplete mix after they added the lime?

I believe it was low 40s.

OK, that's not the issue, then - not cold enough to require lime.

could be water, could be install technique, could be the mix of the materials, contact the contractor and discuss, if they won't make it right check with the CLB in your state, if they are a licensed contractor then they should have a bond on file. (last resort)

Other options would be to stain it, but you probably don't want to have a colored driveway, or if you have an HOA maybe can't do that..

It looks like improper mixture or application of the curing compound.

Is my request to have them yank this all out and redo it unreasonable?

Did they acid-wash the outside walls at some point? That's common on newly installed brickwork/stonework to clean off haze and smears after the mortar install.

I'm wondering if being sloppy with that mixture could have bleached a portion of your concrete. It looks like liquid splashes to me, and seems to be concentrated on the side closest to the house.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
Is my request to have them yank this all out and redo it unreasonable?

It might be. It looks like the previous application had a much better brush finish. I don't see a lot of cracks in the "bad" concrete. I still think it's a curing issue that although unsightly, it probably does not affect the durability of the concrete.

It's hard to tell from pictures but that's my opinion. You might want to contact a contractor that specializes in slab pour for homes. He may charge you something but it may give you piece of mind. If it is just unsightly, you could apply a stain or coating.

Good luck!

I wonder if some muriatic acid and standard corn broom on a warm day and leting it soak 20 - 30 min before hosing off on a warm day wouldn't fix that. I done that to inside of garages where renters worked on cars. They looked better than new after drying.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Did they acid-wash the outside walls at some point? That's common on newly installed brickwork/stonework to clean off haze and smears after the mortar install.

I'm wondering if being sloppy with that mixture could have bleached a portion of your concrete. It looks like liquid splashes to me, and seems to be concentrated on the side closest to the house.

Thought about that too, and it could be but he's got a slab out in the middle of the yard doing the same, curiously the discoloration is around the edge though.

Looks like scaling in one picture.

For 20 years I worked in redi-mix concrete as a driver and then 10 years as a manager/batcher. I can think of two possibilities. 1.) The concrete froze. 2.) You got a load that had leftover concrete in the truck and they added more to make up the load (This happens many times a day and most times is not a problem depending on how old the left over was).

Call the contractor and have him tell you what is wrong with it (he will never admit he did anything wrong).
Call the redi-mix supplier and have them tell you what they think the problem is. I have gone to the customers houses a few times and in several instances found our product was bad and credited the mason for the load, and a good mason will tear out the old and replace it. We did give the mason part of the expense of having to rip out the section.

Good luck.

On a side note I did a sidewalk for my brothers house and it froze overnight. Looks like yours and is still in place looking the same 30 years later. He was okay with the look.

There is a neighbor that has a concrete slab that looks like that. It was referred to as a “hot load.” The concrete sat in the truck too long in the delivery truck before it was used. Did your concrete sit out in the truck for a long time before using?

I don't know anything about concrete, but could this be solved by respraying it with curing agent or acid washing?

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
… [lots of good advice snipped] …
He was okay with the look.

This is the crux of the matter. I looked at the pictures and thought, “Meh, as long as it is structurally sound, I don’t know if I’d care if one of the slabs on the ranch looked like that. On the other hand, I can almost guarantee that Mrs. slosig would not be happy at all if any of the flat work around the house looked like that. It all comes down to whether or not the customer is happy.

its concrete. if its structurally sound I think its a non issue.
If it bothers you and you want there are a zillion products to cover/coat/reshape/cover it. and maybe the contractor/supplier will do that. If its not sound ripping it out is the solution.

quote:

Originally posted by Lineman101:
There is a neighbor that has a concrete slab that looks like that. It was referred to as a “hot load.” The concrete sat in the truck too long in the delivery truck before it was used. Did your concrete sit out in the truck for a long time before using?

Came here to post that - hot load.

I'd call the ready-mix supplier that your contractor used and have him take a look, they'll probably answer your question in a minute or less.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
Is my request to have them yank this all out and redo it unreasonable?

Most likely, yes completely unreasonable. If the concrete is structurally sound then there is no reason to tear it all up. Definitely follow up because something should be done to make things better, but tearing it up and starting from scratch is most likely overkill. Worst case is they can probably scarify the concrete and apply a surface treatment to make everything look great as long as it’s structurally sound.