It's reasonable to ask him what's wrong and how he might can fix it. Reasonable for him to try cleaning it or possibly staining/painting it. Not reasonable, imo, to bust it up and start over.

If you have a work order, purchase order, signed invoice, or contract with the contractor, you may see if there is any fine print. Concrete is a structural product and variation in the finish is typically listed as an expectation. Maybe not as bad as what you have, but it is left open-ended for a reason.

If it was poured in the low 40s they may have used hot water to the concrete. In NJ they start in October if I recall, its been a while. The driver may not have spun the barrel long enough to blend it all together.

A hot load is when they add a fresh mix of concrete on top of concrete already in the barrel.

I think the concrete will eventually will bleach out and turn the same color. Doesnt help for the way it looks now.

By the way how thick is it? Driveways are supposed to be 6 in. Same as the apron and sidewalk in-between apron and driveway.

quote:

Driveways are supposed to be 6 in. Same as the apron and sidewalk in-between apron and driveway.

Most all of them around here are 4 inches thick. I know I had to argue to get 8 in my garage as I wanted the extra depth for the lift I was putting in.

4” is a standard pour for sidewalks, driveways etc. If a person has a concern about the structural integrity they can increase the strength of the concrete and/or tighten the spacing of the rebar..”Most” concrete that we’ve used is a 3000 psi mix…that will support 3000 pounds per square inch…that’s pretty strong. On some commercial project the engineers spec’d up to 4000 psi but for normal projects that’s overkill.
When I built my race shop my floor was 4” thick except where the lift was and we sloped it down to 8” for that concentrated load and to give the bolts enough to bite into.

Thicker concrete is not necessarily better. The key to a good structural pour is the preparation of the base.

Looks structurally sound. I doubt they will do anything for cosmetics.

You can call concrete refinishing experts in your area and get quotes to "pretty it up".