is my concrete poured correctly? (pics)

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jr2dr

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i recently had a run in with a very lousy contractor. the job was an addition to the back of the home, which measured 50x10. 25x10 was an addition and the other 25x10 was a patio. i guess the problem started when he found out i was on solid bedrock, which made digging the 2 foot footers a pain in the a$$. so the 2 ft footer turned out to be about 15-17 inches. they laid #3 rebar on 16” centers (oc) throughout formed area and Doweled #5 rebar into existing foundation every 16”. they did not tie in the rebar but maybe every 10ft or so. the real problem started when they started pouring the job before it was ready. meaning the rebar was not all laid out and brick ledges were not formed correctly. so they just laid rebar in the footers. literally just laid them in there without tying them in at all. they ended up just pour half because they didn't order enough concrete and it was too late to get more(concrete suppliers were closed) so now i have a half a$$ unfinished job that the contractor won't finish! i have pics and will try to post. there are so many cracks in what was poured im scared to move forward with the project. please any ideas or guidance would be appreciated! thanks
jr

slab 8-2010 007.jpg

slab 8-2010 011.jpg

slab 8-2010 012.jpg

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First a few questions before My rant on crappy contractors.
Did you pay up front?
Did you have a good contract?
Did you hire the lowest bidder?
Did you check references?
Did you get a building permit?
And lastly, did you tell the contractor that going to court is going to take a long time, cost lots of money, and that everybody looses but the lawyers?

It would be cheaper for the contractor to tear out what was done, and refund you your $$ than it will be for them to go to court...honest, I'm a professional expert witness, and nobody makes out.:2cents:

This is what we call.. "going to builders college" because it is a learning lesson if you did not do your homework.
 
First a few questions before My rant on crappy contractors.
Did you pay up front? i owe half the job still which he is not getting until this is figured out.

Did you have a good contract? no there was no contract.

Did you hire the lowest bidder? he was the middle

Did you check references? no

Did you get a building permit? no

And lastly, did you tell the contractor that going to court is going to take a long time, cost lots of money, and that everybody looses but the lawyers? no


It would be cheaper for the contractor to tear out what was done, and refund you your $$ than it will be for them to go to court...honest, I'm a professional expert witness, and nobody makes out.:2cents:

This is what we call.. "going to builders college" because it is a learning lesson if you did not do your homework.

Did you pay up front? i owe half the job still which he is not getting until this is figured out.

Did you have a good contract? no there was no contract.

Did you hire the lowest bidder? he was the middle

Did you check references? no

Did you get a building permit? no

And lastly, did you tell the contractor that going to court is going to take a long time, cost lots of money, and that everybody looses but the lawyers? no
 
Well, if you have no contract, you may be out of luck.
Your best bet is to come to an agreement with the contractor, and do not pay until you have a new contract , and the job is done to those specs.

Or, document everything , times, who talked to whom, and any witnesses you can find, and hire a lawyer to show what you have collected.

Or, just call it a lesson learned and start over.
This will give you the best piece of mind in the long run. Because I do not have faith in working it out with the contractor, and the court system will really be a downer. Not to mention all the time lost and agravation you will deal with.
:2cents:

I would get another reputable contractor out there to give you more options and some costs, it may help in your final decision.

I'm sure someone else has an opinion...............:)
 
A few things.... Existing posts embedded in the new pour, should have cut expansion joints and construction joint- while waiting to finish pour. Is there an under slab drain for the pictured downspout? Be prepared for problems if they pour over that mess.... I see it's checking already: http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/14p.pdf
http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/05p.pdf
http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/06p.pdf
http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/11p.pdf

Gary
Gary, the downspout is already removed. that slab will eventually be an addition to the back room there. where u see the existing post will be where the studs go. and no they didn't put any expansion joints around them....

Ive had 2 different concrete pros come look at the pour and they assured me that there will be no problem in future. they say it will hold up the stone and exterior walls no problem. the contractor that did the job said he would put in writing that there will be no future problems too. their reasoning is because it took 5 hours to do the pour so it sat in truck for a long time and probably too much water was added. they are claiming that the crack are just surface cracks.

in the wider cracks i can stick a 1 1/2 in. safety pin straight through it. ill try to post a pic.

contractor says lets let it cure for 27 days and then see what happens. he said it will be fully cured in 27 days?

so IDK guys, do u think it is safe enough to continue with the addition, frame and stone the perimeter of new pour?
 
you mention ' lousy ' in the 1st sentence then wonder if you should continue ? i wouldn't have this guy pour a sidewalk at my brother-in-law's house :rolleyes: whoever said rebar in a 4" slab ? no one who's read any aci specs,,, whatever happened to sawed contraction joints ? ? ? 'crete that's been in the barrel for that long should have been rejected/sent back,,, adding more wtr destroyed the wtr/cement ratio & will only result in lo-strength crete,,, no expansion joint ? no contract ? insurance ? permit ? any freeze/thaw conditions in your part of the world ? air in the crete ? has that #3 bar been inserted into the wall at all ?

what good is anything in writing w/o an original contract t ? surface crks can be due to hot wind but yours aren't - they're due to someone who doesn't know or understand what specialty work is - concrete.

i'm really surprised the trk sat there that long - were curly, moe, & larry short help & couldn't 'barrow it fast enough ? that could imply cold joints

no one knows when crete cures - 27d is just a period of time when, traditionally, testing occurs,,, the other periods are when the crete's bring placed, 24hrs, & 7d,,, feel free to ask anything else of me :rofl:

here's the hard part - those other 2 ' pro's ' aren't worth a bkt of warm spit im-n-s-h-fo if they said the work's good,,, get your - gawda'mighty, who can you trust - a local pe ?, the highest priced guy you didn't select ? - you gotta find someone who know's & so far you haven't,,, hell, you could learn all this just by getting an apron store book,,, good luck !
 
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