help with concrete problem pls

Posted by need concrete assistance pls on November 20, 2006, 2:27 am

Hello,

I hired a contractor to put in a large patio. Even though I informed
him that there is shifting, he failed to put in rebar. Now the
concrete is shifting and separating at the joints. There is about 1.5
to 2 inch crack down the joints and at least a two inch shift in
height.

The contractor has since lost his license and I'm being told by the
Contractors Board that I have no recourse unless I hire a lawyer to
track him down. I've called him on numerous occasions and no return
call.

It depresses me to even go out to my backyard now because I spent so
much money on it and now it is dangerous to walk on because of the
possibility of tripping from the shifts in the concrete.

I did my research on the contractor and checked out 5 of his jobs and
interviewed previous clients.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I've considered tearing it out but
it will cost me almost twice as much as I originally paid to put it in
to re-do this project. Should I put a deck over it?? Please help if
you can...

Thank you.

Posted by RicodJour on November 20, 2006, 8:34 am

need concrete assistance pls wrote:

> I hired a contractor to put in a large patio. Even though I informed
> him that there is shifting, he failed to put in rebar. Now the
> concrete is shifting and separating at the joints. There is about 1.5
> to 2 inch crack down the joints and at least a two inch shift in
> height.
> The contractor has since lost his license and I'm being told by the
> Contractors Board that I have no recourse unless I hire a lawyer to
> track him down. I've called him on numerous occasions and no return
> call.
> It depresses me to even go out to my backyard now because I spent so
> much money on it and now it is dangerous to walk on because of the
> possibility of tripping from the shifts in the concrete.
> I did my research on the contractor and checked out 5 of his jobs and
> interviewed previous clients.
> Does anyone have any suggestions? I've considered tearing it out but
> it will cost me almost twice as much as I originally paid to put it in
> to re-do this project. Should I put a deck over it?? Please help if
> you can...

Tough situation. If it's already that far gone there's little hope of
saving it. There is a process called mud-jacking, where grout is
injected under the concrete to raise it up into place. It can be
touchy to work on a patio slab - no idea how thick it is (from the
sounds of it, he might not have built it as the drawings or you
dictated) and the mud-jacking could crack the slab even more.

Subsidence issues are due to improper preparation - failure to remove
organic soil material, failure to compact disturbed soil and drainage
issues.

I can't really tell from here what should be done. The cost and your
particular site conditions will dictate what should be done.

Check with your local Consumer Affairs department, or equivalent.
There may be a homeowner restitution fund to help pay for the
replacement.

R

Posted by Dan Deckert on November 20, 2006, 9:23 pm

Depending on the grade, you 'could' do an overlay with more concrete but I
highly suspect it would fail as well if as Rico states, "Subsidence issues
are due to improper preparation - failure to remove
organic soil material, failure to compact disturbed soil and drainage
issues." remain. Tough call but I suspect removal & replace..............

Dan

> Hello,
> I hired a contractor to put in a large patio. Even though I informed
> him that there is shifting, he failed to put in rebar. Now the
> concrete is shifting and separating at the joints. There is about 1.5
> to 2 inch crack down the joints and at least a two inch shift in
> height.
> The contractor has since lost his license and I'm being told by the
> Contractors Board that I have no recourse unless I hire a lawyer to
> track him down. I've called him on numerous occasions and no return
> call.
> It depresses me to even go out to my backyard now because I spent so
> much money on it and now it is dangerous to walk on because of the
> possibility of tripping from the shifts in the concrete.
> I did my research on the contractor and checked out 5 of his jobs and
> interviewed previous clients.
> Does anyone have any suggestions? I've considered tearing it out but
> it will cost me almost twice as much as I originally paid to put it in
> to re-do this project. Should I put a deck over it?? Please help if
> you can...
> Thank you.

Posted by RicodJour on November 20, 2006, 9:45 pm

Dan Deckert wrote:

> Depending on the grade, you 'could' do an overlay with more concrete but I
> highly suspect it would fail as well if as Rico states, "Subsidence issues
> are due to improper preparation - failure to remove
> organic soil material, failure to compact disturbed soil and drainage
> issues." remain. Tough call but I suspect removal & replace..............

Mr. Deckert:

The office of Engulf & Devour, attorneys-at-law, has been retained by
Rico dJour in regards to your flagrant and egregious copyright
violation of his post, this date. Irreparable harm has been caused to
his finances, reputation and exceedingly fragile ego. In a nutshell,
if he offs himself you will be held responsible for his debts, funeral
costs and numerous illegitimate children. Please be aware that our
attorneys eat 900 pound gorillas as after dinner mints. Do not hire a
lawyer - it will only piss us off. Just send money. We'll tell you
when to stop.

Sincerely yours,

F. Worthington Wildebeast IV

Posted by Italian Mason on November 21, 2006, 4:13 am

You know I hate to be harsh but you did your homework but then it
sounds like you droped the ball...
If it was a large patio Im sure that they didnt dig it , form it and
pour it in one day. This means the area sat for at least over night or
longer BEFORE the pour, did you mention the rebar not being in durring
this time? If you did and he talked you out of it thats a tough call.
As far as another concrete solution once you have a bad foundation you
cannot put something over it, remove it. As far as legal recourse
depending on what state you are in you may have recourse through small
calims court if he has lost his license you already have half the
battel won.....

Even if he DID put rebar in the clear fact that he did not properly
address the base preperation would have still resulted in movement. The
shifting you described would not be resolved by rebar..perhaps lessend
but it still would have failed because of the sub grade movement.

need concrete assistance pls wrote:

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