Pulled forms and tarp on Sunday. Got a better look at things.

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Here are a couple of areas with standing water

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and three areas where water dripped on the fresh pour
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Contractor is coming back tomorrow. Suggested pouring a epoxy leveler in the areas. I'm pretty confident that is going to look different from the rest of the slab and he suggested staining when I told him it would look like crap. He also talked about tearing out some areas. I really don't want this guy around. Still hasn't returned to get his stuff. Finally got a hold of him using my office number.

Any advice on what I'm looking at? Thinking about requesting money (part/all) back but know that won't happen.



Old Post From Sunday Below...
Had a 18' x 20' patio slab poured at 3:00pm Thursday and have been tending to a tarp enclosure since, in Oregon, in the rain & wind. Contractor is radio silent, supposed to return last Friday.

50°f and rain on and off for the next four days.
Can I pull the tarps? Concrete is now 60 hours since pour.
Can I pull my forms? Just one end at 18', anything to be care of?
Anything else I need to know?

I'll update my remodel post when I get some pics. Thanks!

Tarp yes.
Ive seen the forms pulled in a few hours

Yep^

OP- that concrete is still green.  Around here we have red clay soil so we try to avoid muddy boot traffic for about a week to avoid stains.  I say that assuming that the contractor didn't use a surface sealer.

No sealer. I'm looking into that as a next step.

No mud around the area as I have access from inside the house. I'll pull tarps and forms today.

Appreciate replies.

Updated OP with some issues.

I'm not seeing the issue?

Drips are nothing...a line of drips would be an issue, but it looks like just one or two.

Puddle...no biggie.  You will never get perfectly flat concrete.  It just isn't reality unless you are willing to pay someone to come out and use the machines to grind/sand/polish it down...which is a bitch to finish as it is too slick to walk on in most cases.

It looks fine, just get off and let it dry for a week.

There's no such thing as a perfect concrete pour.  As long the overall slab is slanted away from the house so the water runs away and not toward the house, it's fine.  Some minor low spots are impossible to 100% prevent.  

I think it looks fine.  I think your expectations are too high.  If you don't like it, cover it with tile.

Asking for a refund is expecting too much IMO.  Unless it's slanted toward the buildings, I'd be happy with that.  Well, except I would have done a smooth finish because it's easier to clean.  But, that's a personal preference and not a reflection on you or your concrete guy.

Appreciate the replies guys. I do have some drainage into my vent wells but can probably address that with a rim seal. There are two areas where the water is up against the foundation, one where it drains into the well.

thanks again.

It's normal to have some shallow puddles and a few surface defects.  It looks good from here.

It's hard to tell in the photo...  Does that one puddle stop short of the operable door?

I doubt you'll find any patch material that will be an exact color match.

ETA- is there a bond break or expansion joint along the foundation wall?

There is a puddle in front of the slider. No break of joint there. Good rain yesterday and I can get past the puddles. My big issue is on the right side with the vent well. Water is running down towards the house in the expansion joint, then, overflows and runs down into the well. 8 days of good weather in sight. Contractor is coming by this afternoon to review.

I'm working on a solution to get that "well water" around and out to the yard. I suggested the contractor use galvanized wells but he said...na man, we on island time. So he formed it. Hind sight...

He did screw that up.

My initial thought was to fabricate (bend) a U shaped piece of galvanized, fold the two short sides so it clears the siding then mount it in the hole.  A good poly caulk like NP1 ( check the cartridge date ) around the perimeter should keep the majority of the water out of the well.

Good luck at the meeting.

Thanks, he called 1/2hour late to say he couldn't make it...

I'm moving on to water control now. Nice weather for 7 days and I've got three off. I'll get some galz sheet and see what I can fab.

is that an escape window? well seems small if it is.

Sorry, didn't have a chance to make a sketch last night.  I would;

- Glue or nail some 1/2 or 3/8" insulation board to the 3 edges of the concrete about 3/8" below the top of the concrete.

- Measure the remaining opening and bend the metal at the two corners to fit.  If the metal is a thin gauge ( not recommended ) I would hem the top of it to prevent cuts and to add some stiffness.  You'll have to flex the two short sides to clear the siding when placing the metal in the well.  

- Use tapcons ( or other brand ) to attach the metal to the interior of the opening.  The top of the metal should terminate about 2" + or - above the slab.  

- Now you will have a small gutter space between the slab and metal because of the insulation board.  Fill that with NP-1 or similar material.  It's incredibly sticky and hard to work with but it is the go to material for these type of joints.  Carefully fill the void with the caulk and let the surface of the caulk develop a skin.  You can then shape with your fingers.

The moisture in that slab is still high and the concrete is still somewhat soft.  I would prefer to wait about 30 days so I had more confidence that a Tapcon would hold and that the caulk would adhere to the concrete.

@billhw1

thanks for the details.  going to hit some stores today for materials. I already cut a 2x8 the width of the hole to use as a bending mandrel. I'll update.

went looking for materials today. Decided to have a metal fab shop make some custom,  thicker,  "U" shaped dams.

until then,  i went with some 5/4 cedar 6" boards. Sealed with polyurethane sealant.

Band Aid fix for now,  two parties coming up so it will do short term.

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Does that slope steeply toward the house or is that just an optical illusion of the picture?


From one of your earlier pics, I think it's an optical illusion but not certain.

Illusion, and partly the angle of the wood. The water does come down from an expansion joint about 3' up slope. My goal is keep water out of the vent well. No rain for a week here so we'll see how it works later.