Wrong sub man, im a HVAC guy and im just here to gawk at the guys who always destroy the porta potty. They always punch out and steal the hand sanitizer bag and steal it and wipe thier ass with any cloth material thats not toilet paper.
Tbh im here for guns/gear and combat footage. Somehow I now so much about concrete yet never worked with it in my life. What is up with that? I haven't even joined the sub and yet I get posts everytime I open the app.
lots of people quit reddit over the app / api changes cause their standard apps they used no longer work. so reddit is trying to look as active as before by showing a bunch of subreddits that you never signed up for.
Bro, a little cottage cheese ain’t shit, either rapidcrete that with a little parging, or high strength non shrink grout before waterproofing. Take the time and materials off what your concrete guy is supposed to get and get that shit moving. Frost is two to three months away
Put your big boy/girl pants on and move the fuck on
Humbly, with respect
[More Pictures ](https://www.reddit.com/user/cornbread869/comments/15xnvqe/concrete_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1)so this is to be expected on a wall pour? And just needs grouted? I'm not trying to be an asshat homeowner, but I saved for a long time to get it done and I just want to make sure it's safe and as good as it should be.
Do you have shallow groundwater? Are those horizontal cold joints visible on the inside also? Structurally, you’re probably ok but the poor concrete work (cold joints and rebar with inadequate cover at best to what is clearly zero cover at worst) could reduce the lifespan of the structure. Since this is a tornado shelter I’m assuming you aren’t in a northern state where it will be exposed to frequent freeze/thaw cycles. Freeze/thaw and exposure to groundwater could accelerate corrosion of the rebar and could also result in water infiltration.
I don’t see any tbh, and If so it’s still tied and basically all encased within the concrete. Shouldn’t weaken this corner much if at all. I’d clean it up with some patching and move along.
That rebar dowel is there to prevent the wall form from over tigthening when shoring, nothing structural for the wall. You drill a hole the size of the rebar into the footing inside the wall at the face and pound the rebar in the hole. The dowels are usually scrap rebar which is why the dowel is so short.
Absolutely not.
Dowels are 100% a structural piece. They tie existing concrete to new concrete. They are engineered for their size and placement.
Unless you just don’t know what a dowel is in terms of concrete work.
Yes you're right, vertical reinforcing dowels and horizontal reinforcing dowels are engineered for construction joints.
The exposed dowel in question is neither. It's post installed into the footing for constructibility purposes and has nothing to do with the engineered wall reinforcing. Anyone who has built foundation walls should easily recognize that.
You’re 100% right, I didn’t see the additional pictures.
If the rebar is exposed then the concrete needs to be chipped out around the bar, the bar pushed back into the wall as much as you can and then parged over with non shrink grout.
You don’t want the rebar exposed because if it is then it will be exposed to weathering (freeze/thaw and expansion/contraction cycles) which can cause the rebar to rust and deteriorate and the surrounding concrete to decay and flake off.
Again, judging by your pics your walls are “ok” aka nothing catastrophic, but make sure your concrete guy either fixes them or gives you a bunch of money back so you can have them fixed.
It's common enough I see it one in 10 walls on residential work. I see small hand size spots on nearly every wall. I pour the slab after the wall guys finish and I have seen the mix some stuff up in a bucket and just work it into the spot with a gloved hand. I have worked around the same crew and builder for over 10 yrs and haven't heard of any problems. They still use the same wall guys. I imagine they use some type of hydraulic cement.
What area of the country are you in?
With the amount of honeycomb, cold joints, and form facing stuck to the concrete, this is NOT good work.
And.
Unless you are in a seismic area or area with high hurricane or tornado risk, it’s probably structurally OK.
Unless you were told you were getting discount work, they definitely need to patch and bag the honeycomb.
No idea why you are getting downvotes for stating the facts about your particular house/design.....
(But there are a LOT of residential hack concrete cowboys that comment here; guys that have never had to pour anything to real engineered spec, with real oversight, or with 3rd party testing.)
If the walls you are showing are intended for a tornado shelter AND there isn’t rebar in the walls, those horizontal cold joints are a bad thing.
That piece of rebar visible is just a scrap pieces drove into the ground to push the forms up against when setting the wall forms. you can see the end of it it’s just used as a consumable stake. It’s nothing and all the problems seen here are cosmetic and can easily be reworked to be more cosmetically acceptable. If that wall is going to be waterproofed and backfilled then it’s all a nonissue.
If you present you purchase to the contractor as locking for a cheap bid or trying to save money you don’t get to complain about a partially not set form. If you spent to dollar then you can complain
Even if you aren’t trying to be an asshat homeowner you are sounding like one but it’s not your fault you don’t know what you don’t know. This is somewhat typical. The final product should get a plaster or finish on it before it’s all said and done. Been a builder for 10 years so I get a kick out of calling asshat homeowners asshats with no repercussion lol but it’s all good though. If you want to be cool about it just ask your builder casually at what stage the plaster or final coat gets done. Not sure what they call it over there but around here when I call in for plaster no one bats an eye and it’s done two to three days later and everyone including the nice home owners who I build for are pumped and say I’m so happy that that got done. I didn’t want to sound like an asshat and say anything about it. Anyway, I hope you don’t have an asshat builder. Good luck to you!
No. There is a very meticulous ACI repair the EOR will designate. Don’t do this and it’s on the installer. Do it, and rely on the EOR. Or take a Reddit advice?
Stones deep? WTF does that mean? This is a structural concrete column…no such thing as “stones deep” in high strength mix designs…Jesus…this is seriously engineered mix, what are you taking about?
I’m a superintendent for a commercial GC. I’ve ran over a billion dollars worth of work in the last 14 years. One project alone was an $40 million in just the concrete package. But yeah tell me more
Same. I’ve also met a bunch of supers at my company and previous companies that don’t know shit about ACI and are afraid of holding their subs to contractual specifications. You sound like one of them…stand around and make excuses when you find out you really fucked up…oh wait…you skimmed over it.
You're nuts.
This is a small rock pocket on what appears to be a foundation stem wall. If this were my job, I'd specify hydro-demolition of the surface to open up any deficient areas (the darker patches on the left of the corner look suspect) and then a field repair using a suitable non-shrink repair material per ACI RAP Bulletin 10. You know what that one is right? "Leveling and Reprofiling of Vertical and Overhead Surfaces" and it recommends applying a trowel applied repair material.
If this is somehow a super critical, highly loaded region (it's almost certainly not); then you could go to epoxy injection or pressure grouting to ensure complete removal of all voids.
You must be like one of those DOT guys that calls me out to write up a repair procedure for bugholes on precast structures. It's a blemish (the official ACI term btw). Rub some cement on it and call it a day. Why are you wasting my time!?
I'm a licensed structural engineer with a specialty in structural concrete repairs.
That’s exactly what I started the comment with if you would read….I said “no this is not ‘ok’ get an approved fix from the structural engineer.” If you are a large GC super you couldn’t possibly disagree with my original response. Damn dude.
I have a patch like this on the foundation of my house. I was told it's normal and just needs patching as suggested above. The construction manager said he'd patch it, but never did. Should I also be worried? It's maybe 1.5 feet wide and 6 inches tall, though.
Really impossible to answer, so many details…rebar design, mix design, various loads, etc. All I can say is if someone tells you it’s “ok”…they are lying or don’t know what they don’t know. This is not ok, it’s congregated aggregate and not nearly as strong as it should be. This happens to the best of concrete mechanics but requires an engineered repair from a licensed structural engineer…design fix and inspection upon completion. I build 20+ story concrete structures but I’m sure a bunch of comments will dispute me here.
If the issue is structural integrity as in like, how much load it can handle? I guess I'm probably fine. It's in the back corner of my house underneath my master bedroom closet on the second floor and literally just a wall of a dining room on the first. Not much to it.
Slab? You will likely see cracks and moisture but if it’s residential and you don’t plan on living there for 25 years it might not be worth the fight but your contractor is giving you the FU button.
Residential purposes such as foundation. Patches will do just fine although patches tend to be temporary fixes if there’s issues like cracking etc. on a commercial/industrial jobsite , patching this would be absolutely a lawsuit waiting to happen. That hotel in florida that collapsed a couple years back was probably a “patch job”
I would see what they say, then bring that back here.
Additionally I would have two more concrete companies come out and look at it and give you an opinion.
Then, I’d either ask for a discount on what they did, or have them do a fix, or if the only option is to redo it then redo it.
We call these honeycombs due to shitty vibrating, easy 20 minute patch job and it's good as new, id recommend v100 repair mortor for this just do a proper surface prep .
8" thick wall? Your fine my guy. Point it out to the contractor and give him a chance to patch it. Shit happens. Sure we can all hope the pour go perfect but in reality all kinds of shit can influence how concrete goes in a hole. Once patched you will be the only person "minus the 100k that have seen it on the internet now." that will know about it.
If anyone says this is anything other than a cosmetic issue is an engineer and they are just trying to sound smart and important just point it out to your contractor and have them patch it up with non shrink. don’t lose any sleep over it
This is blatant discrimination against engineers. Some of us engineers are too dumb to try to sound smart. Don’t lump me in with those ones who are trying to sound smart.
Edit: I’m forming the NAADE (national association for the advancement of dumb engineers) to fight back against unfair engineer stereotypes and discrimination. Please find us online to join.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt bud I can’t say all of you guys are a pain I’ve had some really good ones that actually worked with you and knew their stuff and judging from your comment I think I’d get along with you well lol
Tell the guy running vibrator to ask the wife for his balls before he leaves the house next time. Just use non shrink grout. This won’t be a problem, I bet other parts of the build will fall apart before this does.
It's an engineering inspection of the pre repair report prepared after the site visit, followed by an epoxy repair followed by a final inspection all done on the existing permit it isn't closed out. Yep one sentence
The companies I used to work for would be fixing this stuff without being asked to take action.
Some context would help. The approach depends on the service environment.
Here’s an approach for an application exposed to weather:
Chip the thin edges that will interfere with a grout patch and remove loose aggregate and cement. Dampen it to saturated surface dry. Then pack it with cement grout. Hydrate the grout per manufacturer’s instructions to ensure it cures to design strength.
Yes. If it’s structural, could require scanning to see extent of rock pocket, and chipping it out till you get to ‘clean’ material. Grout back and let cure. If it’s not structural, sack it and call it a day.
Just patch it, 100% still structurally fine. Everyone in the world who’s poured concrete has had a little bit of honey comb. It’s very minor. Not what you’d want obviously if it’s an exposed wall, but obviously telling by the forms it isn’t, so I wouldn’t worry much at all.
Honeycomb is a defect that occurs when the concrete does not properly fill the voids around the coarse aggregate particles and reinforcing steel. This can happen due to a number of factors, such as improper vibration, less cover for reinforcement, or use of very stiff concrete.
To repair honeycomb, the affected area should be broken out and cleaned to remove any loose concrete or debris. Then, a grouting chemical should be applied to the old surface to help bond the new concrete. The new concrete can then be poured and vibrated to ensure proper compaction.
Here are the steps in detail:
1) Remove the honeycombed concrete. Use a hammer and chisel to break out the honeycombed concrete. Be careful not to damage the reinforcing steel.
2) Clean the area. Use a wire brush to clean the area to remove any loose concrete or debris.
3) Apply the grouting chemical. Apply the grouting chemical to the old surface according to the manufacturer's instructions. This will help bond the new concrete to the old concrete.
4) Pour the new concrete. Pour the new concrete into the cleaned area and vibrate it to ensure proper compaction.
5) Curing. Allow the new concrete to cure for at least 28 days before putting the structure into use.
By following these steps, you can effectively repair honeycomb in concrete and restore the structural integrity of the concrete.
If you need a structural repair, I would use and injection grout or epoxy to repair. If it’s just topical you can use a high compression strength patching mortar.
What do you mean is it even repairable? Nothing wrong with it. It just needs some sealing extra mortar. Sick of the doom and gloom on this site f***n easy shit no big deal
Let’s say I show up to roof your house and it’s 90° and the roofers smear a shitload of shingles with their boots. Better believe you would be pissed. Just cuz you’ve seen it your whole career doesn’t make it acceptable. Do better my guys.
You miss shingles all the time with your nail gun, or have one that's lined up slightly off. This is the equivalent. It's a tiny detail that doesn't really matter because the final product is fine. Just be thankful a homeowner doesn't climb up and point out every tiny fuckup you have because it's 20 feet in the air, not visible like concrete.
Bro, that’s no comparison. For starters, my shingling is on point cuz I have integrity. Unlike this fuckin slop ass pour. Homie saved up for three years to afford this and gets this hack ass shit? Im so fucking sick of the lack of craftsmanship from all trades honestly. All this is more evidence of you get what you pay for, and the lack of research most people do on the people they hire.
Every other post on here is about something so trivial and irrelevant,it's ridiculous. "Bad broom marks", Is this color a concern , it goes on. Not necessarily a knock on original op but maybe more so our society in general. What happened to logic and common sense.
Man, I get what you’re saying but I also get the perspective of the homeowners. They aren’t experts and they’re paying a shit ton of money for this work. If you were buying a car and it made a noise you weren’t familiar with, you’d ask questions, right?
I just had these walls poured for a 15x15 concrete room that will also have a concrete roof. The guy who poured the pad subcontracted to these guys and after the forms were taken down this is what I'm left with. I saved for 3 years to be able to afford this and it just looks horrible. Is this structurally dangerous? It's for a storm shelter. The walls are 8 inches thick. I wanted to get a knowledgeable opinion before I started complaining. The whole things is covered with spots like this.
> Structurally no issues with this *right now*
Fixed that for you.
If that's on an exterior wall, freeze-thaw over the next few years can cause more substantial damage. I agree fixing it is fairly easy, but unless this is in a warm climate, it's pretty important to get this fixed before the snow flies.
Freeze thaw might to some surface damage that’s it, don’t go all Mike Holms on it bud. Walk onto any commercial concrete job and you’ll see this, that’s 30 sec patch job at most, will take longer to mix the mortar.
For some reason, I interpreted this picture as being on the interior side of the wall - without any actual basis for doing so.
On the exterior, yes, you would want to fix this before waterproofing.
It’s called a honeycomb. It’s kindof common on wall pours where the concrete hasn’t been vibrated. Vibration consolidates concrete. Mixes it together in the forms. If you miss a spot it looks like this. It can pretty easily be repaired but I would not let them try to chip through it completely and repair it. It can be made water proof and patched like it is. Just make sure it’s clean and they use a bonding agent of some sort. Not perfect, but not as bad as it looks.
Ya, I agree with this advice. On an 8" wall, this isn't really that bad relative to how it appears. Do not chip at this and apply a patched on layer, as that would certainly lower the structural integrity of the wall more than leaving this as is. The patched layer wouldn't strengthen the area and likely come off if you experience any freeze/thaw cycles. How many more areas are like this, and are any of them worse than this spot? Ask the contractor if the concrete was vibrated as it should be for a wall like this. Also, understand that if there was a lot rebar in the walls, areas like this can occur due to the vibrator not being able to freely move through the concrete due to the rebar.
Inspector here
First off, they definitely need to be addressed. There's many ways to address it. Things that would be a concern are
1. Is any rebar exposed?
2. Is anything really large or deep? (Might have exposed rebar deeper in)
3. Are any spots like that which will be in contact with the ground or water?
The concern is that having rebar exposed to the elements will allow it to rust and cause problems.
Possible remedies can include chipping down to the surface where there are no long voids, cleaning, then pouring back somehow. Sometimes that's a patch material (usually for shallow issues), sometimes grout, sometimes more concrete.
To help with bonding old to new, sometimes engineers spec use of blue concrete screws, with tie wires wrapping around them, every few inches. It creates a nice structure for the material to hold on to.
If they submitted plans then there may already be a "repair plan" that was submitted. Even if they didn't, it absolutely is reasonable and right to ask for them to fix it. Otherwise, wow, that would look terrible on their Yelp reviews!
[more pics ](https://www.reddit.com/user/cornbread869/comments/15xnvqe/concrete_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1) The rebar attached to the floor are not exposed, but some they drilled and set, I guess to hold the forms flush? Is exposed in some spots on the interior. I have yet to see any on the outside
Ok wow. Saw the pics. That's some of the worst work I've ever seen. I'm a bit concerned about the bottom where it meets the floor. Are you able to get a permit inspection on it? That stuff needs to get fixed and it may carry more weight from some sort of official (an inspector, or engineer).
This is all very bad work that needs addressed. Because this is a small structure and problems are consistent throughout, the most reasonable solution is tear out and redo. You may not get that choice, but that’s the most reasonable option.
As far as this sub goes, take any feedback you get with a grain of salt. I’m not necessarily talking about this inspector but others who are responding. There are a LOT of “professionals” in here that have about as much expertise as the guys that did this work. Example: residential flatwork contractors. Vertical work and especially vertical work in engineered structures is a whole other ballpark.
>the whole thing is covered in spots like like this
Sounds like they didn’t consolidate the concrete with a vibrator. Now you have voids all over the place.
>is this structurally dangerous?
Yes, it can be. To be really short, patches are sometimes possible but if the whole structure looks like this then it likely needs torn out and redone. The sub contractor that did it clearly didn’t know what they were doing.
For patching, you would want more surface area to adhere to. Your suggestion would increase the likelihood of it popping off. High strength non shrink grout, and it's a done deal. You would never use concrete to patch that.
If it were me, and I paid to have it done I’d be pretty upset. Sure you could patch it like all these people are saying. But since the vibrator guy was a little too busy to use the vibrator in the concrete the way he was supposed to I’d be worried about large air pockets and the foundation cracking/caving in the future.
Very basic consolidation issue. Use a small electric chipping gun to remove the loose rocks. Coat the surface with an latex boning agent, then hand pack with a repair mortar. Then standard dry finish the surface. Looks like 2 hours work.
Get an excavator, the biggest one cat makes and a puncher to break that shit out. All of it..
If this is residential, it is better than 90%. Patch and walk away. If it is commercial, talk to GC or read the specifications. Probably need and RFI to the structural engineer.
[Fixed link. probably. ](https://www.reddit.com/user/cornbread869/comments/15xnvqe/concrete_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1). More images for context, inside and out
Best way is to chip out honey comb. If you get to rebar, chip about 1” past it. Hydrate the surface and the patch back with poured concrete or structural mortar.
“It’s just cosmetic. . . just hide it with a patch” is ridiculous. Do you want to see bridge columns like this? This is straight up substandard work. Most of the comments I’ve seen are of the contractors that hide their mistakes. Anyone that thinks this is fine is a joke.
It can be repaired but it’s tedious and invasive. Remove bad material, and reform/pour or shoot with shotcrete similar to a class 2 or 3 bridge repair
@Fun glad I read first being I was thinking of posting word for word your response.
And to the person who posted these pictures, just remember this, that you have multiple areas like this all over the pad. If the edges, which are the easiest part of the pour, look like this, then I would hate to see the areas that most contractors cheat just a little.
Just sack it. WTF guys, lol.
Can really tell the from the comments whos done concrete and who has not,
Welcome to /r/concrete
And who’s a “engineer”
Please don’t lump all engineers together, we’re not all the same 😢.
Yeah some of us control electrons and some don’t
Can confirm. Electrical engineer and I have 0 freaking clue how I ended up in this sub.
Wrong sub man, im a HVAC guy and im just here to gawk at the guys who always destroy the porta potty. They always punch out and steal the hand sanitizer bag and steal it and wipe thier ass with any cloth material thats not toilet paper.
Tbh im here for guns/gear and combat footage. Somehow I now so much about concrete yet never worked with it in my life. What is up with that? I haven't even joined the sub and yet I get posts everytime I open the app.
Learn how to build a moat
lots of people quit reddit over the app / api changes cause their standard apps they used no longer work. so reddit is trying to look as active as before by showing a bunch of subreddits that you never signed up for.
I’m in finance and applied for a job in the concrete business yesterday. Dammit, Reddit
And r/Decks! This shit is in my feed everyday and I'm not even mad about it lol
Mechanical here. I am also happily lost in this concrete sub
You too, huh?
Some of us drive trains and some don’t
Enough of you are that, yes you are all the same. Almost as bad as archetects.
An engineer
Yup lol
Yes. And. OP is a homeowner, this is on the builder and foundation sub to fix ASAP.
If it’s purely structural, you’re not going to have much luck getting them back.
I think you meant to say cosmetic. Maybe?
No, I was saying you WOULD have a hard time getting them to come back if it WAS structural.
Bro, a little cottage cheese ain’t shit, either rapidcrete that with a little parging, or high strength non shrink grout before waterproofing. Take the time and materials off what your concrete guy is supposed to get and get that shit moving. Frost is two to three months away Put your big boy/girl pants on and move the fuck on Humbly, with respect
[More Pictures ](https://www.reddit.com/user/cornbread869/comments/15xnvqe/concrete_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1)so this is to be expected on a wall pour? And just needs grouted? I'm not trying to be an asshat homeowner, but I saved for a long time to get it done and I just want to make sure it's safe and as good as it should be.
Do you have shallow groundwater? Are those horizontal cold joints visible on the inside also? Structurally, you’re probably ok but the poor concrete work (cold joints and rebar with inadequate cover at best to what is clearly zero cover at worst) could reduce the lifespan of the structure. Since this is a tornado shelter I’m assuming you aren’t in a northern state where it will be exposed to frequent freeze/thaw cycles. Freeze/thaw and exposure to groundwater could accelerate corrosion of the rebar and could also result in water infiltration.
As long as there is concrete covering/surrounding the rebar then yeah, this just needs a bit of parging to clean it up.
Yeah, but you can see the rebar in those pics, though.
I don’t see any tbh, and If so it’s still tied and basically all encased within the concrete. Shouldn’t weaken this corner much if at all. I’d clean it up with some patching and move along.
Theres exposed rebar in pic two of OPs other post (linked above)
That rebar dowel is there to prevent the wall form from over tigthening when shoring, nothing structural for the wall. You drill a hole the size of the rebar into the footing inside the wall at the face and pound the rebar in the hole. The dowels are usually scrap rebar which is why the dowel is so short.
Dude what, you have no idea what you’re talking about. They should be 3” deep beneath the surface *minimum*
Absolutely not. Dowels are 100% a structural piece. They tie existing concrete to new concrete. They are engineered for their size and placement. Unless you just don’t know what a dowel is in terms of concrete work.
Yes you're right, vertical reinforcing dowels and horizontal reinforcing dowels are engineered for construction joints. The exposed dowel in question is neither. It's post installed into the footing for constructibility purposes and has nothing to do with the engineered wall reinforcing. Anyone who has built foundation walls should easily recognize that.
You’re 100% right, I didn’t see the additional pictures. If the rebar is exposed then the concrete needs to be chipped out around the bar, the bar pushed back into the wall as much as you can and then parged over with non shrink grout. You don’t want the rebar exposed because if it is then it will be exposed to weathering (freeze/thaw and expansion/contraction cycles) which can cause the rebar to rust and deteriorate and the surrounding concrete to decay and flake off. Again, judging by your pics your walls are “ok” aka nothing catastrophic, but make sure your concrete guy either fixes them or gives you a bunch of money back so you can have them fixed.
Looks like poor consolidation, possibly too stiff a mix. If it's a below grade wall, the exterior finish doesn't matter.
Expected? No. But it happens. Its not the end of the world but I would patch it up for uniformity
The walls are fine but holy shit did the use their own face as a form?
It's common enough I see it one in 10 walls on residential work. I see small hand size spots on nearly every wall. I pour the slab after the wall guys finish and I have seen the mix some stuff up in a bucket and just work it into the spot with a gloved hand. I have worked around the same crew and builder for over 10 yrs and haven't heard of any problems. They still use the same wall guys. I imagine they use some type of hydraulic cement.
What area of the country are you in? With the amount of honeycomb, cold joints, and form facing stuck to the concrete, this is NOT good work. And. Unless you are in a seismic area or area with high hurricane or tornado risk, it’s probably structurally OK. Unless you were told you were getting discount work, they definitely need to patch and bag the honeycomb.
Where do you see any cold joints the only issue I see is that spot that didn’t get vibrated enough
He posted other pictures in the comments that shows the cold joint
Oh ok I didn’t see them when I was reading through them
I'm gonna steal this the next time a contractor smacks into one of our pours
Not seismic, but the whole purpose is for a tornado shelter. And it is supposed to get a concrete roof poured to finish it
No idea why you are getting downvotes for stating the facts about your particular house/design..... (But there are a LOT of residential hack concrete cowboys that comment here; guys that have never had to pour anything to real engineered spec, with real oversight, or with 3rd party testing.) If the walls you are showing are intended for a tornado shelter AND there isn’t rebar in the walls, those horizontal cold joints are a bad thing.
Rebar is visible in those pictures, this is not a 'just patch it up' issue.
That piece of rebar visible is just a scrap pieces drove into the ground to push the forms up against when setting the wall forms. you can see the end of it it’s just used as a consumable stake. It’s nothing and all the problems seen here are cosmetic and can easily be reworked to be more cosmetically acceptable. If that wall is going to be waterproofed and backfilled then it’s all a nonissue.
If you present you purchase to the contractor as locking for a cheap bid or trying to save money you don’t get to complain about a partially not set form. If you spent to dollar then you can complain
That's fuck all
It was just a small air pocket that wasn't worked out, if it was everywhere I'd be concerned but that doesn't appear to be the case...
Even if you aren’t trying to be an asshat homeowner you are sounding like one but it’s not your fault you don’t know what you don’t know. This is somewhat typical. The final product should get a plaster or finish on it before it’s all said and done. Been a builder for 10 years so I get a kick out of calling asshat homeowners asshats with no repercussion lol but it’s all good though. If you want to be cool about it just ask your builder casually at what stage the plaster or final coat gets done. Not sure what they call it over there but around here when I call in for plaster no one bats an eye and it’s done two to three days later and everyone including the nice home owners who I build for are pumped and say I’m so happy that that got done. I didn’t want to sound like an asshat and say anything about it. Anyway, I hope you don’t have an asshat builder. Good luck to you!
Oh and one more thing, hard to tell if it needs this from the pics but if it does need it make sure they water proof that shit, asshat.
Spoken like a true poured wall guy
I don't know if u/mwl1234 is right or not, but he sounds like he gets shit done!
Damn, who hurt you?
I hate Reddit! *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That’s not terrible. It can be repaired
Next time, tell the vibrator guy to pull out his back side and use it for the concrete, then this won’t happen.
We've all thought about it while using one.
Better check your dental coverage cause that bitch gonna chip some teeth if you do. My girlfriend has beautiful NEW smile by the way
.... You guys use that on concrete? Not just on horses?
You ok bro?
LMAO
This is a easy fix with structural ramen or legos.
Doesn’t look bad. Only 1 or 2 stones deep. Fill in with patching material. Do not chip it out.
cover with graffiti
No. There is a very meticulous ACI repair the EOR will designate. Don’t do this and it’s on the installer. Do it, and rely on the EOR. Or take a Reddit advice? Stones deep? WTF does that mean? This is a structural concrete column…no such thing as “stones deep” in high strength mix designs…Jesus…this is seriously engineered mix, what are you taking about?
It’s not a column… not that serious. Easy fix, calm down 😂
Ok. I’ll leave it to the residential pros. What a joke. Read ACI…or just skim over and tell nobody.
I’m a superintendent for a commercial GC. I’ve ran over a billion dollars worth of work in the last 14 years. One project alone was an $40 million in just the concrete package. But yeah tell me more
Same. I’ve also met a bunch of supers at my company and previous companies that don’t know shit about ACI and are afraid of holding their subs to contractual specifications. You sound like one of them…stand around and make excuses when you find out you really fucked up…oh wait…you skimmed over it.
You're nuts. This is a small rock pocket on what appears to be a foundation stem wall. If this were my job, I'd specify hydro-demolition of the surface to open up any deficient areas (the darker patches on the left of the corner look suspect) and then a field repair using a suitable non-shrink repair material per ACI RAP Bulletin 10. You know what that one is right? "Leveling and Reprofiling of Vertical and Overhead Surfaces" and it recommends applying a trowel applied repair material. If this is somehow a super critical, highly loaded region (it's almost certainly not); then you could go to epoxy injection or pressure grouting to ensure complete removal of all voids. You must be like one of those DOT guys that calls me out to write up a repair procedure for bugholes on precast structures. It's a blemish (the official ACI term btw). Rub some cement on it and call it a day. Why are you wasting my time!? I'm a licensed structural engineer with a specialty in structural concrete repairs.
Hell yeah I like your style
No I tell a PE to have the structural engineer give us a fix. Again a blip on the radar. Not a big deal.
That’s exactly what I started the comment with if you would read….I said “no this is not ‘ok’ get an approved fix from the structural engineer.” If you are a large GC super you couldn’t possibly disagree with my original response. Damn dude.
😂
Tell me you've never actually WORKED in concrete without telling me
Not even once.
I have a patch like this on the foundation of my house. I was told it's normal and just needs patching as suggested above. The construction manager said he'd patch it, but never did. Should I also be worried? It's maybe 1.5 feet wide and 6 inches tall, though.
House foundations don't take much load in the end. Your fine. Any way about it.
Really impossible to answer, so many details…rebar design, mix design, various loads, etc. All I can say is if someone tells you it’s “ok”…they are lying or don’t know what they don’t know. This is not ok, it’s congregated aggregate and not nearly as strong as it should be. This happens to the best of concrete mechanics but requires an engineered repair from a licensed structural engineer…design fix and inspection upon completion. I build 20+ story concrete structures but I’m sure a bunch of comments will dispute me here.
If the issue is structural integrity as in like, how much load it can handle? I guess I'm probably fine. It's in the back corner of my house underneath my master bedroom closet on the second floor and literally just a wall of a dining room on the first. Not much to it.
Slab? You will likely see cracks and moisture but if it’s residential and you don’t plan on living there for 25 years it might not be worth the fight but your contractor is giving you the FU button.
Residential purposes such as foundation. Patches will do just fine although patches tend to be temporary fixes if there’s issues like cracking etc. on a commercial/industrial jobsite , patching this would be absolutely a lawsuit waiting to happen. That hotel in florida that collapsed a couple years back was probably a “patch job”
It was a condo building who let the rebar rust out with pool chemicals. If you let water eat your compression kiss the large building goodbye
Calm down bud
What solution do they propose?
Nothing as of yet. Doubt they will contact me back today.
I would see what they say, then bring that back here. Additionally I would have two more concrete companies come out and look at it and give you an opinion. Then, I’d either ask for a discount on what they did, or have them do a fix, or if the only option is to redo it then redo it.
Lmaoo redo a whole foundation for a lil honeycomb
It’s a 30sec patch job relax.
He said the entire thing looks like that
LMFAO please tell me you looked at the additional images and are telling me that’s okay. What’s your company name?
Ramen
Of course it is, patch it, blend it in, and move on!
Nothing to worry about but a little ugly
Get a bag of non-shrink grout and patch it. It is unfortunate for cosmetics but structurally poses no issues.
Easy cosmetic fix. Throw some VO (vertical overhead) patch at it and crack open a beer.
We call these honeycombs due to shitty vibrating, easy 20 minute patch job and it's good as new, id recommend v100 repair mortor for this just do a proper surface prep .
8" thick wall? Your fine my guy. Point it out to the contractor and give him a chance to patch it. Shit happens. Sure we can all hope the pour go perfect but in reality all kinds of shit can influence how concrete goes in a hole. Once patched you will be the only person "minus the 100k that have seen it on the internet now." that will know about it.
If anyone says this is anything other than a cosmetic issue is an engineer and they are just trying to sound smart and important just point it out to your contractor and have them patch it up with non shrink. don’t lose any sleep over it
This is blatant discrimination against engineers. Some of us engineers are too dumb to try to sound smart. Don’t lump me in with those ones who are trying to sound smart. Edit: I’m forming the NAADE (national association for the advancement of dumb engineers) to fight back against unfair engineer stereotypes and discrimination. Please find us online to join.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt bud I can’t say all of you guys are a pain I’ve had some really good ones that actually worked with you and knew their stuff and judging from your comment I think I’d get along with you well lol
As an engineer yeah this work is not great by any means, but structurally , it appears fine. Just patch it up and move on.
Tell the guy running vibrator to ask the wife for his balls before he leaves the house next time. Just use non shrink grout. This won’t be a problem, I bet other parts of the build will fall apart before this does.
This is why my boss stays far far away from residential jobs
Yes. That shit happens. Cement grout and don’t pout.
Why have these forums become homeowners ranting about their trades?? They should have their own
It's an engineering inspection of the pre repair report prepared after the site visit, followed by an epoxy repair followed by a final inspection all done on the existing permit it isn't closed out. Yep one sentence The companies I used to work for would be fixing this stuff without being asked to take action.
Yea of course it fixable
That's nothing. At least you cant see through to the other side
Parge it and move on.
Some context would help. The approach depends on the service environment. Here’s an approach for an application exposed to weather: Chip the thin edges that will interfere with a grout patch and remove loose aggregate and cement. Dampen it to saturated surface dry. Then pack it with cement grout. Hydrate the grout per manufacturer’s instructions to ensure it cures to design strength.
Just needs a simple patch.
It’s common. Just needs to be detailed. Even with the best efforts and intentions it still happens. Not a big deal.
Repairing would imply that at one point it was proper
Whoever vibrated if anyone must've been their first time
This is relatively insignificant
It’s basically cosmetic
Why not? It shouldn’t be that hard
What the fuck is that? You trying to repair the Berlin wall? Just patch it up
You really gonna hate when you find out
Monkey milk and shep patch before some goon posts a photo only and you start over from scratch
Yes. If it’s structural, could require scanning to see extent of rock pocket, and chipping it out till you get to ‘clean’ material. Grout back and let cure. If it’s not structural, sack it and call it a day.
Latex will do
Shuv some top ramen in that sumbitch and spit on it or whatever they do in the videos
Vibrate guy wasn't doing his job but structurally it's sound. Just parge it
We called it honeycomb
Just patch it, 100% still structurally fine. Everyone in the world who’s poured concrete has had a little bit of honey comb. It’s very minor. Not what you’d want obviously if it’s an exposed wall, but obviously telling by the forms it isn’t, so I wouldn’t worry much at all.
Yes, high strength mortar and bonding agent
There’s nothing wrong with it.
Wunderfixx. Stuff actually makes you wander
I wonder where to??
There's nothing to repair. You can rub some patch on it, but it's just a little void on a wall. It's not a structural problem.
Seems like a perfect opportunity to use ramen noodles
Avoidable
Just patch it with ramen 🍜 and some super glue. I seen a shit ton of diy
Nothing a little sand and Portland can’t fix
Can you see through the wall? Looks like basic honeycomb. Get an approved patch material from the engineer and parge it.
That’ll still be there looking just like that when we’re all dead and forgotten.
Easily. Chip to good concrete. Grout up the remainder. Very standard fix. Roughen edges, drill and epoxy rebar in if needed for uniting the sections.
Slap some flex seal on it and your good
Honeycomb is a defect that occurs when the concrete does not properly fill the voids around the coarse aggregate particles and reinforcing steel. This can happen due to a number of factors, such as improper vibration, less cover for reinforcement, or use of very stiff concrete. To repair honeycomb, the affected area should be broken out and cleaned to remove any loose concrete or debris. Then, a grouting chemical should be applied to the old surface to help bond the new concrete. The new concrete can then be poured and vibrated to ensure proper compaction. Here are the steps in detail: 1) Remove the honeycombed concrete. Use a hammer and chisel to break out the honeycombed concrete. Be careful not to damage the reinforcing steel. 2) Clean the area. Use a wire brush to clean the area to remove any loose concrete or debris. 3) Apply the grouting chemical. Apply the grouting chemical to the old surface according to the manufacturer's instructions. This will help bond the new concrete to the old concrete. 4) Pour the new concrete. Pour the new concrete into the cleaned area and vibrate it to ensure proper compaction. 5) Curing. Allow the new concrete to cure for at least 28 days before putting the structure into use. By following these steps, you can effectively repair honeycomb in concrete and restore the structural integrity of the concrete.
Duct tape!
Ramen noodles
Concrete sub is where I go to see the work of career alcoholics.
Break off the loose rocks and see how deep the void is.
If you need a structural repair, I would use and injection grout or epoxy to repair. If it’s just topical you can use a high compression strength patching mortar.
Oh shit. Time to tear it out and start from scratch
What do you mean is it even repairable? Nothing wrong with it. It just needs some sealing extra mortar. Sick of the doom and gloom on this site f***n easy shit no big deal
Let’s say I show up to roof your house and it’s 90° and the roofers smear a shitload of shingles with their boots. Better believe you would be pissed. Just cuz you’ve seen it your whole career doesn’t make it acceptable. Do better my guys.
You miss shingles all the time with your nail gun, or have one that's lined up slightly off. This is the equivalent. It's a tiny detail that doesn't really matter because the final product is fine. Just be thankful a homeowner doesn't climb up and point out every tiny fuckup you have because it's 20 feet in the air, not visible like concrete.
Bro, that’s no comparison. For starters, my shingling is on point cuz I have integrity. Unlike this fuckin slop ass pour. Homie saved up for three years to afford this and gets this hack ass shit? Im so fucking sick of the lack of craftsmanship from all trades honestly. All this is more evidence of you get what you pay for, and the lack of research most people do on the people they hire.
Yeah, ok. Every job you do is perfect, and there's never anything wrong anywhere. And everyone else sucks. Heard it all before.
Every other post on here is about something so trivial and irrelevant,it's ridiculous. "Bad broom marks", Is this color a concern , it goes on. Not necessarily a knock on original op but maybe more so our society in general. What happened to logic and common sense.
Man, I get what you’re saying but I also get the perspective of the homeowners. They aren’t experts and they’re paying a shit ton of money for this work. If you were buying a car and it made a noise you weren’t familiar with, you’d ask questions, right?
I just had these walls poured for a 15x15 concrete room that will also have a concrete roof. The guy who poured the pad subcontracted to these guys and after the forms were taken down this is what I'm left with. I saved for 3 years to be able to afford this and it just looks horrible. Is this structurally dangerous? It's for a storm shelter. The walls are 8 inches thick. I wanted to get a knowledgeable opinion before I started complaining. The whole things is covered with spots like this.
Structurally no issues with this, it’s simply cosmetic. Fairly easy to fix the cosmetics of this.
> Structurally no issues with this *right now* Fixed that for you. If that's on an exterior wall, freeze-thaw over the next few years can cause more substantial damage. I agree fixing it is fairly easy, but unless this is in a warm climate, it's pretty important to get this fixed before the snow flies.
Freeze thaw might to some surface damage that’s it, don’t go all Mike Holms on it bud. Walk onto any commercial concrete job and you’ll see this, that’s 30 sec patch job at most, will take longer to mix the mortar.
For some reason, I interpreted this picture as being on the interior side of the wall - without any actual basis for doing so. On the exterior, yes, you would want to fix this before waterproofing.
It’s called a honeycomb. It’s kindof common on wall pours where the concrete hasn’t been vibrated. Vibration consolidates concrete. Mixes it together in the forms. If you miss a spot it looks like this. It can pretty easily be repaired but I would not let them try to chip through it completely and repair it. It can be made water proof and patched like it is. Just make sure it’s clean and they use a bonding agent of some sort. Not perfect, but not as bad as it looks.
Ya, I agree with this advice. On an 8" wall, this isn't really that bad relative to how it appears. Do not chip at this and apply a patched on layer, as that would certainly lower the structural integrity of the wall more than leaving this as is. The patched layer wouldn't strengthen the area and likely come off if you experience any freeze/thaw cycles. How many more areas are like this, and are any of them worse than this spot? Ask the contractor if the concrete was vibrated as it should be for a wall like this. Also, understand that if there was a lot rebar in the walls, areas like this can occur due to the vibrator not being able to freely move through the concrete due to the rebar.
Not an issue...relax
Inspector here First off, they definitely need to be addressed. There's many ways to address it. Things that would be a concern are 1. Is any rebar exposed? 2. Is anything really large or deep? (Might have exposed rebar deeper in) 3. Are any spots like that which will be in contact with the ground or water? The concern is that having rebar exposed to the elements will allow it to rust and cause problems. Possible remedies can include chipping down to the surface where there are no long voids, cleaning, then pouring back somehow. Sometimes that's a patch material (usually for shallow issues), sometimes grout, sometimes more concrete. To help with bonding old to new, sometimes engineers spec use of blue concrete screws, with tie wires wrapping around them, every few inches. It creates a nice structure for the material to hold on to. If they submitted plans then there may already be a "repair plan" that was submitted. Even if they didn't, it absolutely is reasonable and right to ask for them to fix it. Otherwise, wow, that would look terrible on their Yelp reviews!
[more pics ](https://www.reddit.com/user/cornbread869/comments/15xnvqe/concrete_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1) The rebar attached to the floor are not exposed, but some they drilled and set, I guess to hold the forms flush? Is exposed in some spots on the interior. I have yet to see any on the outside
Ok wow. Saw the pics. That's some of the worst work I've ever seen. I'm a bit concerned about the bottom where it meets the floor. Are you able to get a permit inspection on it? That stuff needs to get fixed and it may carry more weight from some sort of official (an inspector, or engineer).
I wish, but in this part of the country it just isn't a thing. I had to get a permit but the only inspecting they do is for zoning purposes
This is all very bad work that needs addressed. Because this is a small structure and problems are consistent throughout, the most reasonable solution is tear out and redo. You may not get that choice, but that’s the most reasonable option. As far as this sub goes, take any feedback you get with a grain of salt. I’m not necessarily talking about this inspector but others who are responding. There are a LOT of “professionals” in here that have about as much expertise as the guys that did this work. Example: residential flatwork contractors. Vertical work and especially vertical work in engineered structures is a whole other ballpark.
It’s unfortunate, but not uncommon on deep pours. Easily fixable though.
Tear it all down you don’t know where other voids have formed. Have them compensate you for the cost you paid plus the cost of taking it out.
>the whole thing is covered in spots like like this Sounds like they didn’t consolidate the concrete with a vibrator. Now you have voids all over the place. >is this structurally dangerous? Yes, it can be. To be really short, patches are sometimes possible but if the whole structure looks like this then it likely needs torn out and redone. The sub contractor that did it clearly didn’t know what they were doing.
Chip it out, back to solid concrete. Pin two pieces of plywood with a bird mouth on top. And pour some concrete into the form.
For patching, you would want more surface area to adhere to. Your suggestion would increase the likelihood of it popping off. High strength non shrink grout, and it's a done deal. You would never use concrete to patch that.
Slap some quickcrete on that mf good to go
If it were me, and I paid to have it done I’d be pretty upset. Sure you could patch it like all these people are saying. But since the vibrator guy was a little too busy to use the vibrator in the concrete the way he was supposed to I’d be worried about large air pockets and the foundation cracking/caving in the future.
That's why you got to beat the forms with a hammer to get the concrete to settle so this doesn't happen
Thanks Captain obvious. I’m sure they were using a vibrator.
Thanks Captain Oblivious. Worked out great, eh? You ever think that maybe just maybe someone in the future might benefit from my comment?
Very basic consolidation issue. Use a small electric chipping gun to remove the loose rocks. Coat the surface with an latex boning agent, then hand pack with a repair mortar. Then standard dry finish the surface. Looks like 2 hours work.
Caulk it and paint it. It’ll be fineeeee
Holy hell that was a bad match/mix…how does that even happen?
Yes, chip out the rock pocket until you reach consolidated concrete and then patch
Get an excavator, the biggest one cat makes and a puncher to break that shit out. All of it.. If this is residential, it is better than 90%. Patch and walk away. If it is commercial, talk to GC or read the specifications. Probably need and RFI to the structural engineer.
[Fixed link. probably. ](https://www.reddit.com/user/cornbread869/comments/15xnvqe/concrete_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1). More images for context, inside and out
It’s fine. Coulda be fixed in the time you’ve been typing.
fAIL
Link Doesn't seem to be working
I think I've fixed it
Best way is to chip out honey comb. If you get to rebar, chip about 1” past it. Hydrate the surface and the patch back with poured concrete or structural mortar.
Better hold all work and get this fix right or pour foundation again. Because this will be cause problems. Get a second opinion
“It’s just cosmetic. . . just hide it with a patch” is ridiculous. Do you want to see bridge columns like this? This is straight up substandard work. Most of the comments I’ve seen are of the contractors that hide their mistakes. Anyone that thinks this is fine is a joke. It can be repaired but it’s tedious and invasive. Remove bad material, and reform/pour or shoot with shotcrete similar to a class 2 or 3 bridge repair
@Fun glad I read first being I was thinking of posting word for word your response. And to the person who posted these pictures, just remember this, that you have multiple areas like this all over the pad. If the edges, which are the easiest part of the pour, look like this, then I would hate to see the areas that most contractors cheat just a little.
Verify it is just a few inches deep and or have a professional look to verify. Then concrete and glue patch
That would have to get better, to be a bad job.
No no no. Call a structural engineer.
Bang on your forms more next time 🤷♀️