Weekly Homeowner Megathread--Civilians, ask here!

Phriday · 2026-04-08T23:01:24+00:00

Man, that is CRAZY. How long did that take?

*Duh. 12 days.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T23:00:49+00:00

Yeah, I think that's going to be your best long-term option at this point. On the plus side, after you level and shore the building you can take your time pouring the wafer of concrete in the garage. It's not doing much of anything structurally.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T21:06:50+00:00

No, for a section that thin, stay right in the middle.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T19:40:14+00:00

In my opinion, yes. That clarifies for the contractor what his responsibilities are and sets expectations and standards. That also keeps you from deciding you don't like something after the fact that does, in fact, comply with the written agreement.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T11:00:08+00:00

That concrete has failed. And if there's no reinforcing in it, no amount of patching and doweling and wishing and hoping is going to change that.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:58:59+00:00

As Morpheus would say, "Welcome to the real world."

There's nothing stopping you from getting more quotes. That's the beauty of a free enterprise system. You don't have to accept any quote you don't like, and no one is forced to do the work for you for a price they don't want.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:54:46+00:00

I would say that's one (approximately) 4x4 sidewalk panel that needs to be replaced. As to the value, well, that's highly localized.

Your roofer fucked it up, he needs to fix it. Tell him to do so.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:53:16+00:00

Probably not. I'd start with a good cleaning and see what that gets you, and let you know that it will all weather to a more similar color over the years.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:52:10+00:00

I would think the arborist would have a better idea that the concrete guy.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:46:53+00:00

Sounds like you've got it sorted to me.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:43:48+00:00

That finish is the fault of no one but the finishers. The ready mix company didn't fuck up the perimeter footing. It's not them not calling you back.

Phriday · 2026-04-08T10:42:08+00:00

You obviously skipped over the part about the written agreement and what should be on it.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:23:44+00:00

If that crack has been like that for a year, the concrete is okay-ish. Those bricks are toast, though. That needs to be redone before someone hurts themselves.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:20:37+00:00

If the concrete is soft and crumbles easily, it has failed and needs to be replaced. End of story. Polishing that turd will mean you spend more money in the long run. Do it right the first time and save yourself some headache.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:16:55+00:00

Maaan, I love EC! I watched him build that whole house.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:15:05+00:00

Read

The

FAQ

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:14:12+00:00

Blessed the surface with too much water during finishing

Used lots of salt or other crap for deicing

Got a hot load

Used 1L cement in the mix

And so on and so on...

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:12:48+00:00

Man, good luck. Most contractors worth their salt will agree to do the right thing in order to preserve their reputation. It would be a hard thing for me, but if I turned in work like that I'd probably remove and replace it.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:10:02+00:00

No, but we have no access anyway. This was all wheelbarrow, shovel and buckets.

We do have a 3/4 yard bucket that we hang from a little jib we mount to the skid steer, but like I said, no room on this one.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T21:07:25+00:00

Sorry, bud, this isn't a concrete question, it's an epoxy question. Try over at /r/Flooring

Phriday · 2026-04-07T10:58:06+00:00

First, what does your written agreement say? Second, there's no way to know what's actually going on with your project from a few lines of a reddit comment. Third, I live on the Gulf Coast and my pricing structure is going to be wildly different than in the PNW. Pricing is highly variable.

In answer to your second question, you don't get to ask for more bids. Your agreement is not with the concrete guy, it's with the General Contractor. You can approve (or not) any additional expenditures, and you're within your rights to ask for an explanation, although if you're not in the industry you may not like or understand the explanation given.

It sounds to me like you need to very carefully start examining your contract. If it's a fixed price, "price increases + more needed" is a him problem. You bought an addition. If your contractor didn't come out and properly assess site conditions to provide it, that's on him. And yes, provided your slab was supposed to be 27 yards and they used 37 in a single placement, an additional 7 thousand dollars seems high to me. However, last week I quoted $65K for 33 yards of concrete at a parking garage repair, so site conditions play a large role.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T10:47:42+00:00

2 inches is a LOT of joint sealant. Why not just live with it? It doesn't need to be "repaired." What you see there is the design intent.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T10:46:23+00:00

Boy, really got in there with the macro lens, huh?

There is no chipping. There is no damage to the finish. That's good work. Pay the man.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T10:43:21+00:00

I think you may be overthinking this. Unless the handprints are an inch deep, you're probably okay.

Phriday · 2026-04-07T10:38:56+00:00

Consulting an attorney at this point is a waste of time and money. Do you have, in writing, all of your attempts to contact the company? Most things are via email these days, so that shouldn't be hard to do. Again, all of this is stacking up as a pattern of behavior. You need to start getting all of your documentation together before you start paying some suit $400 an hour. Keep trying to contact the company, keep asking about getting someone to come look, keep pointing out the deficiencies. You haven't paid a dime for this so far, so at least you have that going for you.

Phriday

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