We just did our drive way with that new fangled type of concrete..

[friendly_prawn]

Ok, so had a capenter came and concreted part of our drive way. A week later I went and gave it a scuff with my foot and in pockets some of the gravel started to fall out.. I rang the carpenter and asked him about it. He said because of all the rain we have been having it wont have set yet and to leave it for another week..

Eh? Say what? Water wont let the concrete set????

Ok gave it another week then decided to see whats what.. Gave it a bit of a light hose down and pockets of it just washed away leaving holes in the concrete.. I rang the concreter back.. He said I should leave it alone and give it more time to set.

Gee, we must have a new fangled type of concrete that takes months to set.

I guessing he hasn't mixed it properly so there are pockets of just gravel and sand in amongst it.. Its a very messy looking drive way now.

Done a bit of research and apparently there are different products to fix the holes in the concrete and tidy it up.

Has anyone tried to patch concrete successfully or am I going to be left with concrete that looks like crap!

[flyernzl]

Ok, so had a capenter came and concreted part of our drive way. .. I rang the carpenter

A carpenter?

So next time you want some kitchen cabinets made, you'll call a concreting contractor?

I can't believe this!

[eri]

were tarps laid over it before the rain?

how thick was the concrete?

does it have any steel in it?

did a truck come and pour a cubic meter or did the chippie mix up some bags of dry premix in a wheelbarrow with his shovel

or even worse

did he bring his own; cement, builders mix, sand and grandfather's recipe...

[friendly_prawn]

A carpenter?

So next time you want some kitchen cabinets made, you'll call a concreting contractor?

I can't believe this!

Well I did ask the local butcher but he said he was busy painting the neighbours house lol :-)

He advertised himself as a carpenter, concreter..

[friendly_prawn]

were tarps laid over it before the rain?

how thick was the concrete?

does it have any steel in it?

did a truck come and pour a cubic meter or did the chippie mix up some bags of dry premix in a wheelbarrow with his shovel

or even worse

did he bring his own; cement, builders mix, sand and grandfather's recipe...

It didn't rain on it during the the drying period.. We had an overcast but rain free day for that. But it sure rained every day since.

Concrete is a good depth with steel reinforcement laid.

Although Im not 100% sure, I think it was grandpa's recipe... He did it the old, throw it in the wheel barrow and give it a good mix up with the shovel trick...

All that's a moot point now

Problem is can it be tidied up?

[friendly_prawn]

and the answer is... wait for it.... tadaaaaaa! Yes! I should have just googled it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MU4YrAmzuY

[friendly_prawn]

Oh look and while I was at it, I came across this handy tip lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMglwV3_gvE

[drelly]

Sounds like he didn't put enough cement in it or didn't mix it properly. Are there hard patches and soft patches? There's no way it should be still not set after a week. Don't try and fix it. It sounds like it needs to be ripped up and re-laid.

[friendly_prawn]

Sounds like he didn't put enough cement in it or didn't mix it properly. Are there hard patches and soft patches? There's no way it should be still not set after a week. Don't try and fix it. It sounds like it needs to be ripped up and re-laid.

yep, a mix of hard and soft patches.. luckily its only a small area..
I"m not sure if he will come back and fix it. I have already pushed him for this and all I"m getting is excuse after excuse..
Due to it being a smallish area I might try to patch it if I can with out making it look to bad..
If that doesn't work, then I'll go in with all guns blazing and see if I can drag him back to sort it..
Will let you guys know the outcome.

[drelly]

yep, a mix of hard and soft patches.. luckily its only a small area..
I"m not sure if he will come back and fix it. I have already pushed him for this and all I"m getting is excuse after excuse..

Have you paid him yet?

[Nice]

I'm guessing it was the cheapest price you were quoted ????

[lawt]

Due to it being a smallish area I might try to patch it if I can with out making it look to bad..
If that doesn't work, then I'll go in with all guns blazing and see if I can drag him back to sort it..
Will let you guys know the outcome.

There is no practical way to patch it. You may get it looking ok but you wont get the structural integrity back into it easily.
Rip it up and do it properly.

[TheLibrary]

Also, if you try and patch it, and it doesnt work...you could be opening up an avenue whereby the carpenter can blame you and disown any liability to fix the issues.

[Raftcomm]

I recently concrete my driveway as well so I can understand what you are going through. The difference is the guy that did mine didnt mix his own concrete. He got the concrete guys with a concrete mixing truck and poured it on the area. This was after laying the steel frames and pebbles as foundation. It was raining alot too during the period that the concrete was laid so he assured me that he would come back to smooth it out if it ended up looking like the face of a teenager going through puberty. If your concrete / carpenter contractor is giving excuses after excuses and the end result is not up to your satisfaction, there is always the consumer guarantees act.

[Maccachic]

There was a series on target / fair go about driveway scams although I think it was tarseal but they may have moved on? Its not a similar thing is it.