# Need help fixing horrible stamped concrete job.



## jim.thornton (Aug 17, 2010)

I'm a DIY guy all the way. But, when I decided to get stamped concrete in front of my house, knowing how unforgiving concrete is, I decided to hire someone. I didn't just take the cheapest quote. I couldn't get people to come out and quote the job, probably because it was the heart of summer and the job was small.

Anyway... I checked on Kijiji and found some contractors locally. One guy came out and said that he could do what I wanted. Here is what I wanted:

1. 10' x 10' pad at the front of my house.
2. Two steps going up on to the porch.
3. Do the stamped concrete on top of my porch which was crumbling away because the builder is horrible here.
4. All the stamping was suppose to be done in Ashlar Slate on an angle with a border going around. The Ashlar pattern was to be a tan colour and the border was to be a darker brown with a very slight reddish tinge to it (very slight).

I've had a VERY bad experience with this guy. But, that is a conversation for another day. Right now, I need to get this fixed. Here were some of the problems:

1. There are areas where you can see the trowel marks and the concrete hasn't come up fully to meet the mat to get textured, but there only a few sections like this, typically closer to the walls.

2. Most of the lines on the side of the house stopped about 4-8" before it got to the house. A lot of the lines stopped 3-4" before it got to the border.

3. The colour of the border came out RED. To fix it, one of his workers decided to just rub more concrete on top, which removed a lot of the texture. and left an awful colour difference.

4. In front of the step there was a huge hump.

5. When they did the front of the porch, they used a plastic bag crumpled up to texture it.

It was really bad. I spent about 5-6 hours yesterday in total with a grinder (that I had to specially buy for this) going through and cutting all the lines into the house and towards the borders. The pattern looks good now, but I have to antique it because right now you can see some aggregate in the cracks of the pattern where I ground down.

In addition, you will see a section in the front where I ground down the hump that was there. As bad as it looks now, it is still better than the hump this guy left.

My questions:
1. I went to the concrete supply store and they sold me Proline EZ Tique for the border. However, the videos and things that I have seen online for correcting colours, it doesn't look like tiquing will actually change this red to a different colour. Will it? Should I use something else?

2. The area that I ground down in front of the step... How should I cover the aggregate look? I was initially thinking of getting some dye or something, but if the colour doesn't match the tan colour it might stick out like a sore thumb. Can anyone suggest anything?

I'm really interested in getting some help. I'm open to suggestions.

This guy has now taken off and won't come back to fix the job.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

Grind it smooth and stain.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Jim, this is just gonna be one of those times where to get it right, the way you want it, you're going to have to tear it all out and start over. You're going to try many methods and spend lots of dollars on stains, dyes, etc. and you still might not get it right at this point. 

I know your concrete guy won't do it, but, he should tear that all out for you, re-pour at HIS COST, and do it right. He should have insurance to cover mistakes like this........


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## jim.thornton (Aug 17, 2010)

ron45: The stain that was used in those videos is translucent or transparent. They will not be good enough because, as you can see in my picture, you can see the aggregate where I have ground it down.

I guess my only option is to try to colour match it with a stain and then maybe antique it over that?

Gymschu: I'm completing small claims papers this weekend to take him to court. I'm pretty confident that I'll win, because I have an invoice from him where he wrote on it that he would complete it to the customers satisfaction. Anyway... Right now, I'm trying to fix it.

Unfortunately, ripping it out at this point and doing it again isn't that much of an option. This work was actually a gift, so I don't have the cash to re-do the job. At this point, I'm not looking for "perfect". I'm looking for "close enough". If I can cover up the aggregate with a close colour and then blend it in or something, that would be fine.

The red-colour border is what I'm most concerned with at this point. I hate that colour and it looks horrible. So I just want to get that at least presentable.

The way I have fixed it looks 10 times better than what it did before. But now I want to get it even better.


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## jim.thornton (Aug 17, 2010)

I called the local concrete supply company today and they suggested using parging to cover the part where I ground down. The said that it will be very difficult to match the colour though.

My concern is that won't parging just chip of in a year or two, even if I put a really thin coat on?


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## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

Where are you?


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## jim.thornton (Aug 17, 2010)

I am about 2 hours West of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


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## Wildbill7145 (Sep 26, 2014)

If you're intending to take the installer to court over this, I wouldn't be touching any of the materials until you get the court situation sorted out.


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

By attempting to fix it you have modified the work he did. So it's your word against his. The case would have been much easier to win if you hadn't made any modifications . I am not a lawyer but I think at this point you don't have much of a chance of winning because you have destroyed the evidence so to speak


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## jim.thornton (Aug 17, 2010)

jimn01: I took a video of the workmanship that he did. It's not like the courts come out to the house. They go by evidence submitted and I have people that I can bring in that saw it after the work was done, as well I have the video before I touched anything.


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## Marqed97 (Mar 19, 2011)

Sadly, I've watched many people take shady contractors to small claims around here. It never pans out as easily as they expect. 

Having 3rd parties come in to attest to the quality of the job after it's been modified by someone else constitutes hearsay. Same as if the contractor has all his buddies come testify that it was a great job. 

The video may help...hopefully for your sake it does. My moms neighbor made an attempt having to do with a poor fence install...he ended up finishing the job himself and went after the installer in court. It was thrown out within 5 minutes, with the judge stating that since he 'took ownership' and finished the work, there wasn't anything he could do. Right or not, that's what happened.


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## mako1 (Jan 7, 2014)

The first mistake you made was to even touch or try to fix the contractors work.He should be accountable for it and fix it.Once you touch it you are screwed.You have no argument now as to what he has done wrong and you screwed up trying to fix it.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

was the finish work sealed ? if not, we'd grind then use a properly-applied-according-to-mfg's-directions skim coat of polymer-modified cement,,, we've used elitecrete for mtl & color which is applied via ('solo' is the best) pump sprayer,,, alternatively, get pigment from sher-wms :thumbsup: pita work BUT you can save the job


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