Shaving Concrete

htiek126 · Jan 17, 2004

The footings and foundation are good. He failed the footing inspection twice, and then finally he got it right. He peeled off the siding on the house before pouring the concrete, but he was not smart enough to peel off some of the foam sheathing and match the height of the existing slab.

bky · Jan 17, 2004

there is a machine that will grind the concrete down. they have them at a lot of the rental yards around here but it is noisy and time consuming

mahlers · Jan 17, 2004

Sounds like ripping the whole thing out and starting from scratch would be the way to go. Have him talk to the contractor about his status of bonding, insurance, and licensing. Maybe also talk to his attorney...

Another way to 'fix' is to use high-strength reinforced concrete to raise everything to the same level, and then cut all the 2x4's so that the roofline and ceilings match up with the existing structure. Any way he does it, it's a pain.

rambler · Jan 19, 2004

Sounds like he is not the person to go to again, if you want it right!

I'm a little confused, you talk about slabs, and you talk about footers. Around 'here' most all houses have full basements. Footers/ foundation below frost line are required, altho lots of out-building are made on floating slabs. Not sure exactly what you have there.

Any dairy in your area? There is sure to be some concrete groovers nearby, they have a lot of equipment that will chew up concrete. Messy & noisy!

--->Paul

tawilson · Jan 19, 2004

How thick is the slab he poured. If it's a 4" slab I wouldn't be taking 1.5" off it and not expect cracks. Plus, by the time you shave that off you'll probably be into the rebar or mesh. Sounds like a live with it or a r&r.

htiek126 · Jan 21, 2004

We do not have basements because the water table is too high. Many houses are built with footers, block, and then a concrete slab that sits on the block or a crawl space with floor trusses or joists on the block.