help with concrete problem pls

[need concrete assistance pls]

Hello,

I hired a contractor to put in a large patio. Even though I informed him that there is shifting, he failed to put in rebar. Now the concrete is shifting and separating at the joints. There is about 1.5 to 2 inch crack down the joints and at least a two inch shift in height.

The contractor has since lost his license and I'm being told by the Contractors Board that I have no recourse unless I hire a lawyer to track him down. I've called him on numerous occasions and no return call.

It depresses me to even go out to my backyard now because I spent so much money on it and now it is dangerous to walk on because of the possibility of tripping from the shifts in the concrete.

I did my research on the contractor and checked out 5 of his jobs and interviewed previous clients.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I've considered tearing it out but it will cost me almost twice as much as I originally paid to put it in to re-do this project. Should I put a deck over it?? Please help if you can...

Thank you.

[RicodJour]

Tough situation. If it's already that far gone there's little hope of saving it. There is a process called mud-jacking, where grout is injected under the concrete to raise it up into place. It can be touchy to work on a patio slab - no idea how thick it is (from the sounds of it, he might not have built it as the drawings or you dictated) and the mud-jacking could crack the slab even more.

Subsidence issues are due to improper preparation - failure to remove organic soil material, failure to compact disturbed soil and drainage issues.

I can't really tell from here what should be done. The cost and your particular site conditions will dictate what should be done.

Check with your local Consumer Affairs department, or equivalent. There may be a homeowner restitution fund to help pay for the replacement.

R

[Dan Deckert]

Depending on the grade, you 'could' do an overlay with more concrete but I highly suspect it would fail as well if as Rico states, "Subsidence issues are due to improper preparation - failure to remove organic soil material, failure to compact disturbed soil and drainage issues." remain. Tough call but I suspect removal & replace..............

Dan

[RicodJour]

Mr. Deckert:

The office of Engulf & Devour, attorneys-at-law, has been retained by Rico dJour in regards to your flagrant and egregious copyright violation of his post, this date. Irreparable harm has been caused to his finances, reputation and exceedingly fragile ego. In a nutshell, if he offs himself you will be held responsible for his debts, funeral costs and numerous illegitimate children. Please be aware that our attorneys eat 900 pound gorillas as after dinner mints. Do not hire a lawyer - it will only piss us off. Just send money. We'll tell you when to stop.

Sincerely yours,

F. Worthington Wildebeast IV

[Italian Mason]

You know I hate to be harsh but you did your homework but then it sounds like you droped the ball... If it was a large patio Im sure that they didnt dig it , form it and pour it in one day. This means the area sat for at least over night or longer BEFORE the pour, did you mention the rebar not being in durring this time? If you did and he talked you out of it thats a tough call. As far as another concrete solution once you have a bad foundation you cannot put something over it, remove it. As far as legal recourse depending on what state you are in you may have recourse through small calims court if he has lost his license you already have half the battel won.....

Even if he DID put rebar > Hello,

[scott21230]

I'm reasonably sure that they won't put in rebar unless you ask them to.