Let me add that this is in Michigan so we get freezing weather.

Also wanted to ask if it is necessary and advised to seal the concrete and if so is it a do it yourself job and what product is best, or better to hire out the job to make sure it is right?

Could be trapped air bubbles that never made it out. This might create spalling in the future. Just looking at the picture I can't tell any difference in height except for the discoloration.

Hi -- I'm not an expert, however, my husband and I had this occur at a house that we owned years ago. The concrete was poured on a rainy day. My husband and I were both at work, so we were surprised to come home and find our garage approach completed. The contractor was proud that the were "able to fit it in." Well, approximately 3 months later the surface was flaking terribly. The contractor returned and said that it was a bad batch of concrete. We called the concrete supplier and they sent out an expert that determined it was due to completing the approach in the rainy weather. Long story short, we ended up in small claims court.

Talk to your contractor regarding your concerns. Also, reach out to the concrete supplier.

annied75 thanks for your experience. I looked up the weather for the day it was poured and it looks like it was a dry day, in the high 70's, and it looks like it rained the day after, but not a whole lot. I don't know if that would affect the cement.

I googled and found something called concrete blisters. Our situation is not as bad as some of the pictures I saw, but there are clearly bumps if you look in certain light where shadows are cast.

So far the contractor has been good about fixing mistakes, but this would be a very expensive fix, and so far there is nothing actually to fix because it has not started to flake. I am hoping I am paranoid because we have had a lot of problems with this remodel and that the won't be any problems with the cement, but I am not so confident.

Has anyone experienced concrete blisters and is there a way to tell before the concrete starts to flake?

Is your cat missing?

you can try to find one spot in an inconspicuous area and take a chisel to it. If it’s good concrete you’ll know.

Rain the day after is not usually an issue (not great to pour DURING rain though as it can effect the mix). It actually prevents the concrete from drying out too fast. I have seen people watering their concrete the day or two after it was poured in the summer to avoid it drying too fast.

I had a driveway poured three weeks ago and believe me I was so nervous about the weather when it was poured as we had just had a few hot days, but day it was poured was a bit more moderate and we got some rain next day (and I was very happy).

Don't hold me to this as I am not a concrete pro, but I am familiar with concrete driveways and such. This looks like efflorescence. Concrete takes time to cure. As it cures, salts come to the surface (the salts would be whatever was in the water, sand, or gravel that is in the mix) and show as white spots like this. If this is indeed it, it does not affect strength or anything, it is aesthetics only. I have some of these showing up too.

If it has been a couple months since it was poured, you can remove them with a concrete efflorescence cleaner.

As for sealing...if you "must" depends on your climate and how your municipality deals with winter. Where I am we are told to seal every fall with a penetrating concrete sealer as the salt/sand mix used by the City for the roads is brutal on concrete. We are actually required to in order to maintain our warranty. Really, I would do it anyway as it does lengthen the life of it :)

Rai Kai, thank you for your thoughtful post. That could be the problem. I will have to look into that more. I may also look into sealing it.

Lisa,

What ended up happening? We poured a driveway and patio and we are seeing the exact same thing. Was it a problem for you?