Honeycombing on the new concrete foundation

6 years ago

Hi folks, I am new to this forum as well as a first-time home buyer. I much appreciated if anyone can share your experience on this.

A local builder is building a custom home for us. We recently visited the job site and noticed many defects on the concrete foundation. We contacted the builder about the issue. We were told this is called "honeycombing" and is quite normal in the construction. The builder determines this is cosmetic issue and can be treated with applying coating.

However, we did not see any similar "honeycombing" defects in nearby new constructed homes. After searching online about "honeycombing", we are more concerned about the quality of the foundation. Besides, we did not get to see how the whole foundation looks like before the back fill.

There is roughly 60% concrete foundation with "honeycombing" like shown in the attached pictures. When I rub the surface, I can see sand coming off the concrete.

Right now, we are very concerned about any hidden or potential structural issues this "honeycombing" defects may cause in the future. What should we do? Even if it is determined as a cosmetic issue, will it be possible to fix

Featured Answer

Seabornman

6 years ago

Looks pretty minor, although they could have touched it up before it was backfilled.

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Comments (7)

User
6 years ago
Well, honeycombing happens, as your research probably shows. As you know, this may have been caused by the mix or mud....

In commercial projects, test samples or cores are poured and construction may not continue until the samples pass tests.

Are you willing to pay for independent testing?

Does your area have settling?
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GN Builders
6 years ago
What others said, as honeycombing goes it happens from time to time when concrete was poured, an area within a form had an insufficient amount of fine material, in many cases, compaction/fibration solves these issues, but from time to time you come across a small area because you cannot see it until the forms are removed.
shead
6 years ago
We had a few areas of it on our poured basement walls and it was touched up after they removed the forms.
Joe K
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for everyone's comments.

In our case, the majority of the left and back foundation concrete as well as about half of the front foundation concrete are looking like the pictures that I uploaded. We have not find any nearby new construction looks like that. So very concerned about the quality of the foundation.

We are thinking of hiring a structural engineer to do a further evaluation. Any thoughts?

I see couple folks mentioning "touch up before back fill". Is this a normal fix for issue like this assuming there is no structural concern? Our builder did not even notice us when back filling. They still think what we saw is normal. Since back fill is done at this point, what will be the proper fix then?

Many thanks!
shead
6 years ago
The cracking/honeycombing you're seeing may just be superficial. The bigger issue is if it goes through the wall to the other side. The concrete is reinforced with steel rebar horizontally and vertically. I really think this is a non-issue.
worthy
6 years ago
Here is the relevant Warranty guideline under the mandatory government warranty programme I built under:

From the pictures you've posted, looks like a non-issue.

What's more disturbing is that there is the next to useless asphalt cutback dampproofing instead of a plastic membrane on the foundation wall. But this meets Code and is typical of US homebuilding as far as I can see.