Bad basement floor finish 2nd try

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I hired a company to pour a new floor in my basement (new construction). The first time had such a bad finish and was terribly unlevel. It was as bad as 7/8" drop within the distance of one step. It felt like you were falling in holes. It had an overall unlevel mess of about an inch and a half, but it was up and down all over very bad. The actual surface was not smooth and had pits all over and stuff also.They ended up tearing it out which took them 3 months and 10 days and all that time I was paying interest on a construction loan.They finally poured it again and it has less overall wavyness, but it still has at least 3/4" of dips and highs and the finish quality is bad. There are pits and divets all over. The hand trowel edges are super rough. There is even half inch differences in height in less than 10 foot spans. Now they want to get paid immediately and I don't know what to do. I have a bad floor that cannot be fixed again and I have to get the rest of the house going.
There is no option to add pictures here.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

millworkman
3 years ago
"There is no option to add pictures here"

Sure there is. Being new const. why was this not part of the overall build or did you self GC and hire out individual trades? If you are not happy you need to get the floor redone again (so it seems) but without more info and the backstory, and contract details it is tough to offer much in the way of advice.
John Stevenson
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

The first job was much worse than this. I told them many times that I was very concerned with them redoing it that they get good finishers in here. This is what we got on the current attempt.

They are telling me this is a pristine finish. I disagree completely. I am seeing half inch differences over 10 feet and the finish is terrible in my opinion. I was not planning to finish this area, but when you do, it's going to require a lot of leveling and grinding or something.

Anyway, this was really bad because it has 2 inches of foam under it and stego. They had to replace a bunch of the foam as well due to it being damaged during tear out the first time. They are deep into this, but to me this is still terrible, but they want to get paid anyway and claim its great. They had to pay for concrete this time also.

This has created over a 3 month delay in the build already.

I have a ton more pictures of more bad spots. There is some area by the walkout side that would be okay.
Related Professionals
Florence General Contractors · Brunswick Basement Remodeling · Rockford Basement Remodeling · Beatrice Basement Remodeling · Lebanon Basement Remodeling · Scranton Basement Remodeling · Santa Maria Basement Remodeling · Santa Fe Bathroom Remodelers · Chambersburg General Contractors · Erie General Contractors · San Francisco General Contractors · Rapid City General Contractors · Fort Smith Interior Designers & Decorators · Concord Cabinets & Cabinetry · Coldwater Cabinets & Cabinetry
millworkman
3 years ago
Where is your GC in this equation, assuming there is one? You need to decide, and really only you can, how hard you push back to the concrete guy. The delay is yours by the sounds of it, and this will be easier to fix now then later in my opinion.
John Stevenson
Original Author
3 years ago
I am the GC. Two other concrete guys I have used on previous builds say its bad. I am also the owner on this one because it's my house. So at least the only time line pressure is myself and paying the bank interest. Can't sell my current house to pay this one off until it's done. The longer it takes, the more money I throw out the window, but I have to look at this every day for the rest of my life. Tough situation. There will be no winners. I just want a good level floor and they cannot do it.