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kemmc23_gw

Concrete foundation looks bad

kemmc23
10 years ago

In our new build, the concrete foundation walls were poured, and when they took off the forms it looks pretty bad. I think the forms that they used were old and the concrete is dis colored and there are even pieces of wood in the concrete. Does anyone know if there is another step in finishing the walls? Or is there anything we can do? I am not sure if this is normal. The other houses our builders built in the past did not look like this, so I was hoping there is another step. Please help!

Comments (12)

  • Carol.33
    10 years ago

    Our walls were poured yesterday and the forms came off today. We are really pleased with how they look and as far as I know, there are no other steps. This is one of our walls....

  • galore2112
    10 years ago

    It's possible to make concrete walls look better by "sacking" them or by applying stucco.

    Sacking fills in small voids and if done right can give the concrete a nice, fairly uniform appearance. It's cosmetic so I guess it depends on what you negotiate with your builder.

  • kemmc23
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Has anyone had this done by a builder with new construction? It looks pretty bad , so I am wondering if this is something that they would fix in their normal building process

  • worthy
    10 years ago

    kemmc23

    Wood is not supposed to be in the walls. Are you sure it's not just an impression of wood?

    Otherwise, cosmetics are irrelevant for a foundation that will not be seen anyway. (Though, I admit, as a builder, I certainly like the look of walls from fresh new forms.)

    A pic would be very helpful.

    Carol.33

    I've never seen that before. It looks like a lot of the wall will be exposed abovegrade. Certainly, that beats the cost of brick and looks much better than parging.

    This post was edited by worthy on Fri, Sep 27, 13 at 10:50

  • kemmc23
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The yard actually slopes in the back, so part of the concrete will be exposed. I have a partial walk out basement. And there are pieces of the wood in the concrete. You can pull it out. I will try to attach some pictures, but I am not sure how much you can see from the pictures.

  • kemmc23
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here is a picture from the side. They will be bringing in some fill, but a lot of the wall will be exposed. You can see the green will be where the fill will go up to. The little pieces of brown are wood chips.

  • bevangel_i_h8_h0uzz
    10 years ago

    Re the wood embedded in the concrete, I suspect that all needs to be pulled out. It's going to rot over time anyway. But once it is out of the way, you can have the wall "parged" to give it a nice smooth looking concrete surface. In fact, I'm kind of surprised your builder hasn't already told you that the wall will be parged before he is done because leaving an ugly rough foundation wall sticking that far out of the ground would not be a very good advertisement for his skill as a builder. If you haven't complained about the wall to him, maybe he assumes that you KNOW he is going to parge it. It is a pretty standard procedure.

    Google "parging" and/or "parge coat" to learn about the process.

  • kemmc23
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, my builder hasn't said anything either way. I haven't talked to him, so all of this information is really helpful. I am not in a panic mode because I now know something can be done. Thanks so much !

  • Carol.33
    10 years ago

    Worthy.... these walls will not be exposed once they are waterproofed, insulated, and backfilled. Well, a very little bit of them will show, but not much. That picture was taken right after the forms were taken off. We like the way it looks inside the basement.

  • ineffablespace
    10 years ago

    Maybe he is going for a beton brut appearance.

  • worthy
    10 years ago

    Those bits of wood are the result of the concrete forms not being adequately oiled. Cosmetic only. But they have to be scraped off before parging.

    Parging is not normally a building code requirement for cast in place walls. So unless it's in the contract, or that's the builder's standard practice, it is very likely not required.

    The colour differences will fade as the walls dry out.

    This post was edited by worthy on Sat, Sep 28, 13 at 11:37

  • PRO
    Epiarch Designs
    10 years ago

    the "brick" look is pretty much standard for forms around here if they are to be exposed at all. However for walk outs, if that much concrete will be exposed, most of the time they either step the form and frame with wood above the sloping grade, or they add furring strips to the concrete and run the siding down the wall to grade. That would be my preferred repair over parging anyway.

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