[peckster]

I just had a concrete patio poured about a month ago and I am concerned they did not do it correctly. They framed in the area with 2x4's (even though part of the patio is as much as 12 inches deep) and shoveled red clay into it to help fill it up. Then they poured concrete on top of the loose dirt. They did not use any gravel or wire mesh, and they did not pack the dirt down at all. One side of the patio is sloping more than the other side. Also there is a lot of concrete blobbing out on the sides. Can they fix this? Is this patio going to crack? I paid a lot of money for this, and I worried they did a bad job. What should I do?

[tickle]

From what you explain it sounds like a really shabby job. I would have them back and complain.

[roganjosh]

Yes it sounds like it will crack, just a matter of time... I would try to get some money back

[Kstar4u]

Did you use a licensed contractor? If not... you may be stuck with the slab they left you with. How does the surface of the slab look? Did they put "control joints" in the slab (that's the lines that are cut in the surface to control future cracks) and are they no more than 8' apart? Concrete WILL crack! The important thing is to control WHERE it cracks.

If you can get the "contractor to remedy your concerns... that'll be the answer but if not... legal recourse is your other option.

Good luck.

[glavine]

The good thing here is that its 12" thick, its not going to crack like a 4" slab would (this is what they should have poured you) if it was done the same way. However you can still have expansion joints or controlled joints, its nothing more than a concrete saw and cutting a line or 2 in the slab a 1/2 or 3/4 into the slab. Concrete will crack at the weakest spots, this just helps those spots be less noticeable.
As far as the concrete coming out of the sides, by the time your reading this , I would bet its to late for that to be fixed. For now its either a grinder and brick chisel. You may just back fill some dirt up along side the slab to hide the edge of the slab.

[rwdexaz]

You should indeed be concerned. This slab WILL crack. The major concern is the red clay fill. It's an OK material to use for fill but should have been tamped down to form a hard base for the pour. As you describe it, this fill will compress over time and allow the slab to drop and/or crack. If the slab is more than about 10'x10' it should have been reinforced with wire mesh. The proper way to do this would have been to properly tamp the area, overlay with 4 to 6 inches of ABC gravel, also tamped, with the pour over this. Anything over about 10'x10' should be reinforced with wire mesh and control joints cut about every 8 to 10 feet.