Garage floor finish issues

[Jdove]

Any idea why this new garage floor turned out like this and how it can be made to look similar to the rest of the floor? Concrete contractor said it was because the sun was blocked by the retaining wall during the curing process.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Sorry, but your post is missing the image. It appears as if you inserted a link to the image on Google Drive by accident. Can you post the actual image?

To do that, you just hit the little picture icon, next to the smiley face in the toolbar and then a box pops up that you can either drag the image file into, or you can click on that pop up box and it will open file explorer (on PC) so that you can navigate to the folder where the file is and select it.

 

[Jdove]

 

[Jdove]

Sorry, but your post is missing the image. It appears as if you inserted a link to the image on Google Drive by accident. Can you post the actual image?

To do that, you just hit the little picture icon, next to the smiley face in the toolbar and then a box pops up that you can either drag the image file into, or you can click on that pop up box and it will open file explorer (on PC) so that you can navigate to the folder where the file is and select it.

Thanks for the help I have added a picture.

 

[C.J.]

If sunlight is responsible for the difference in appearance than your contractor should have covered any necessary windows to minimize the problem.

 

[Jdove]

Any idea why this new garage floor turned out like this and how it can be made to look similar to the rest of the floor? Concrete contractor said it was because the sun was blocked by the retaining wall during the curing process.View attachment 18017

Forgot to mention this is new construction, no existing building when poured. Water beads on the dark areas but not the other.

 

[Jdove]

If sunlight is responsible for the difference in appearance than your contractor should have covered any necessary windows to minimize the problem.

New construction, no existing building. Thanks for the reply!

 

[highup]

A contractor would know in advance this would happen...... not a carpenter or plumber of course.
I'd say it was up to him to make it right.

 

[Jdove]

This was done by a well known reputable concrete contractor that has been around a long time. Being that I know little about concrete how do you make this right? I am not sure what to ask them to do and they certainly are not volunteering to do anything. Any possible longer term issues possible besides cosmetic?

 

[Incognito]

This was done by a well known reputable concrete contractor that has been around a long time. Being that I know little about concrete how do you make this right? I am not sure what to ask them to do and they certainly are not volunteering to do anything. Any possible longer term issues possible besides cosmetic?

What are you hoping for? One continuous shade? I doubt there's anything you could do other than paint or coverings---like epoxy and such to conceal the dramatic dark/light difference.

If one shaded portion seems more/less porous it's concerning whether it took the sealer correctly. I doubt it's ever any kind of performance issue though, rather a cosmetic thing that could theoretically be covered. Most garage covering/treatments would require you remove that sealer anyways.

Do you park your car in there?

 

[Jdove]

What are you hoping for? One continuous shade? I doubt there's anything you could do other than paint or coverings---like epoxy and such to conceal the dramatic dark/light difference.

If one shaded portion seems more/less porous it's concerning whether it took the sealer correctly. I doubt it's ever any kind of performance issue though, rather a cosmetic thing that could theoretically be covered. Most garage covering/treatments would require you remove that sealer anyways.

Do you park your car in there?

 

[Jdove]

I will be parking cars in the garage. I was hoping for one continuous color or at least something that doesn't look like crap. My request with the contractor before building was a nice smooth sealed floor. My thoughts are they did not apply the sealer properly and missed some areas but wasn't sure. Good to hear it's probably not going to be a performance issue. I guess at this point I would just want to know what others would ask of the contractor. Coating the floor is an extra unplanned expense for me.

 

[C.J.]

What does your contract say cus that may be the only leg you have to stand on right now.

 

[Incognito]

I will be parking cars in the garage. I was hoping for one continuous color or at least something that doesn't look like crap. My request with the contractor before building was a nice smooth sealed floor. My thoughts are they did not apply the sealer properly and missed some areas but wasn't sure. Good to hear it's probably not going to be a performance issue. I guess at this point I would just want to know what others would ask of the contractor. Coating the floor is an extra unplanned expense for me.

I've seen tons of new slabs and old slabs in commercial situations that are like yours. I'm always there to COVER, usually with flooring, sometimes more recently we apply an underlayment to affect a "sealed concrete" look that's all the rage nowadays. I have a big dark blotch in the middle of my driveway that was poured about 3 years ago. It's getting smaller VERY slowly. I accepted it as is. My concrete guy said it just happens like that and SOMETIMES it blends over time. Overall workmanship was near perfect---front, side and back yards close to $60K with concrete driveways, back patio, sidewalks around one side, pavers around the pool deck and on another side yard, flagstone entry and extensive drains to the street. So I just let that one little blemish slide. It's about a foot or two at the largest points in an irregular shape.

I dont know what you ought to do about your inconsistent color slab. Have you discussed any kind of remediation with your contractor? Does he imply it ought to lighten/darken more uniformly over time? Do you like and trust the guy? I really liked and trusted my contractor so I just live with it.

 

[Jdove]

I've seen tons of new slabs and old slabs in commercial situations that are like yours. I'm always there to COVER, usually with flooring, sometimes more recently we apply an underlayment to affect a "sealed concrete" look that's all the rage nowadays. I have a big dark blotch in the middle of my driveway that was poured about 3 years ago. It's getting smaller VERY slowly. I accepted it as is. My concrete guy said it just happens like that and SOMETIMES it blends over time. Overall workmanship was near perfect---front, side and back yards close to $60K with concrete driveways, back patio, sidewalks around one side, pavers around the pool deck and on another side yard, flagstone entry and extensive drains to the street. So I just let that one little blemish slide. It's about a foot or two at the largest points in an irregular shape.

I dont know what you ought to do about your inconsistent color slab. Have you discussed any kind of remediation with your contractor? Does he imply it ought to lighten/darken more uniformly over time? Do you like and trust the guy? I really liked and trusted my contractor so I just live with it.

Thanks for the reply. Your concrete looks nice. If my drive was a little discolored it wouldn't bother me all that much. My contractor is great and I am thrilled with everything else. The concrete was done by a sub contractor but a well known local company. They offered to apply more sealer but acknowledged this would not fix the two tone concrete. I discussed with the main contractor and I have decided I am going to coat the floor. He agreed to strip and prep the floor for me. It's not what I intended originally but I am happy he is willing to try and do what he can.

 

[Incognito]

Thanks for the reply. Your concrete looks nice. If my drive was a little discolored it wouldn't bother me all that much. My contractor is great and I am thrilled with everything else. The concrete was done by a sub contractor but a well known local company. They offered to apply more sealer but acknowledged this would not fix the two tone concrete. I discussed with the main contractor and I have decided I am going to coat the floor. He agreed to strip and prep the floor for me. It's not what I intended originally but I am happy he is willing to try and do what he can.

Coating over that is your best option and once it's stripped and prepped it's a pretty easy job from there for whatever material you select. I always assume eventually cars will leak something so if I were coating a floor for parking a motor vehicle I'd look at the type of materials used in an auto mechanic's work area, obviously you could use a less industrial grade. Some options are very pricey but then again it could last a lifetime if prepped and applied as per manufacturer's specs.