I thankyou for your time but if you could give me a little more at some stage, I wouldn't mind knowing the old wives/mis-information from the truth. I know that the CGA applies for jobs done like this but being armed with knowledge is a great starting point I think.
tintop,
Dec 14, 3:24pm
jphs wrote:
I thankyou for your time but if you could give me a little more at some stage, I wouldn't mind knowing the old wives/mis-information from the truth. I know that the CGA applies for jobs done like this but being armed with knowledge is a great starting point I think.[/quote
Cheers. Yes - I see your point of view. I will have a bit of time tonight to start the ball rolling probably.
newtec1,
Dec 14, 3:38pm
Dishwashing liquid.
tintop,
Dec 14, 5:52pm
Its hard to say from the photos what has gone wrong - I have never had the good fortune to experience anything like that. But - I notice the crack in the concrete and the gap between the concrete on the left side of photo ( off to finjd photo )
howgoodisit,
Dec 14, 7:27pm
I wouldnt be digging or touching those piles in any way.
I would be calling the contractor and telling them to bring the props back ASAP and install while they sort the issue and organise having them redone!
I wouldnt be relying on that crap holding up my house!
jphs,
Dec 14, 9:56pm
Thank you all for your excellent and educated replies. I think this is going to be a major so forewarned is very very helpful. Awesome.
echoriath,
Dec 14, 10:56pm
FWIW:
There's the ideal world and the real world:
In an ideal world, batching plants would be meticulously maintained and proper processes observed, drivers would not water down the mix to get it to go into/through the pump (kiss your slump and non-compliance paperwork goodbye), nor would a four-inch stone come rattling down a chute to go into a two or three inch hose, but of course, in an ideal world the hose connections would all be chained together just in case that four-inch stone blows the joint. Ideally, people would use store-bought plasticisers (they are available and not terribly dear if you are batching a fair bit) and not water from the nearest creek. In a perfect world, inspectors would be on site to assess/test the concrete as it's being placed.
Most of us live in reality, not an office or laboratory.
The irony is that an abundance of information is freely available over the internet and through professional organisations, but as we have increasing amounts of info at our fingertips, people seem more and more willing to abdicate the thinking process in favour of "professionals" and regulatory bodies who push a lot of paper, and not so many barrows. Dodging liability and responsibility have become art forms.
jphs,
Dec 15, 4:51am
Hi Echoriath. I am not sure as to your intention there but the reason I started this thread was because I found it very difficult to find any images of the signs that our builder had used the dodgy concrete reported everywhere in the news. Impossible actually. Sometimes simply asking for advice can be more accurate than Google searching and hoping. People's opinions can be researched more easily when you know where to look.
echoriath,
Dec 15, 5:04am
Sorry, I was not trying to upset any applecarts as such. I was responding to tintop's idealised view of things.
tintop,
Dec 15, 6:57am
I am not sure what your point is - but I was fortunate enough to have had experience in a soils/aggregates/concrete testing lab for a few years, followed by supervision of the construction of 3 major bridges in 'spaghetti junction' and the general use of concrete both by own forces and contracts in a very wide range of civil engineering projects, and have certainly seen a lot of mistakes made. ( and made a few myself)
But never a concrete pump block through lack of something as basic as lack of a hopper screen :)
blueviking,
Dec 15, 7:55am
So most concrete plants are outside, so if measured by weight, how do they calculate the moisture weight in the aggregate? I pick up a bit of sand in my job and the weight difference is quite a bit through the rainy days .I'd say at least 20%.
tintop,
Dec 15, 9:34am
There are various ways - the definitive method is a weigh before and after using a purpose built drying oven. Dry to constant weight.
There was a field device gadget called a Drager Moisture tester- was about the same size as a 1.5 - 2 litre PET bottle, but made of aluminium. It used powered calcium carbide that reacted with the moisture to produce acetylene gas inside a closed chamber. The pressure of the gas produced was indicated on a pressure gauge and the % moisture could be derived from that.
There are are modern methods than that now. :)
howgoodisit,
Dec 15, 7:13pm
If this was premix stuff then in theory it would have to be dry as a bone before batched and mixed as it would just set in the bag otherwise.
From my experience which is very little using premix. i think this is just crappy fence post premix which has very little Portland added. prob about equivalent of 10-1 at most. not designed for anything other than that.
tintop,
Dec 15, 8:22pm
Here are the details of the Firth dry mix products. There is no real reason to disbelieve what they say.
Almost certainly they would have made standard test cylinders, properly cured them and carried out 28 day ( and intermediate) strength testing.
Its an easy enough thing to do, also easy enough for a competitor to do too! :)
Over the years I have site mixed a lot of concrete,and worn out 3 concrete mixers in the process but never seen concrete like that. Sometimes if it rained and the builders mix got wet it could come out of the mixer worse than runny poo but the next day it had gone off and a week later all was good,so I am not conviced you have a mixing problem but rather a dud cement problem. There was/is the Concrete testing association [ may have name wrong] in Wall place Lindon who may be able to help you.I find it easier to stuff up cake baking than concrete making which is a fairly forgiving product to use. Best of luck.
newtec1,
Dec 16, 3:10pm
Like i said in my first post,too much baking soda,it upset the PH.
bergkamp,
Jul 6, 6:20am
what condition were the bags when they came to site ? if too old and exposed to damp then hydration may have already been occuring , we would never use bagged concrete in any structural form , in fact i wouldn't think it acceptable for anything but fence posts .
batched concrete should be tested at the plant ,usually specified by engineer if one is involved .
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