Ready Mix Concrete Rant

foggy1111 · Jul 30, 2009

OK.....I got a problem with all the bad concrete they are making these days. Everywhere I go I see lots of concrete problems. Of course there are problems with the preparation....and with people putting fiber down instead of re-bar.....but what I am talking about are aggregate problems.

I put a very expensive driveway in at my house a few years ago. The ^%^&* shale mixed in with the concrete is popping each spring and there is no end in sight. I raised cane with the installer (who did a good job and tried his best) and the ready mix company....who just tells me good aggregate is hard to come by. Nobody is about to stand behind the concrete. If there was another company to buy ready mix from I would drop these boys like the plague.....but alas no other competition - Just excuses.....and lame ones at that.

I am not the only one....every where I look lately the concrete workmanship is junk and the ready mix is poor quality....for the most part. It's really sad....cause so much labor is put into concrete.

rant over

Duffster · Jul 30, 2009

foggy1111 said:
OK.....I got a problem with all the bad concrete they are making these days. Everywhere I go I see lots of concrete problems. Of course there are problems with the preparation....and with people putting fiber down instead of re-bar.....but what I am talking about are aggregate problems.

I put a very expensive driveway in at my house a few years ago. The ^%^&* shale mixed in with the concrete is popping each spring and there is no end in sight. I raised cane with the installer (who did a good job and tried his best) and the ready mix company....who just tells me good aggregate is hard to come by. Nobody is about to stand behind the concrete. If there was another company to buy ready mix from I would drop these boys like the plague.....but alas no other competition - Just excuses.....and lame ones at that.

I am not the only one....every where I look lately the concrete workmanship is junk and the ready mix is poor quality....for the most part. It's really sad....cause so much labor is put into concrete.

rant over

There is so many factors and variables in play that it is pretty tough to flat out blame the redi mix company.

foggy1111 · Jul 30, 2009

Nope....I disagree. If they got shale in the concrete....it's a bad deal for the consumer....and it's totally avoidable. They think shale is "permissable" ....and I gotta disagree.

Shale gathers moisture....freezes.....and causes pops.

tallyho8 · Jul 30, 2009

I just poured 3 yards of concrete on a raised porch today. I ordered 4000 psi mix and also 2 test cylinders. It is very common for the redi-mix company to short the customer on the amount of cement in a batch. When you order the test cylinders, they figure you are going to get it tested and make sure you have the proper mix.

There must be a company in your area that supplies concrete for the highway department when they are building or repairing US highways in your area. Federal or state personnel inspect the mixes to make sure they meet their standards which are much higher than residential use. These companies must use approved aggregates in their mix and should be able to supply you with acceptable concrete. Of course, if you are shopping for lowest price, they will cut corners.

Contractors can order cheaper concrete or less rebar to cut costs and laborers can add too much water to the mix to make it easier to spread thus making it unacceptable so everything is not the redi-mix company's fault.

Bird · Jul 31, 2009

I ordered 4000 psi mix and also 2 test cylinders. It is very common for the redi-mix company to short the customer on the amount of cement in a batch.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's true and I suppose has been for a long time. I had an aunt who worked briefly as a secretary for a ready mix company over 50 years ago and I remember her saying they shorted customers and she very quickly went looking for another job. And on the projects I worked on for the city, we required a test cylinder from each and every batch.

Knotbored · Jul 31, 2009

Concrete is no different then every other product we now buy.
Buy any plywood lately? buy a set of vice-grips? how about a "vine-ripened tomato?
Almost every product available for a decent price has been dumbed down to the lowest quality that can still be sold to an uncarring public.
The alternative to that is that quality products are so rare they can and do demand such high prices the regular guy just can't afford them- example those $4 a pound tomatos sold at the farmers market to the yuppies out touring from the big city.
I am tired of being screwed over for most everything and now acomplish 80% of what needs done by myself-and just skip the 20% left over and do without.

20 20 · Jul 31, 2009

It's all about quantity not quility, that seems to be the new American way!

CurlyDave · Jul 31, 2009

and the ready mix company....who just tells me good aggregate is hard to come by.

I wonder what they would tell a lawyer?

The fix is expensive, but if you have a written record of complaining about it and them just blowing you off, I think you have a good chance of nailing them for supplying substandard material.

15-20 years ago a ready-mix company in the SF area supplied a lot of concrete with firebrick in it. For their large customers, they jackhammered it out, paid for new forms, and supplied new material. Small customers just got screwed.

archerm3 · Aug 1, 2009

Knotbored said:
Concrete is no different then every other product we now buy.
Buy any plywood lately? buy a set of vice-grips? how about a "vine-ripened tomato?
Almost every product available for a decent price has been dumbed down to the lowest quality that can still be sold to an uncarring public.
The alternative to that is that quality products are so rare they can and do demand such high prices the regular guy just can't afford them- example those $4 a pound tomatos sold at the farmers market to the yuppies out touring from the big city.
I am tired of being screwed over for most everything and now acomplish 80% of what needs done by myself-and just skip the 20% left over and do without.

I agree...but just to add one thing, another current twist retailers are doing is to charge an exorbitant price on something, and claim it to be a quality difference that commands higher prices, when in fact, it is no different than any other product.

That 4 buck 'mater is probably the same as the one in the Walmart produce section, taste wise.

Most of us are probably guilty of selling something at the lowest possible quality for the highest possible price as well...It's capitalism after all.

Bird · Aug 1, 2009

That 4 buck 'mater is probably the same as the one in the Walmart produce section, taste wise.

Nope, actually they aren't. We didn't raise but a very few ourselves this year, but jinman brought us some of his and we have one of those little local 3 day a week farmers market and we've bought a few there. Now you won't find many tomatoes that look any better than the ones at Walmart (and other supermarkets); nice uniform size, smooth blemish free skins, etc. But there's a world of difference in the taste. If you could get one of jinman's tomatoes and one from the supermarket; take a bite of each, and I'll guarantee, with your eyes closed, you'll know which one is which.

Now of course, sometimes us city folks do pay premium prices. I cannot find canned or frozen blackeyed peas of the kind my wife and I prefer. We eat canned ones from the store and they aren't bad, but we prefer younger, greener peas, and a fair amount of snaps. Even the canned ones with snaps have nearly all very mature peas. So one day last week, we paid $3 for a little "basket" of blackeyed peas. When my wife shelled them, it was just about the same quantity that you'd get in one can. In other words, only enough for the 2 of us for one meal. Delicious, but expensive.