Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Feb 18, 2015 7:44 am We had an exposed aggregate driveway and path poured 5 days ago. The concreter came with a crew including himself of 5 guys and poured 104m2 in a day. The started just after sunrise boxing up, put in sand, chairs and reo, drilled into existing concrete that butted with the new pour and put in deform bars and expansion foam and then waited for the truck. After the pour he applied an agent to stop the surface going off (may have just been water with dissolved sugar - I'm not sure) and then waited to hose off the surface which was done same day. He returned the next day with one guy to acid wash and do cuts. Sealer was applied a couple of days later but that day we had an unexpected cloud burst when half the area had been sealed and it turned milky white. After applying thinner to this area to "melt" the sealer the sealer reset, moisture evaporated and milky look disappeared. At this point all looked good. However a day later I noticed a crack in a section of path which was not where the cuts where made. To me it looks like the concrete was not adequately compacted in this area and its not so much a crack as a "gap" in the concrete. It is not something you really notice without a close inspection but to me it looks like that area needed more moisture and/or better compaction. Given that I can't notice it without looking for it my main concern would be if it was to worsen over time. Also today it rained (5 days after pour) and there are hundreds of tiny pools of water on the surface. Initially I thought the dog had run on it with muddy feet but then realised it was hundreds of tiny pools of water. These pools are so shallow that when you stand on the concrete you cannot notice those directly beneath you but as you raise your gaze to look down the drive the angle allows you to start to see them about 2 to 3 meters from where you are standing stretching over the whole job. So they are shallow, perhaps a few mm and small, say anything from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Is this normal with aggregate or does it indicate a substandard job or substandard concrete. My guess would be uneven water pressure in washing off the cement to expose the aggregate - the concreter had his own pump and water cube setup rather than using a pressure washer - it seemed a much more expensive setup than a simple pressure washer but perhaps had a narrower spray pattern and so gouged out more cement where the stream made contact than where it did not. The job looks great dry but wet it looks like it has a case of chicken pox with all these small pools of water and I had not noticed this effect on other exposed aggregate. My question is is the hairline crack a big problem and are tiny pools of water to be expected, and also are either of these issues likely to worsen over time. Also how long should we wait till we drive vehicles over the driveway? I was thinking a week from the pour. NB Concrete was 25mpa. Oh and that one crack is in the path not the driveway so won't be subject to heavy vehicle traffic. I suppose the pooling might also be because the sealant is freshly applied and is repelling the water so tiny amounts sit on the surface and this may disappear as the sealant ages allowing the water to penetrate into the concrete? Is this logical? Re: Question about exposed aggregate driveway 2Feb 18, 2015 9:35 am Can you post some photos? Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Last year I had a gas leak at my house. 3 days later, I have about 1 sqm of my exposed aggregate paving broken up. I am not sure how to go about getting it repaired… 0 10415 After some ideas on making our patio kid friendly . Currently we have exposed aggregate. The patio faces west and is always in sun even though it has a shade directly… 0 3644 2 833 |