My new construction foundation wall is up. There are 2 cold joints that are pretty ugly as well as the honeycombing on the interior side of the front side cold joint. I have no experience with this and just got general info from googling an hour ago and found this forum. How bad does it look structurally? Yes, it’s hard to know for sure from pictures but I want to be firm with my builder if this looks like it warrants a re-do and not a band-aid patching that could lead to issues down the line. In oklahoma by the way, port silt loam soil (not sure if these extra info will help).
Concrete foundation pours typically/usually increase in height 24"-36" inches at a time, in 2 or 3 passes. For a 6’ foot high foundation, the builder takes two or three passed around the diameter of the concrete forms.
Typically/usually, 2 X >< 36" inch passes were made when I worked with builders. During each pass the builder vibrates, rods the concrete, that was me, to have trapped air removed from the viscosity mix. Bubbles pop in a thick watery liquid that rose to the surface during each pass.
The first image appears to be caused by a shift or bump to the form at an intersection as the pour commenced. For the concrete to remain at that slope awaiting the continuation of the pour, the viscosity was great.
Concrete sumps. Ask for sump test results and what PSI was the concrete.
The builder had ample time to enact repairs to the honeycombing and cold joints once the form frames were removed and the concrete was cured.
On 1 of ‘my jobs’ I pulled 1 section of framing, plywood, to repair a blowout while the concrete was still green. The other forms remained in place until the prescribed curing time passed. You could barely see the repair.
It is of my opinion only but, I would have the builder repair the defects prior moving forward.
If not. Explain you will retain an expert. All billing forwarded to the builder. The works stops until repairs are done. Use the power of the purse.
Just my opinion.
A cold joint is a plane of weakness in concrete caused by an interruption or delay in the concreting operations. It occurs when the first batch of concrete has begun to set before the next batch is added, so that the two batches do not intermix. Sometimes cold joints occur because of emergency interruptions and delays and sometimes because of the work stoppage at the end of the day, but they can 'also occur from poor consolidation. To prevent cold joints in walls, beams and other structural components it is necessary to place concrete in layers about 18 inches deep and intermix each layer with the previous one by using a vibrator. Placement of concrete should begin in the corners and work toward the center.
A cold joint, or construction joint, basically means that you have placed concrete against concrete that has already set up.
This is just plain poor workmanship and creates a weakness in that location.
If there is horizontal reinforcement going through, the weakness may be negligible.
If not, it might affect the control of the brick work latter on.
If the pour was delayed long enough to cause that type of cold joint, a construction joint should have been made to better control the joint latter in the foundation and the brick work above.
My opinion, the location and the shape of the cold joint might cause a problem in the brick above, assuming it is a brick veneer.
If there was an Architect involved in this, I would suggest to have him look at it and confer with his engineer.
rcloyd
(Russell Cloyd, KY LIC #166164, IN LIC#HI02300068)
4
That is a significant cold joint and could weaken the wall substantially and allow for water intrusion under the house. I would get a professional structural engineer to evaluate.
