Sub-standard concrete on lanai

[Cloud Nine]

We are having problems with the concrete on our lanai popping up little pieces and leaving small chunks and open areas in various spots on our lanai. Our home was built in May 2011 but only purchased in December 2012.

Has anyone else had this peculiar problem and how did you correct it ? Any advice, suggestions etc. would be greatly appreciated . Thanks !

[Bogie Shooter]

Call Home Warranty.

[jblum315]

Your warranty is one year from the time you bought the house. Call Home Warranty.

[JB in TV]

We have a crack the entire length of the lanai, and warranty says it isn't large enough to fix! Neighbors have painted theirs, but we can't even consider that at this point, why paint it with a crack down the middle. It looks ugly. It is embarrassing when we have people over. Our year is up next month.

[billethkid]

We have a crack the entire length of the lanai, and warranty says it isn't large enough to fix! Neighbors have painted theirs, but we can't even consider that at this point, why paint it with a crack down the middle. It looks ugly. It is embarrassing when we have people over. Our year is up next month.

tell warranty that someone tripped on the crack and they want to know who to contact....THAT will get their attention......i know I know...it is a stretch but ya need to get their attention.

btk

[rubicon]

We have a crack the entire length of the lanai, and warranty says it isn't large enough to fix! Neighbors have painted theirs, but we can't even consider that at this point, why paint it with a crack down the middle. It looks ugly. It is embarrassing when we have people over. Our year is up next month.

JB without knowing how wide a crack it is difficult to assess. Is it a hairline crack? Will it widen? I would suggest that you inform the warranty department that you are going to hire an expert. If the expert agrees it is a problem then you may want to file a small claim for the amount to repair and all expenses relating to this claim. You will need to secure a copy of the warranty agreement. Tell the warranty department if you are forced to file a small claim then you are going to ask the court that the warranty department provide at minimum a 10 year history of all warranty claims applying to concrete defects or claims by residents

[Bogie Shooter]

JB without knowing how wide a crack it is difficult to assess. Is it a hairline crack? Will it widen? I would suggest that you inform the warranty department that you are going to hire an expert. If the expert agrees it is a problem then you may want to file a small claim for the amount to repair and all expenses relating to this claim. You will need to secure a copy of the warranty agreement. Tell the warranty department if you are forced to file a small claim then you are going to ask the court that the warranty department provide at minimum a 10 year history of all warranty claims applying to concrete defects or claims by residents

Wouldn't you do this after the Warranty Department said NO?
Seems to me this would be approaching the issue with vinegar and not sugar.
Isn't the only guarantee you get with concrete is that it will crack?

[graciegirl]

The warranty department was more than accommodating to us on every issue. If you don't like what the contractor said, call the warranty department again. The contractors NEED to keep the builder happy.

You CAN catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Don't attack the girls at warranty. They have the power to get things done.

I think they are very helpful.

Another job I wouldn't want after reading some of the rants on this forum.

[Cloud Nine]

Home warranty has been notified and we are in the waiting stage . The real purpose of my question is to see if anyone else experienced this problem. What did they use to fix the flooring.
Please don't turn this post into a ranting issue ..... I just want to know what kind of repair can be done to the floor. We have never ranted or been anything but courteous to Home warranty.

[JB in TV]

Cloud Nine, I'm sorry I stepped into your thread. I understand your issue, and you are not ranting. Nor was it my intention to do so. My intent was to add perhaps another case of "how do we fix this?" to yours.

Have you considered asking them do do a topping or textured coating?

For what it's worth, T&D concrete, who apparently did our lanai, has been out to look at our crack twice, and has said they will stand behind it. But even though it runs the entire length of the lanai, and is quite visible, it isn't a "nickle's width wide", so they can't do anything about it.

Others..I have been very pleasant with both the warranty folks and T&D Concrete, and they have been pleasant with me. My poorly worded post (which didn't properly convey my feelings) was intended to be in the same vein as Cloud Nine's, what can be done to fix the issue?

[Cloud Nine]

Thanks JB ....You are exactly what I was asking for ....just someone else's experience with lanai popping or cracking and how they fixed it.

There are many times threads are taken in the wrong direction and in no way reflect the OP's original question.

[swimdawg]

I have friends who have a new-build home in Sanibel and they have experienced the same exact problem with their concrete. They have contacted Home Warranty and it will be totally taken care of.....but it is a huge inconvenience for the homeowners.

[CFrance]

But what exactly does "taken care of" mean? We had several huge cracks in our lanai and called warranty. They sent T&D out, and they said they would do nothing except for putting a layer of "painted something" on if we would pay a certain amount, which would have been $200.

We dithered, and finally declined, and had the lanai tiled with a textured Spanish red tile, and we are so glad. It looks fabulous, isn't slippery, and voila, cracks gone.

When we had the living and dining rooms tiled and they pulled up the carpet, we saw that there were cracks in the concrete that we never would have known about. Apparently all cracks were from settling. The tiler filled them. All is well.

It cost a bit more for the lanai, but the esthetics are well worth it.

[swimdawg]

But what exactly does "taken care of" mean?

All I know is what the homeowners told me that Home Warranty told them. H.W. told them it would be totally taken care of. The inferior concrete will be taken out and new concrete will be put in to replace it. You can imagine that it will not be a piece of cake!

I have ceramic tile in my enclosed lanai and I love it. I recommended it to them but they are going one step at a time and will wait until Home Warranty finishes replacing the concrete before they do anything else.

[Cloud Nine]

Thank You .....these are the type of answers I am seeking :-) Hopefully, there will be more suggestions of what can be done .

[CFrance]

All I know is what the homeowners told me that Home Warranty told them. H.W. told them it would be totally taken care of. The inferior concrete will be taken out and new concrete will be put in to replace it. You can imagine that it will not be a piece of cake!

I have ceramic tile in my enclosed lanai and I love it. I recommended it to them but they are going one step at a time and will wait until Home Warranty --finishes replacing the concrete before they do anything else.

Wow, I am impressed. Our cracks were huge, and they said no way would they replace the lanai. Think of the work--tearing down the screens, ripping out the concrete, what do do with the post walls holding up the roof? I'd love to know what finally is done about the homeowners' situation.

[graciegirl]

Home warranty has been notified and we are in the waiting stage . The real purpose of my question is to see if anyone else experienced this problem. What did they use to fix the flooring.
Please don't turn this post into a ranting issue ..... I just want to know what kind of repair can be done to the floor. We have never ranted or been anything but courteous to Home warranty.

Please let me explain. I didn't think you were ranting. The rants have been on other subjects that were very unrealistic. Your problem is very realistic. I just wanted you to know that we had a good experience.

[mixsonci]

But what exactly does "taken care of" mean? We had several huge cracks in our lanai and called warranty. They sent T&D out, and they said they would do nothing except for putting a layer of "painted something" on if we would pay a certain amount, which would have been $200.

We dithered, and finally declined, and had the lanai tiled with a textured Spanish red tile, and we are so glad. It looks fabulous, isn't slippery, and voila, cracks gone.

When we had the living and dining rooms tiled and they pulled up the carpet, we saw that there were cracks in the concrete that we never would have known about. Apparently all cracks were from settling. The tiler filled them. All is well.

It cost a bit more for the lanai, but the esthetics are well worth it.

I like the idea of the Spanish Red tile or even the Ceramic mentioned in another post, but one question, if you just tile over the concrete, won't it just crack anyway and maybe lift or loosen the tile?

[senior citizen]

...............

[jblum315]

Chattahoochee river rock was my solution for the lanai. It's natural, beautiful, not slippery, stays cool underfoot and requires minimum upkeep.

[senior citizen]

..........

[graciegirl]

Here is a prior thread about concrete.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/concrete-work-villages-8783/

[senior citizen]

.................

[Cloud Nine]

Are there any Village companies that install Riverrock and are we talking a lot of $$$$ per square footage ?

So far, I've gathered the lanai could be painted, tiled, river rocked or completely removed and redone. I am also wondering if Home warranty pays for everything or the homeowner must pony up some cash. AS I have originally posted,we are still in the early stages of trying to rectify this situation.

Continued thanks for the contributions ! :)

I will report back with the resolution whenever that occurs.

[asianthree]

Riverrock $4.00 sq foot and worth every penny

[CFrance]

I like the idea of the Spanish Red tile or even the Ceramic mentioned in another post, but one question, if you just tile over the concrete, won't it just crack anyway and maybe lift or loosen the tile?

Our tile installer was familiar with the problem, and he had a fix for the cracks. So far, everything has held up very well. It's been over a year.

[sailor47]

We did not have a crack in the concrete but we did add a birdcage with an additional concrete deck and opened up one end of the original lanai into the new bird cage. Of course this left an exposed joint between the new and old concrete.

I like the river rock but I was always afraid the concrete under it would eventually crack and crack the river rock surface. Same for tile. Really don't like paint which shows ever crack.

Our solution was to use thin pavers. Pavers are set loose so they float on the existing concrete surface. You could have a 1/4" crack under the pavers and never see the crack. The pavers are laid with the perimeter pavers set in a concrete adhesive the center pavers a loose, then the surface is covered in sand which is swept into the joints locking up the pavers for no movement at all. The surface is swept clean then sealed which keeps the sand in place and protects the pavers from stains.

Our area is an outdoor area and the paver give it a nice outdoors feel but is still very neat.

Just another solution you might want to consider. It is a permanent fix for the inevitable concrete crack.

[Cloud Nine]

Not to belabor my issue, but we really don't have cracks ... We have pops which are tiny little pieces of concrete that have popped out of place leaving little holes about the size of a dime to a quarter all over the lanai.

Would any of the previously mentioned solutions work in this situation ? Has anyone else experienced these little pops all over ? We live south of 466A in Sanibel . I'm thinking it may be a problem with the newer homes ??? Would love to hear from another person who had this happen to them.

Again, much thanks to those who have contributed to this thread to help :)

[JC and John]

Not to belabor my issue, but we really don't have cracks ... We have pops which are tiny little pieces of concrete that have popped out of place leaving little holes about the size of a dime to a quarter all over the lanai.

Would any of the previously mentioned solutions work in this situation ? Has anyone else experienced these little pops all over ? We live south of 466A in Sanibel . I'm thinking it may be a problem with the newer homes ??? Would love to hear from another person who had this happen to them.

Again, much thanks to those who have contributed to this thread to help :)

2 of my neighbors that I know of here in Sanibel had the pops you describe. Both have large lanais. One neighbor,under home warranty had the concrete removed and replaced. The second neighbor through warranty has opted to have tile installed over the existing concrete and will receive a check for the work to be done. The concrete contractors are well aware of this problem, which is believed to be a faulty shipment of rock used to make the concrete. They say there are lots of folks in Gilchrist who have this problem. Our home was built in Feb./March 2012 and so far no problems with the lanai or birdcage. We had our lanai and birdcage done with a very nice epoxy coat while under construction. Hope this helps and good luck.