Imprinted concrete - Grandad has been ripped off

[diyenthusiat]

Hi everyone.

 

I'm hoping someone can help me.  Due to work I've been abroad for 6 months.  I returned to find that my grandad has very recently had our home driveway done with imprinted concrete by some so-called driveway experts whom knocked on his door to offer their services. 

 

But within a week of the driveway being laid, the most of the colour has washed away.  I've tried to contact the guys that laid the concrete, but they've turned their phones off. Grandad had got it done with his hard earned savings and paid thousands for the job.   

 

He thought it would be a nice surprise for me when I get back we've got a number of vehicles that we use.  He's in bits as he knows he's been scammed.  We've been in touch with the law and that's being dealt with separately to see if we can get anything back.

 

But I want to specifically focus on what I can do to get the driveway to look better without costing the earth.  Currently it looks like absolute crap (sorry for my language).

 

The attached photos were taken by a family member about 5 days after the concrete was laid.  The shiny part is where they used the sealer.

 

I tried use some sealer which the cowboys had left behind on small patch of the concrete to see if the colours would come back, but sadly this has not made any difference.

 

As of today (around 2.5-3 weeks later), a considerable amount of colour has washed out and the bare concrete can be seen. 

 

I would be most grateful if any kind soul can help advise if there is anyway of fixing this.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

Well, let’s start off by saying I’ve seen MUCH worse, but it’s not the prettiest I’m afraid.

 

If it’s solid / sound, and doesn’t show signs of cracking (after a year) then you could get it covered with a resin top layer maybe. 
 

To be honest, you’d be far better off asking the folk on

 

https://www.pavingexpert.com

 

Don’t get too down with this as it’s not life or death, and hopefully you can find these guys trading details and approach them via the small claims mechanism. 

[saveasteading]

What a shame.  Not to diminish the issue, but I suspect most people won't notice any problems, and it works physically in providing a hard clean surface.

What are the approximate sizes, in width and length?

 

 

[nod]

Not after a few weeks But imprinted concrete will need Recoloring and sealing every couple of years 

So there are plenty of companies that do this 

I suspect they haven’t sealed it 

Doest help you find them 

But gives you an option 

[Onoff]

I did my own imprinted concrete in 1991. A strong concrete mix with lashings of waterproof PVA at 5:1 and red dye. I imprinted it with a pattern made from an old wardrobe that had some tacked on batten for pseudo mortar joints. Once imprinted a dipped a 1/2" brush in black dye and went along the joints. I then dipped a broom head in the black dye and spattered it over the lot. I never sealed it.

It still looks like new now:

 

 

[Onoff]

Me and my then neighbour:

 

 

 

[Mr Punter]

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

Me and my then neighbour:

 

 

 

 

Did the neighbour get trapped under the soon-to-be falling mixer?  34 years on and the paving still looks good.  The pictures are a tad homoerotic, but that was standard back then.

[diyenthusiat]

Thanks so much for your replies everyone.  It's really appreciated.  I want to add that the only proof that my grandad got the driveway done from them are messages on whatsapp.  A partial car number plate.  Possibly which town they live in.  I also have got a receipt from the concrete company that delivered the ready-mix concrete to my grandad's home.  It's got the main guy's full name and company name.  The company is not limited though.

 

The concrete they used is called "P 300 AEA Fibres CEM II/A-L S3 10mm" 

Here's some of the items that they left behind:

 

 

 

 

@Nickfromwales Thanks for your kind words of reassurance and the helpful link which I will certainly look into.  I'm not sure if this means anything to you or anyone else, but they used ready-mixed concrete, bought from Breedon and gave my grandad the following name and details of concrete: "P 300 AEA Fibres CEM II/A-L S3 10mm". 

 

@saveasteading The size is approx 8m by 8m.  The concrete is supposed to be around 4 inches thick at most.

 

@nod I did do the sealing on the parts that were showing the bare concrete colour, but it still seems to be washing away. When it comes to recolouring, is it possible that I can do it myself to save money?

 

@Onoff Looks really good. I'd be a very happy person if our concrete lasted this long.  My driveway is too big for someone like me to do it on my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nod]

Definitely can do it yourself 

 

Ive an apprentice that started out paving and is always moaning that coloring and sealing was his job 

Paying him next to nothing and charging 200 quid for each one 

[Nickfromwales]

54 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

The pictures are a tad homoerotic

C'mon, we've seen better legs hanging out of a nest  

[Nickfromwales]

28 minutes ago, diyenthusiat said:

The company is not limited though

Which is worse for the chap as you can go for a charging order for any of his personal property / home if successful with a claim.

[Nickfromwales]

24 minutes ago, nod said:

Paying him next to nothing and charging 200 quid for each one 

My company has an opening for this guy, he can start Monday  

[nod]

2 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

My company has an opening for this guy, he can start Monday  

He hated it 

[Nickfromwales]

1 minute ago, nod said:

He hated it 

Ask me how many old radiator valves I have replaced lol. We all gotta start somewhere.  

[diyenthusiat]

@nod Would you be so kind as to explain what items I need and how this can be done? Also any idea on how long would the colour and the seal last?  I just want to make my grandad feel good as he's now lost trust in people 😞

 

@Nickfromwales I didn't realise, but our neighbour took photo and videos of the cowboys working on the driveway, so not sure how useful that is if I'm not 100% sure where they live.  Any ideas on how I can trace the person using the limited information I have and legally challenge them in a small claims court?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

1 minute ago, diyenthusiat said:

@Nickfromwales I didn't realise, but our neighbour took photo and videos of the cowboys working on the driveway, so not sure how useful that is if I'm not 100% sure where they live.  Any ideas on how I can trace the person using the limited information I have and legally challenge them in a small claims court?

I am no legal eagle, but that sounds like evidence to me. Were they paid in cash or BACS / cheque?

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

 

Did the neighbour get trapped under the soon-to-be falling mixer?  34 years on and the paving still looks good.  The pictures are a tad homoerotic, but that was standard back then.

 

Sadly he died the other year 😢

[diyenthusiat]

4 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

I am no legal eagle, but that sounds like evidence to me. Were they paid in cash or BACS / cheque?

 

I'm afraid he paid them all in cash which he had saved.

 

 

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

6 minutes ago, diyenthusiat said:

Any ideas on how I can trace the person using the limited information I have and legally challenge them in a small claims court?

Citizens Advice Bureau would be your first phone call. Then escalate from there if they say you have a case / opportunity to go after these muppets.

 

If it can be sealed / coloured etc then value your sanity before the pursuit of a long and painful (and possibly fruitless) process. If the prep work was done better than the presentation, then you need to pick your battles, but if the prep was equally shite then the only issue is that the slab may fail and start to break up / otherwise degrade.

 

2 minutes ago, diyenthusiat said:

 

I'm afraid he paid them all in cash which he had saved.

Feck.....

 

How much and how many m2 plz?

[diyenthusiat]

4 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Citizens Advice Bureau would be your first phone call. Then escalate from there if they say you have a case / opportunity to go after these muppets.

 

If it can be sealed / coloured etc then value your sanity before the pursuit of a long and painful (and possibly fruitless) process. If the prep work was done better than the presentation, then you need to pick your battles, but if the prep was equally shite then the only issue is that the slab may fail and start to break up / otherwise degrade.

 

Feck.....

 

How much and how many m2 plz?

 

Thanks, I will take your advice onboard.  I would like to colour and seal it myself, but I don't know what the process is.  Not sure what you mean by prep, but the concrete came ready mixed and was poured onto the clay ground which had some mot type 1 hardcore and that had already been pressed down with a wacker plate.  

 

At first they wanted the money upfront for the concrete, but my grandad said no.  So they said that he could pay the concrete company directly using a credit/debit card under their business as they had a trade account with Breedon.  So he agreed and paid around a grand for it.  It was around 6 cubic metres.  It got delivered the same day the payment was made.

 

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

37 minutes ago, diyenthusiat said:

prep

 

37 minutes ago, diyenthusiat said:

some mot type 1 hardcore and that had already been pressed down with a wacker plate.  

Just how much and how well is the question. At least they did this, as proper shitheads would have just dumped concrete onto whatever was there and run off into the sunset.

 

May be best to just 'polish' what you have as well as you can, but you can gauge what's lost here by the price per m2. No probs if you would prefer not to share that at this time, but you can reach out to reputable companies and see how far apart these are to se if you're way off or way over, as they may have priced it keen for cash and you still then have a hypothetical budget to remedy.

 

Not the best situation, but really not the worst. The old boy could have given them a big cash deposit and never saw them again, for eg. 

[saveasteading]

It's good that the concrete has added fibre. That gives crack resistance. 

8m x 8m. It is just about OK at that without contraction joints.

 

I'd suggest you leave it a month or so before doing any aesthetic remedial or colouring work.

[Nickfromwales]

9 hours ago, saveasteading said:

It's good that the concrete has added fibre. That gives crack resistance. 

8m x 8m. It is just about OK at that without contraction joints.

 

I'd suggest you leave it a month or so before doing any aesthetic remedial or colouring work.

Yup, needs a summer and a winter ideally, to ascertain if it’s going to last the duration.

[Super_Paulie]

18 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

 

Too hot for tops, but the thickest bell bottom jeans. The 80s just crept into the 90s.

[Pocster]

17 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

 

Did the neighbour get trapped under the soon-to-be falling mixer?  34 years on and the paving still looks good.  The pictures are a tad homoerotic, but that was standard back then.

Boys ‘imprinting’ each other ; very homo funky . “ Let’s remove our tops “