I had Foothills Concrete pour my patio and walkway. It was a terrible job. There was crazing and chipping of the concrete. So whenever it rains or the hose wets the patio, the crazing occurs - fine hairlike crack over the concrete. They don't go away completely for at least 3 days. I emailed the owner about it on June 21/12 and never heard back. I phoned the first week of July and talked to the owner. I read about crazing on different web sites and told him what I had read. He said I should be in the construction industry since I know so much about it. Chis said it is caused by drying too quickly and high heat and high humidity. I read the article by ARMCA which says crazing is caused by poor concrete practises; that proper curing practises are not followed. I talked to someone from ARMCA and he said particularly in Calgary where it is windy and dry, there is higher chance of crazing to occur when curing practises are not followed. Armca makes recommendations for proper curing practises and it is up to individual companies as to whether they follow these practises. The owner said he could do a light sandblast. I contacted a concrete restoration company, Concure Restoration, and they strongly advised not to sandblast regular concrete. It will expose different sizes of pebbles and in time they will break away creating an unsitely patioI contacted a concrete restoration company, Concure Restoration, and they strongly advised not to sandblast regular concrete. It will expose different sizes of pebbles and in time they will break away creating an unsitely patio. The owner then said he could stain it. When I asked someone who does concrete staining, He said that the staining, if it is a high quality stain, will last approximately 3 years. The only way to fix the crazing is to replace the concrete which Foothills Concrete will not do.
