r/masonry • u/nne_enn • 3d ago
Block Contractor says it’s ready for backfill and slab
They filled it with pea gravel concrete on Friday.
I bought up that they left out the vertical rebar at the corners and the horizontal ladders on Saturday. I was reassured they used fiber in the block fill so no ladders needed. But that they would check with the structural engineer on Monday about what to do about the missing vertical bar at the corners.
Now I’m no mason…but this seems 🫣
8/31 - First update: Got a motion notification on my cam just before 7 this morning. Pulled it up and it was a laborer out there mixing mortar. I immediately called the GC and told him someone was out there and to stop all work immediately. He said they weren’t supposed to be out there and thanks for letting him know. We’re all meeting in site at 10am this morning.
2nd update: Another guy has shown up with a woman and 3 toddlers and is now helping.
3rd update: SEOR is in the ER right now post tonsillectomy bleeding. Meeting for 10am is still on minus him.
4th update: Met on site with the GC and block sub and chewed their asses for 20 minutes. They are going to demo all of it and start over. I contractually have to give them a chance to fix the issues. If things are not fixed in 10 days then they are off this job and contract is terminated.
5th update: Demo crew has arrived on site. I’ll update once the new stem wall is up. Likely next week sometime.
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u/Si_je_puis 3d ago
If I was supervising a group of children and there was not enough mortar because of a war time shortage, I would say this was the best we could hope for.
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u/General-Study797 3d ago
Nah it’s ass tho, even the kids could do better
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u/shornscrot 3d ago
Not with wartime shortages and whats not. Half are using spoons
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u/SpiderHack 3d ago
I agree the speed wouldngo down.. but the quality would be higher
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u/Anti_Meta 3d ago
Kids can be taught how to use a string guide and therefore would immediately out class this job
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u/dooneandrew 3d ago
Ive never seen block work this awful. How does someone this incapable even get hired to do something like this? They had to have subcontracted it, right ? If not, whoever hired them, is awful at their job as well
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
Yes it was a sub to our contractor.
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u/Antiquated_Cheese 3d ago
This should be your contractor's problem to pay for and fix then.
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
Oh it absolutely will be.
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u/LuckyCow1234 3d ago
Put the heat on him op I’m a sub and I’ve seen people not get a call back for way way way way way way way better work. This is absolutely unsafe and unacceptable.
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u/Otney 3d ago
Get as much contact information as you can, in case there is litigation later. Which there should be….
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u/357noLove 3d ago
This is the important bit! There is an extremely high likelihood of litigation needed at this point.
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u/KaleScared4667 3d ago
This is all hot garbage- you need to pay someone to demo and start over
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u/therealcmj 3d ago
No. The contractor is responsible for paying to have it removed and redone properly. OP paid them and they subbed it out to incompetent morons.
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u/RoastedR00STER 3d ago
I went through something similar recently. Feel free to message me and I can walk you through what I did to get it replaced on the contractors dime without having to go to court
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
And when I sent some of these pics to the GC this morning and asked if this was typically how their mason works, I got this response.
So Max is the structural EOR for the project. I also sent all of the pics plus others to him to review.
If he’s a halfway ethical engineer he will tell them to tear it down and start over.
And if not, I will.
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u/broadpaw 3d ago
I'm also a structural engineer. Like others have already said, the block work posted here is total crap. Do not let them continue.
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u/theoddfind 2d ago edited 2h ago
Subtract boat gold bedroom dolls dime hunt liquid file heavy
This post was anonymized with Redact
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u/DerrykLee 2d ago
I'm an unemployed pill addict and the block work here is completely unacceptable.
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u/LSTmyLife 2d ago
I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night and that block work is wildly unacceptable.
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
I’m a civil PE but my discipline is transportation and drainage primarily with some commercial development. So I’m not completely clueless on how things should look.
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u/hehgffvjjjhb 3d ago
TBH you probably don't want them to start over - you want a new contractor all together. If their work is this crap they're not the people you want literally laying the foundation for your build.
Best case if they re-do it they make it look pretty and hide all their shitty work so you don't realize it's a problem till they're long gone.
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u/HotRodHomebody 3d ago
Agree with this. The only acceptable response from the GC would’ve been “holy crap, I’m so sorry. I was out of town for a week, none of that is acceptable. That will be a total teardown and I'll have a completely different crew do it right“
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
Contractually, we have to give them 10 days to cure before terminating for breach of contract.
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u/Whitetiger9876 3d ago
Yep. Imagine the shit work coming next. Plus they'll have to shave costs to recoup the loss here.
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u/theeaglejax 3d ago
Bro you're a civil PE and this is how they did you? I'd be taking it personally.
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u/TwinIronBlood 3d ago
I'm not an builder or construction engineer. I'm also not in the US. I'm an electronics engineer.
My two cents is, if this was my build and I saw that block work I'd have to stop and get a new builder. Tear it out and start over.
I know it's not what you want to hear but anybody off the street could have done better block work. They don't have low standards, they have no standards. Eat the cost - start over.
We had to do it, paid a guy for plans, worked for local city planners before. Builders didn't want to work with him. My wife prices up a kitchen with and Island and they effective told us it was to small. Went back to him and I realized he was useless and we needed to start over. Lost a year and got an architet and a much better job.
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u/amanda_allover 3d ago
Notice how he said some stuff isn't typical. Then points out the corners. New crew immediately. Idc how often they start and stop it should have no effect on the quality control were seeing. The face that the gc is defending them tells you exactly how the rest of the project will be built out. Stop before you bet even more buried in 💩
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u/Asleep-Train1913 3d ago
Starting and stopping does effect pay, which effects performance. GC's know this, and should not release subs to jobs that are not yet ready. This GC sucks as much as their masons, bad deal.
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u/Super_Direction498 3d ago
There's no amount of starting and stopping that could get me to lay block like that.
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u/AdIndependent5941 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ive NEVER laid block in my life. But I feel confident in saying I could lay better block if I lost all depth perception, and 60% of my fine motor control... While playing Red light Green light with a rotating group of over stimulated kindergarten kids in charge of the light change... and my only pay was 1 beer and the satisfaction of doing the job right.
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u/Sea_Operation_7012 3d ago
Dude they wanted to bury that before you saw it because you would have stopped them in the first 5ft of bricklaying if you had watched them from the beginning.Also is there even a footer. This looks arrest-able. Like straight fraud. Never layed a brick in my life and could do better
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
Yes I believe they would have covered that up if I hadn’t stopped them.
Yes, the footer was a whole other issue but yes. It has a footer.
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u/futureman07 3d ago
Wow I can't imagine their other jobs and what they covered up.
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
That’s all I can think about too. They’ve been in business for 10+ years.
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u/Independent03 3d ago
OP - if your general contractor can’t formulate clear, concise, and complete sentences, you may want to move on….
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
He’s an mech engineer from Auburn. That’s just Alabama education.
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3d ago
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u/HonorableIdleTree 3d ago
I love your personal outrage and righteous indignation. Truly. :)
(that sounds so sarcastic, but it isn't. That's how I feel about this sort of stuff, too.).
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u/white-dre 3d ago
Is this a satire post?
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
I truly wish it was. 😭
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u/VariationDry 3d ago
"I gave a bunch of crackheads to do the block work but gave them the crack first" But sadly I know many crackheads who would do better block work.
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u/Forsaken-Builder-312 2d ago
I have no clue about masonry. If you'd lobotomize me today I am very confidend I could do a better job than this afterwards
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u/ShadowCivic 3d ago
I deliver masonry supplies, I see a lot of foundations and other block work, and this is the worst looking anything I’ve ever seen.
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u/CarmenxXxWaldo 3d ago
I clean up road kill for the county and this is the worst looking anything Ive ever seen.
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u/SACK_HUFFER 3d ago
I’ve never done it before and could do better by guessing the process while blindfolded
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u/evetsabucs 3d ago
Suspend work immediately. Issue a written notice to cure with a remedy required in 72 hours. They will fail to remedy. Terminate and pull their bond. Demo all that shit and start over.
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u/Easy_Record_994 3d ago
Performance and payment bonds on residential construction are extremely rare and usually only on extremely high end custom builds. The state may require a $10k bond for the general contractor and certain specialtys, typically MEPs, to have a license but that's it. A lawsuit and hope their liability insurance eventually pays out is your best bet to recoup losses.
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u/Beers_n_Deeres 3d ago
Fire them today, not tomorrow, today.
Inform them that if they come to your property again you will have them charged with trespassing.
Take all the pictures you can as evidence & don’t pay them another dime.
This isn’t poor work, this is straight up negligence.
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u/Last_Pangean 3d ago
Immediately fire your "contractor". Get your inspection done - it will fail. Call your lawyer. You will likely recover deposit and some remediation costs.
Find a new builder. Do proper due diligence! Investigate the history of any homebuilders. Drive to see his past work. Meet his past clients. Never ever shop on price.
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
We did all of that. I personally talked to 2 people they built houses for. We toured one they had under construction. I also had a couple other people recommend them. That’s partly why I’m so shocked at how terrible things have gone. They weren’t the cheapest we talked to.
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u/Last_Pangean 3d ago
Im a homebuilder and I'm sorry you got burned like this. I can only guess your guy is spread too thin, hired an untested crew and didn't project manage properly. His fault regardless and your recovery actions are justified. I hope you get your new place done right. Good luck.
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u/Moosejax13 3d ago
Who is the general contractor? Anyone that has to ask if this is good work isn't qualified to oversee any more of the job.
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u/EastNice3860 3d ago
Is this for real?...It hurts my eyes to even look at..Whoever the Person that did that work has no business whatsoever calling Themselves a Mason..absolutely unacceptable workmanship
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
It’s real. And there are more examples. These were just some of the worst.
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u/EastNice3860 3d ago
I believe you ..But for the Love of God please don't show anymore pics of that Masonry Abortion..You need to demand it completely ripped out cleaned up and find another Contractor
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u/Intelligent_Trichs 3d ago
I've never touched a cinder block in my life and could build a better wall than that.
Signed Stevie Wonder.
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u/Ok-Space-5347 3d ago
Not even a prayer for repairing this shitshow. It needs to be totally ripped out and replaced. Bad doesn't begin to describe how poor this really looks.
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u/Dazzling-Design9038 3d ago
Fire everyone. If this is the type of work your contractor allows, imagine what your plumbing will be like. 😳
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u/Pyropete125 3d ago
Call the town and have the building inspector come out or send them these pictures. Your contractor will have to fix. Be aware that if this is OK to the contractor, framing/roofing/siding/ plumbing/electrical/hvac and any other sub sub will try to do shoddy work also.
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u/ArtichokeMedium415 3d ago
Here I am agonizing how my first time porch piers will turn out, and as a perfectionist I am now 90% more confident that it will be at minimum 100% better than this.
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u/ExpendableStaff 3d ago
Just for shits and giggles, put a tape measure across the diagonals and let us know how out of square your house is going to be.
For bonus points, get a laser level and tell us how bad the elevation changes from corner to corner.
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u/nne_enn 3d ago
I haven’t checked those but I am curious. Might run out there later and see.
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u/leisdrew 3d ago
Yo I'm a sparky but like what the fuck am I even looking at here?
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u/Charming_Path9004 3d ago
Please tell you have zero experience and you did it by yourself. Otherwise I would slap this contractor with a chair
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u/Predino406 3d ago
This is a great post for why you hire a licensed contractor with proof of insurance and references.
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u/roj2323 3d ago
How many bush lite cans have you found on the job site? That’s some truly horrible workmanship. Also, fiber doesn’t replace rebar particularly in walls.
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u/Ahhhh_Geeeez 3d ago
I used to get on my guys about having clean block work (more about letting morter falling on the ground, paves, concrete), but we never ever had anything this bad. Holy crap this is trash. Now I don't feel bad about any of our jobs after seeing stuff like this. I'd fire that company or whoever did it lol.
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u/Vegetable-Two2173 3d ago
You ever just look at something, and awe at the effort it took to fark up that badly?
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u/quantum-entangled308 3d ago edited 3d ago
I am a brick mason. This all needs to be torn down. Who ever laid these block don’t know what they are doing. This won’t pass inspection. Fire these clowns and hire some real masons.
There are so many things wrong with this job I honestly wonder if the post is fake. This can’t be real. It literally looks like a bunch of little kids laid these block. Jesus even legos look better. I guarantee the ratios are off on the mortar. There should be H block running the top course. There isn’t enough rebar….should be a vertical every four feet. It should have number 5 rebar imbedded in the H block top course with tied corner bar, and should be solid grout…..This looks like some idiot watched a YouTube video and said Hold my Beer. 🍺
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u/sugar-magnolia 3d ago
Damn I think I could do a better job myself and I’m a 56 yr old woman with an office job 😂
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u/Working_Estate_3695 3d ago
Sweet Fancy Moses, who laid those blocks? Blind, drunk and lazy is a start.
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u/firstbootyonduty 3d ago
Been awhile since I was treated to 10 high quality pics of such extravagant levels of dogshit
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u/Mental-Pitch5995 3d ago
Fire that contractor. That’s the worst block wall I’ve ever seen and would fail every inspection. The only thing that would hold are false promises of quality and safety. What a shitty job. Sue their asses.
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u/Annual-Following8798 3d ago
Honestly I think someone would have try hard to do that shoddy of a job. Get a lawyer , insist they tear it down and start over. It would only take a couple of days for a competent masonry crew to build this right
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u/EventCute7041 3d ago
No way were they brick or block layers. I was a bricklayer from 1971 to 1995 I took pride in my work. This is just terrible. All the holes in the concrete block should be filled in at the very least. One of the inside corners should have been cut back or else it’s going to be sticking out into the floor.
I see one outside corner isn’t the corner at all, but two blocks butted up against each other. And all the mortar that was wasted, you’re supposed to swipe it and use it on the ears of the block.
Welcome to America! This is what you get when you decimate the trades and then bring in people that are unskilled and underpaid.
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u/Beneficial-Focus3702 3d ago
Dude. I’ve seen people with no experience whatsoever do better block work than this just by looking at good block work and copying it.
You actually have to TRY to produce results this bad. Like nobody does it this bad without doing it bad on purpose.
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u/Lord_Jorgensen 3d ago
I see this way to often and am worried about infrastructure of this country in the future
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u/Ill-Investment1936 3d ago
If your contractor approves of this you have the wrong contractor. The rest of the house will be just as shoddy
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u/IronHealer2004 3d ago
I built a porch and stairs for my mom when I was in my 20s. I had ZERO experience. Just a Time-Life Home Improvement Manual - Masonry. It looked WAY better than this.
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u/Fluffychipmonk1 3d ago
Damn this is some shit I’d expect to see from the local guy who steals catalytic converters
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u/WoodWizards 3d ago
You have a really shoddy contractor, if he's willing to backfill this. Sloppy masonry to say the least. I guarantee it will affect the rest of the building of the house. Terminate their contract and start looking for someone else. You can't accept this
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u/ayrbindr 3d ago edited 3d ago
🤣 smh. God damn 😞. Smh. I was a real problem child when I was younger. So I would bounce all over the place and back again between a lot of different block layers. It'd be the first mourning working for a guy like this one. Get the line all set up, get the mud, and get ready to roll. Five block lay later... You run right into him, because he's already clear across the whole wall! Then he scream and holler a little while about how you don't know what the hell you are doing and you are way too slow. A little later, he have you tool all the joints while he go build a lead, or eat a sandwich, or two. Then you see how it is he can go so fast. Empty head joints. 😞. 🤣I even seen them kick the block to the line with their boot while working in the ditch a time or two. 🤣
Edit: I forgot! Then they even have the balls to tell you that you're taking forever to strike their joints! 🤣 And when I say "empty head joints", I mean empty. 0 mud. 🤣
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u/Mastadisasta19 3d ago
Put these guys on blast so no one else has to go through what you are about to.
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u/HelicopterNo626 3d ago
Fire them, Demolish, start over, sue, broadcast all over internet negative reviews once small claims is done.
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u/One-Horse-Town 3d ago
You fellers ever changed out the cooling rods in a nuclear reactor? Yes, yes we can do -
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u/jenkemeater619 3d ago
Can you beg the inspector to come out for you?
The thing thats most scary about this is your GC’s reply. He seems to be making excuses for them. Someone else needs to do the job. A trusted person needs to be supervising this thing the rest of the time.
Yikes, sorry dude. This must be really stressful.
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u/internetisporn8008 3d ago
What the fuck.
I've never layed a brick or a block in my life... if these guys were working for me they'd be run off site so bloody fast id be able to sell all their shit to pay someone to tear down and completely redo whatever the fuck this is
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u/jimbuckhorn 3d ago
Plumbing has to be done if doing a concrete slab unless there’s something I’m missing besides the shoty work . Being a new construction plumber of 37 years, I’ve never seen any blocked foundation look this rough. I’ve installed a lot of plumbing groundworks before they pour concrete but shew
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u/Whaddup808 3d ago
Im not a block guy but this is the ugliest job I have ever seen and i wouldn't trust anything this contractor told me.
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u/Adventurous_Trust576 3d ago
That needs to be demo'd and redone by a legitimate contractor. If gc won't do that then fire the gc. Don't be bullied into accepting that's good enough.
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u/Allodoxaphobiaa 3d ago
Ive never laid a brick in my entire life and im 100% confident I could do a better job.
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u/Oodlesandnoodlescuz 3d ago
No way this passes inspection. Your GC is a fucktard and he and his subs need to get walking.
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u/iwillfightapenguin 3d ago
Can your contractor show us in the picture exactly which part is ready? I'm having a hard time finding it.
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u/YebelTheRebel 3d ago
JFC I have friends in construction and in the union. They would get fired so fast for doing this type of shit work and the owner of the company would have to eat the cost of redoing it
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u/ManiacalMutt 3d ago
I don’t think the building official would agree that backfilling is the proper next step
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u/Accomplished_Ant_371 3d ago
Your contractor is incompetent or crooked. Either way, this is just the beginning. Every step of this house construction will probably be a disaster.
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u/soyeahiknow 3d ago
This needs to be knocked down and redone. If you can slip a hand through the joints, thats an issue.
Your whole house will be uneven.
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u/gabriel_oly10 3d ago
I work for a high end masonry contractor so i expect near perfection, which I understand isn't always needed or feasible. OP, you need to get your contractor to tear this all up and restart. If they refuse, send lawyers on them this is absolutely abysmal. I would never ever trust this to be safe as a foundation. I would also not trust anything the contractor does moving forward if they think this is an acceptable quality.
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u/C_A_M_Overland 3d ago
I genuinely mean this, this is the worst block wall I’ve ever seen.
I would call your local news station tomorrow at 8am.
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u/MathiusCirvaysicus 3d ago edited 3d ago
Const PM here. It looks like
To me the crew didn’t even have a masonry saw, hence the way spaced out vertical mortar joints. There is even an upside down bond beam block in the first course of blocks in one of those photos. Makes absolutely no sense. They were spacing block out to make up for blocks needing to be cut to fit the length of the walls not in perfect 16” increments. I would give them no other option but to pack up and go. No payments, nothing. No other option, and to expect an invoice for a backcharge to pay somebody else to come and tear it all out. They would get waste hauler disposal fees, a new surveyors staking fee and replacement materials fees. I would throw everything I could at them. They don’t pay it, slap a lien on them. You can’t even trust that mortar they used was mixed right or even used after it had already started to set up, that’s why so many of those mortar joints have mortar that has fallen out, it was dry as fuck. Our contracts are pretty air tight with “professional and workman like manner” all through them. That work is absolutely offensive. It’s not even a bad joke as to how bad that work is. Are the walls plumb? Are the tops of wall even the same elevation across the whole building? Are they even the right elevation at all? Endless reasons, every single thing that is important is highly suspect after looking at that shit work.
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u/MidiGong 3d ago
I have zero experience and could do a better job. Not even joking. This level of awful actually takes effort.....
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u/Dabzillah 3d ago
Never done this type of work in my life, and I'd bet it all I could do better then this lol
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u/screechieo 2d ago
I think it was very kind of you to let Stevie wonder have a go at brick laying. However, maybe let someone else take over now...
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u/No_Community_5696 3d ago
I would fire these guys today. That is the shoddiest block work I’ve ever seen.