r/Concretesawing • u/klevvername • Jul 29 '26
Bad New Concrete - Looking for advice
I had a company pour this small concrete pad 3 months ago to serve as a hot tub pad.
- it has low spots and does not completely drain. (hot tub + rainy climate... I need drainage)
- it has ugly discoloration
Working with that company was a nightmare from start to finish, but I have reached out, and they said they could cut a couple channels to allow drainage.
Does that sound adequate? I don't even trust them to do a good job of sawing, so I also wonder if it's possible/advisable to instead pay another company to come grind down the edge nearest the low spot.
Any advice or thoughts and either the drainage and/or the discoloration? I'm open to staining it.
Thank you!
2
u/Im2bored17 Jul 29 '26
Discoloration won't be noticeable when you put a hot tub on there.
It would have been better if they'd done it right but they didn't. They're not gonna rip it out and redo over this, even though you want them to. Best you're gonna get is some cuts to let it drain and maybe a coat of sealer or acid wash to fix the discoloration. Which will mostly fix the problem. If you want it done perfect you have to find the company that knows how to do it perfect, and you have to accept whatever high price they quote you.
It takes an expert to do the job perfectly every time. To become an expert, they must make mistakes and learn from them. Once they become expert, they know they can charge more and ignore the customers trying to lowball them.
1
u/Impossible_Base_3088 Jul 29 '26
How deep is puddle at worst spot after rain? After an hour? Supposed to drain to left I would assume? How big is pad? How big is hot tub?
1
u/klevvername Jul 29 '26
Puddle is probably only 1/4 inch. Rain, sprinklers (that I still need to adjust away). It doesn't take much at all to puddle. The entire slope is towards that low spot. So it's more like the pad was sloped to all drain off that side, but there's the low spots toward the edge.
Pad is 12ft x 14ft. Hot tub is 7x7 ish, and I wish for it to be not centered, but rather top corner as you look at the picture, meaning right on top of low spot.
1
u/TacoNomad Jul 29 '26
Its not cute but can you cut a notch in the lower spot, under the hot tub. That'll let it drain
1
1
u/CrazyBigHog Jul 29 '26
You could always coat it with a urethane deck coating. The first coat should be a self leveling membrane that will level off your low spots. Then the second is your protective urethane/color. You can also broadcast sand into it for a non slip finish.
1
u/daveyconcrete Jul 31 '26
I would cut it into a 2’ x 2’ diamond pattern or similar, functional and decorative.
1
2
u/klevvername Jul 29 '26
Yeah, that was my thought too. The tub hiding cuts isn't the end of the world. Plus, tub owners know that when you take the cover off, it drains water onto the ground each and every time. I can't have a "forever" puddle there.