Any concrete experts? Come inside

The longer you wait to chop that out the harder it will be. 

From the pallets in the first pic, I'm going to guess it was hand mixed. So, not likely it had additives or the right water ratio.

If they bail completely, you might be able to grind it flat-ish with a rented wet grinder and diamond abrasives, if it's thick enough and strong enough. It would definitely need a good sealer after.

Wow. That was way worse than I was expecting. You could take someone with no idea how to do concrete and they would do a better job than that. Heck, I recently did a 1' x 30' strip for a rolling gate. My 11 year old son wanted to help. He did a lot of the finishing on many of the sections. He got pretty good at it, and it turned out great. Not even comparable to that crap. I wouldn't pay a dime for that, and they should pay the cost to demo it. 
 

I had a similar experience with a fence. My wife talked to a crew that was doing a house down the street, and one of the guys gave her a good price. He must have been the guy that did the coffee runs, because he had no clue how to build a fence. A random guy off the street would have done better. I had to fire him, undo his work, and do it myself. 

How wide are those form boards?

Looks like the forms are about 2" above the surface of the concrete. If those are 1x4s, then your slab is only 2" thick.   
 

Sidewalks are thicker. 

I don't think it would be much of a stretch to approach this as a crime under Florida law. It has provisions for contractors, or those posing as contractors, to be prosecuted for this kind of scam...

775.084. (c) If the funds, assets, or property involved in the exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult is valued at less than $10,000, the offender commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s.

Edit- I just realized Dr. Boost hired them, not his Mom. 

Holy cow. I've done concrete work once with in my backyard with a pro helping me every step of the way. I don't think the people that did this have even seen a video of a pro doing real work. 

Yep, that looks awful and needs to be ripped out. I thought that sidewalks should be 4" think, garage floors 5" if just parking a car or pickup on or 6",  driveways 6", and street aprons 8".

hpdconsult.com: Cutting Control Joints in Concrete After 24 Hours

"Control joints should be cut within the first 6 to 18 hours after pouring concrete, but never delayed beyond 24 hours."

Something I hadn't mentions, and this does muddy things up a bit. He's a friend of the family. Close friend.

Now, that doesn't change things in my mind, just makes the delivery and reception of my message a bit sticky. The job is not up to my standards, or the standards we discussed. I do not believe the job can be salvaged without a complete demo. I am going a different direction with the contractor.  

Due to the relationship, I'll eat the grand I've paid him and chalk it up to a stupid mistakes on my part (I didn't verify license, didn't inspect the job before the pour). But looking at the crapsmanship before me, I don't give them the opportunity to make it right. I have to talk to him at about 5 this evening. Not looking forward to it. I'm sure he'll argue that he's not done yet and/or he can make it right. That's why I sought some input from experts here. It's just some professional ammo for the opinion I had already formed.

Thanks all, for chiming in. If there are any interesting developments, I'll update for sure.

What really pissed me off is that I have going on right now. I'm dealing with my mom with Alzheimer, my two mentally disabled sisters (all three in assisted living, everything managed by my wife and I) and my health issues (in the last 5 months I've been hospitalized 5 times, pneumonia twice, two collapsed lungs, two surgeries, and a partridge in a pear tree) I just want to hire someone for a relitively simple job and just have it done. Now I have to add this crap to my plate.

If he thinks he can make it right just give him a link to this thread 

Whooooof.

I'm a GC. I'm used to clients demanding million-dollar jobs on a $4k budget and came in expecting to see some minor variances that could easily be addressed. That's not the case here, and this does not look salvageable: It was doomed from the start. It's probably a good thing they didn't add curing accelerants. This isn't like they just added a skim coat to the expansion joints, either. 

Ouch. Check with your state's ROC to see if there's action you need to take. 

There is one possibility of saving it...

IF the forms are 1x6, then the slab is 4".  That's sufficient for a residential driveway. 
 

and IF he has access to a commercial quality walk-behind floor grinder, AND knows how to use it, AND is willing to commit a full 2 data grinding it, then he MAY be able to get it flat enough to then use CoolSeal to finish it.  (That's a textured surface finish used on pool patios).

That's a LOT of ifs. I have ZERO confidence in his ability.
 

Might be worth the trouble for a friend. 
 

But if it's only 2" thick, there is NO saving it. 

In reply to DrBoost :

BTW...

Its not YOUR standards. That job doesn't meet ANYONE'S standards. Not even for a dog run. 
 

He should be ashamed. 

No saving it. In addition to the horrendous finish, who knows how deep it is? If there's any rebar in it (probably not), and if there's any  large rocks which could act as stress risers and start cracks. Sorry bud. 

Side note for informational purposes about expansion joints:

A sawcut after the pour is not an expansion joint. It's a control joint. They serve different purposes. 
 

An expansion joint is installed when there is a large expanse of concrete. Concrete will expand and contract as the temperature changes.  The expansion joint allows the concrete to expand without damaging the slab or wall next to it (or itself).  

A control joint (hopefully) controls where the concrete will crack.  Concrete cracks when drying. The control joint let's it crack in a nice straight line that is not aesthetically offensive. 

In reply to SV reX :

Is there a form of Cooldeck that will a) not look hideous with tire marks (because it does scuff), and b) hold up to the spot load requirements of a driveway with only a thin topcoat? 

I've not seen Cooldeck or similar products used on driveways, to be honest. 

In reply to brandonsmash :

I wouldn't do it. Like I said earlier, that slab is a total loss. 
 

I was just trying to offer one long shot possible solution to discuss (since he's a friend)

That's just horrible.   If you cannot afford to get it chipped out and hire a professional to re-do it right away you can be fairly certain its going to crack in multiple places pretty quickly.

Whomever did that was a rank amateur.  Good luck collecting from them if you had no contract.   At a minimum the contractor needs insurance, an experienced crew that someone you know used before,  and pre-pour inspection to verify its  all formed properly with the "chairs" in place to hold the reinforcement steel out of the dirt.

 It needs proper forming, proper highway mesh, proper expansion joint material, an actual concrete truck with quality controlled concrete, and a crew that knows how to work concrete. 

 Sure, all this costs more, but the driveway will last for a really long time.

Also on the "do it yourself" plan.  This much concrete takes a lot strength to work and screed properly.   I used to inspect the concrete pours for home slabs and one time the developer hired an amateur crew who "needed the work".   Fortunately we had two pours going on that day because we had to fire that amateur crew and bring over the other one to finish the job.   The amateurs could barely move when they left and their hands were a mess of blisters and torn skin.

I just Googled "horrible job pouring concrete" and this was one of the first images:

Honestly, not being an expert, this looks comparable to me.

I totally appreciate how you're not looking forward to the unpleasant conversation and how it's a family friend and how you've got so much else on your plate.

My friend, the job is beyond ridiculous, maybe you can have some industry standards about thickness, finish, etc. to take the subjectivity and emotion out of the conversation.

I really feel for you...maybe offer to pay him half of what was originally agreed in exchange for him removing the mess so you can get someone competent to do the job?  

Man, the additional context makes it tougher for sure. Sorry to hear that. And sorry to hear about the timing of it all. 

Well, it's done, it will hold up a car, and it won't fall apart anytime soon. There really isn't a giant rush anymore other that you'll have to look at it every time you visit. Even after it cures, it probably wouldn't be the hardest thing to sledge hammer out.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

If that slab is 2" it probably won't hold a car. 

In reply to SV reX :

Well, true that. If you keep it, don't drive on it for 7 days (normal), maybe 14 or 28 days.

ConcreteNetwork.com: How Long to Wait Before Driving on New Concrete

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Longer. 
 

7 days will be about 65% of its cured strength. 

This is what happens when you don't have enough expansion joint. The city had this sidewalk installed and there is an expansion joint about every 8 sidewalk sections. Last July when it got hot and the sun was beating down on the sidewalk it buckled like this. Remarkably it hasn't cracked yet. 
 

RX Reven' said:

I just Googled "horrible job pouring concrete" and this was one of the first images:

Honestly, not being an expert, this looks comparable to me.

I totally appreciate how you're not looking forward to the unpleasant conversation and how it's a family friend and how you've got so much else on your plate.

My friend, the job is beyond ridiculous, maybe you can have some industry standards about thickness, finish, etc. to take the subjectivity and emotion out of the conversation.

I really feel for you...maybe offer to pay him half of what was originally agreed in exchange for him removing the mess so you can get someone competent to do the job?  

 

Unfortunately that's not comparable.  It's much better. It's got control joints and an expansion joint, it matches the slab next to it (which means it's likely 4" thick), it's reasonably flat, doesn't appear to have had excess water added, and had the edges tooled.  It's not pretty, but it's flaws are cosmetic not structural. A good finisher might even be able to top it and make it look ok.
 

Sadly not the case with this one.