No such machine was used... They poured the entire garage at once which lasted from 8:15am-8:45am.. From that point until 1pm they were working the concrete by hand.. This is a quick shot of what they were doing: I just really can't believe that this company would allow this.. They are a higher end company and they do most of their work in high end neighborhoods.. I am actually getting a little concerned that its not even.. I went over while at work to take a quick pic but got their late and it was already dark.. I left the headlights of my car on and took a pic.. I can't tell if its the lighting combined with the trowel marks, but it almost looks like ripples.. This is what it looks like: At this point I don't know what to even do.. I feel like every time they get to the next stage I have to question what my options are because it wasn't done right.. I know I am not building a mansion or some multi million dollar home, but I just feel like I probably could have done a better job myself and I have absolutely no experience.. I know it's easy to second guess people, but I feel like this is not an acceptable finish.. I talked with a few people and they said there is no real way to "repair" this.. They would have to hammer it all out and pour again.. I had contemplated doing an epoxy finish but I don't even know if that would solve this.. Im sure it would help the finish look, but if this floor is in fact not level I am not sure an epoxy coating will level it out.. I am nervous to even go down to the basement.. I only saw a small portion from the upper level (no stairs installed yet) and everything was covered.. I can only assume the basement slab looks the same..

The moisture problem on the roof deck may occur when the deck is colder than the air rising into the attic. How is a whole house dehumidifier going to solve this problem in the winter. During the winter houses in SE PA are struggling to raise their humidity level to 40%. Many are running humidifiers in the winter which will further aggravate the problem. I have looked at a lot of new houses in the NJ and PA area. I can't recall any having HVAC equipment in the attic. I have never seen a house with a spray foamed roof deck either. I am skeptical you will find an insulation contractor who has experience doing this in a new residential home. If you do find one, you know the questions to ask. See if his answers make sense.

Gotcha thanks, will try to tweak to free link. I think well built vented attics are safer, but hard with the popular looks of cathedral ceilings and steeper interior vaults. So most of the higher end market you see uses vented attics? I think ours is almost completely unvented now, even without HVAC up there. Almost all these high end homes are installing substantially less roof insulation than what codes are supposed to require. Us southerners use the excuse of HVAC equipment for spray foamed attics but good design can keep forced-air systems completely out of the attic when it's a goal. Of course putting HVAC into dreaded vented crawlspaces might be worse. The old-timers may have gotten the vented attic thing mostly right, but not vented crawlspaces, a terrible building strategy for most humid climates. qbryant, nice panels. We've installed a lot of SIPS, so good so far. The main concern is to seal the seams as best as possible. Some may point out that you don't get the overlapping effect of multiple foam layers with nailbase but I like it's reduced labor potential. As long as you don't have moist air flowing through the gaps, the thermal efficiency hits you might end up with, are balanced by the additional insulation under your roof sheathing, should you go that route which some seem to consider risky.

Nothing about your home should keep you up at night. If concerns about using a particular construction material or method will do that, then don't use it. However, if we never applied any new materials, systems, and construction methods in residential construction, our homes would be no more comfortable and perform no better than homes built in the 1700's. We wouldn't have, for example, air conditioning, which makes living here in coastal Virginia much more pleasant in summer and which keeps certain contractors in the Houston area employed. The energy crisis in the 1970s gave rise to the use of house wraps and vapor barriers which caused plenty of unintended consequences. That doesn't make polyethylene or house wrap bad materials, it's simply that the building science wasn't established at the time. We continue to rely on the researchers to thoroughly test new ideas (and real world testing is better than computer simulations) to minimize, if not preclude, unintended consequences. When considering the use of the latest and greatest materials homeowners would be well advised to remember the old adage: The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!