I just poured the walls for my basement and I made two pretty significant mistake during the process. Everything came out perfectly plumb, square and level, however I ordered the wrong mix of concrete during the pour. I ordered a standard foundation mix, #58 aggregate and the slump was stiff, so maybe a 4” slump. The walls were 10’ tall and my vibrator was only 8’ long. The bottom two feet where the vibrator don’t cover I had two people beating on the forms with a hammer and wood to help consolidate the concrete. I cut away different pockets of foam inside the basement by the footer and noticed some graveling. Some areas with some pretty bad honeycombing, and other areas that look fine. I used #6 rebar dowels from the footer every 16” and vertical #6 rebar ever 16 inches for the wall. And #4 horizontal rebar ever 16”. I need to get an engineer out here. Just wondering if I should cut away at the first two courses of foam for a better inspection. All the other areas I inspected look fine, but obviously the aggregate I used was way too big. Im pretty beside myself in embarrassment for the mistake I made. Photos are here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12OzBXYuXjFqK6Tmm_AKMN0PmrAaKmuTu

That doesn't look terrible. Have an engineer review and recommend the best course of action but if that is the worst areas of the foundation, the remediation may be minimal.

Thanks. Have you heard of people using shitty mixes and it turning out okay?

If the rebar in installed to minimize restriction, proper consolidation tools/techniques are used, and form size isn't too small it is possible to have a successful pour even with a dry mix/larger aggregate. The proper mix is key, however, to ensure everything goes as planned with minimal risks of issues.

Ultimately, you can't do anything about the pour at this stage so don't lose any sleep over it, but I think an engineer's review is a smart idea to ensure long-term stability of the foundation. Keep us posted with the remediation that is recommended (if any).