Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - i love new construction (driveway related)

I just got done having my house built. I was going to do the driveway myself but i came in under budget so i had the general arrange someone else to do it.
The driveway has been in for 2 months now and i noticed last night the ground by my garage has settled. I now have a section of unsupported driveway starting at the garage foundation and spaning 2-3 feet out. it has sunk almost 6 inches and goes all the way across.
What are my options to fix this and what kind of recourse can i take with the concrete company?



p.s. walking on my garage floor the section closest to the garage door is starting to give a 'hollow' sound. should i be worried?

If the general contractor handled it, go back to him. If the concrete company did it, go back to them. There should be some way to fix it, but it won't get any easier. Might as well start on this while it is fresh in everyone's mind.

Hope this helps.

Hello
YES you should start to worry.....and as Chris said.... let the contractor take care of it....they did a bad job this time and may do a bad job next time...you need to educate your self about how and what should have been done before the concrete went down...so you will know if they are doing a good job on the repair...

called my builder. He finally called me back and told me its my baby. The concrete people do not guarantee their work against the ground settling and my builder said this is a common occurance. He told me to start shoving dirt under there and keep filling it up. he said it will keep settling for a year or so.

so now I am stuck with a garage that i cant drive into otherwise the driveway will break. how do i keep putting dirt under the cement and making sure it supports the driveway?


i love new construction, i love new construction,i love new construction

The concrete people do not guarantee their work against the ground settling

Who prepared the dirt under the concrete? There must be some sort of standard here. The roadways don't "settle".

my builder said this is a common occurance.

Just because it is "common" doesn't mean that it is acceptable. I would ask him if most of the work that he does turns out to be fraught with failure. That would be common. If two thousand people do poor quality work, it's still poor quality work.

Sounds like time for Better Business, talk to the concrete suppliers about who gets recommended by them. Maybe small claims court. I think that there are not enough unhappy people involved in this.

Bottom line is your money got flushed. At some point, you may have to have this injection-grouted, at no small expense to keep the concrete from failing. Or you may have to tear out some of the concrete and find someone competent to prepare the dirt. for concrete work.

If enough time passes, this can cease to be an issue and just become an unpleasant memory.

I really dislike poor quality work. Can you tell?

The builder just called me back.......i guess the concrete guys drilled rebar into my foundation so atleast its supported.


thnks for the info guys...im gonna follow up and get documents on who guarantees what before i try the court thing. in the mean time, im gonna get a truck of sand and start shoving it in the gap. kinda like what they did to me i guess.


im glad im pretty handy around the house. I built houses 10 years ago and sided and roofed this house. i would hate to see a 85 year old coulpe build a house and run into crap like this.

You might be able to correct the problem by pumping a concrete slurry into the void after its done settleing. I've seen projects where a cracked and settled patio was lifted and leveled by drilling holes through the surface and then pumping a slurry under pressure to fill and lift the slab.

Good luck....

Originally posted by DavidJ
You might be able to correct the problem by pumping a concrete slurry into the void after its done settleing. I've seen projects where a cracked and settled patio was lifted and leveled by drilling holes through the surface and then pumping a slurry under pressure to fill and lift the slab.

Good luck....


that was one idea i had. I think for now im just gonna take the sand and shovel it as far in as i can...and then take a 2x4, attach a little flat foot on the end and push it the sand into the middle(using lots of water so it settles right away).

HELLO
I would contact the building deptment and the state contractors licensing board and file a complaint...this is not right and they shuld not be able to get away with it this easy....this is bad workman ship and has no time limit an liablity...we recomend that you always hire a licensed contractor to avoid this kind of thing from happening..

well.....I got a hold of the building inspector. I think he's in bed with my builder. I got the same 'settling will occur/cant guarantee against it.' He also said that I wont be able to pack enough sand under there to do any good. I have to pay my own way to get it drilled and filled(mudjackin).

The bank is coming to do a final inspect before my builder gets the final draw....i woder if they can hold payment for any reason.



ah well.....at least im above ground breathing air still and i didnt see my name in the obituaries:D

settling is fairly common, but not as much as you are describing. a little settle will cause hair line cracking, but your problem seems severe. i would definately get with the bank and try to hold te final draw until the problem is resolved. there is no better motivator than money. keep us posted.

I was lucky enough to have been warned about settling where the earth was disturbed for the footings and I decided to go with dense grade stone fill for the driveway for the first year. After a few rainstorms it's hardened up nicely, and settled in by the foundation a good 6 inches, but I just level it with a shovel.

I was also told to flood the garage floor before they poured the slab, and I watched in amazement as it sunk FEET in places! The contractors won't usually prepare the dirt in this way, but they tamp and backfill. Flooding seemed to work best, you may want to see what some water will do to finish settling under your driveway before filling in the void.