Drive way leaning questions
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OP
Sorry stupid phone acting crazy. So the first pic is the back of the drive way and you can't see much lean. But from the front you can see a little slope. I'm not entirely sure if that's normal but the people parked a car in the empty spot and left it there under a tarp. The third picture is the ground beside the drive way and for some reason it is ALWAYS wet enough to sink your feet in a few inches. The channels of the drive way are cracked and you can see the one crack that I sealed. My question is do you think if I seal all those cracks on top will the grass to the side dry up in normal conditions?
Chdamn
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Hahahahahahahahahahaha.............no.
It may buy you a year but that’s about it.
What you have is improper underlayment for your driveway or inconsistent thickness or improper retaining wall drainage.
Or a combination of all three. Been there, done that, have the blisters.
To the best of my knowledge, the channels you refer to are are expansion joints, they are ment to crack instead of the slab.
From the pictures, all of the sloped slabs on the right look pretty even. If they had settled I would bet the farm that they wouldn't settle evenly and would be cracked in more places than the expansion joints.
From the pictures, all of the sloped slabs on the right look pretty even. If they had settled I would bet the farm that they wouldn't settle evenly and would be cracked in more places than the expansion joints.
First looks like the cracks are the in the saw cuts or expansion joints where they are supposed to be not a issue unless they open up resealing them so water does not get under slab is not a bad thing. The lines are there so the cracks will follow those lines and not run all over the slab since concrete will commonly crack its a control method. Hard to tell from the picture how much slope it has but it should slope away from the house 1-2” fall for ever 10 feet or so water doesnt go back toward your house. Is the yard just wet or can you tell the slab has sunk? This year it has been crazy so may not be big of problem or might be able to just add little fill dirt to get water on away if slab is elevated from yard still.
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Most likely they are correct. As an old concrete man said to me “son there ain’t but two kinds of concrete. Concrete that’s cracked....and concrete that’s gonna be cracked.
If they aren’t correct you will need someone competent in retaining walls to take a look at it.
OP
I would say yes. I have now really paid a ton of attention to it but there is one gutter that isn't drained at the front of the garage. It just dumps out.
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What you got right there bud is one of your first world problems. I'd love to have a driveway looks as good as yours. Save that worry for about another decade, then get back to me. 😁
OP
So yes there is on gutter downspout coming down on the left side just in front of the garage. Puddling on that side of the concrete. I guess I need to get a down spout plastic extension and route it over the concrete so it's not going under.
Do not fill in the expansion joints. They're supposed to crack and that's not what it channeling water into your side yard.
Short term: dig out everything around the driveway, install a perforated drainage pipe out to a lower spot in your yard and backfill with 57 gravel. Put landscape fabric and dirt on top, no deeper than 4-6 inches. I assume you'll be wanting grass, but the dirt needs to be thin enough that water can drain through it and get to the gravel. The fabric will keep the dirt and rock separate.
Route any gutter runoff to another part of your yard, as far from your driveway as possible.
This should drain water away from your driveway, but will do nothing to stop the sag in the far corner slab. Maybe investigate one of those companies that injects foam under the slab, but that's really more of a bandaid.
Long(er) term: To fix the sag, have someone bust up the concrete and pour it again with a better base and retaining wall. Install perforated pipe and gravel as above.
Without seeing it I’d guess that the water is puddling on one side then flowing slowly under the driveway. Get the gutter water on top of the concrete and see where it runs, it should run across and down that hill on the surface. Everything should dry this summer once you stop pushing water in under the slab. If that doesn’t work then look at digging, but I’d work on the source of the water first.
i dont see an issue. looks like a good slope to keep the water from going into the house and the expansion joints have done their job. if the down spout is routed under the slab, it will be plumbed properly into drainage pipe, its not just dumping water under the slab.
OP
It's not drained at all. Just dumping water in the corner of the shrubbery bed that goes under the slab.
That slab looks fine to me but you are right to be concerned. Soggy ground will become an issue if that slab receives a heavy load. Open cracks expansion joints should be cleaned and re-sealed with a flexible caulk.
Once any crack or joint gets filled with debris it will act like a wedge when temperatures get hot and the slab tries to expand.
It's best to address the water problem like @JimB suggested, at the source. Check your downspouts and also maybe check for a leak in your water service. That always-saturated spot is suspicious.
Once any crack or joint gets filled with debris it will act like a wedge when temperatures get hot and the slab tries to expand.
It's best to address the water problem like @JimB suggested, at the source. Check your downspouts and also maybe check for a leak in your water service. That always-saturated spot is suspicious.
OP
The outside has not been a major concern for me yet since we moved in last October. Mostly little things for me. This is one of my first goals for outside.
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No that's for use under mulch or straw. it would make a trip hazard on concrete. plus, the wife is guaranteed to hate it.
first: does that slab slope away from your house?
second: the dirt between the slab and the house looks like it's lower than the slab. I'd start there by adding soil - not mulch or anything organic - to create positive drainage away from the foundation. If you have to remove the bushes to make it happen, so be it. this is important. BUT: You have to keep the siding 4-6" above anything on the ground or you make an even bigger problem.
third: I might even dig out and pave the area by the downspout with new concrete right up to the foundation to make 100% sure that water leaves the area.
first: does that slab slope away from your house?
second: the dirt between the slab and the house looks like it's lower than the slab. I'd start there by adding soil - not mulch or anything organic - to create positive drainage away from the foundation. If you have to remove the bushes to make it happen, so be it. this is important. BUT: You have to keep the siding 4-6" above anything on the ground or you make an even bigger problem.
third: I might even dig out and pave the area by the downspout with new concrete right up to the foundation to make 100% sure that water leaves the area.
I’d just use the round one, or get a piece of aluminum downspout and use it as an extension.
Right now “pretty” doesn’t matter, get the water away from the foundation and out from under the drive. Might even add dirt to fill that low spot.
Edit: second what catfish said about paving that little spot when you have the opportunity.
Edit2: and check the rest of the downspouts, probably need to extend all of them away from the foundation and check the grade to ensure that any surface water runs away from the house.
Right now “pretty” doesn’t matter, get the water away from the foundation and out from under the drive. Might even add dirt to fill that low spot.
Edit: second what catfish said about paving that little spot when you have the opportunity.
Edit2: and check the rest of the downspouts, probably need to extend all of them away from the foundation and check the grade to ensure that any surface water runs away from the house.
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ahhh, that downspout needs to be addressed. pita to route it under the slab now
This is a very common problem in newer neighborhoods. The builder places dirt to set a side slab... its all level at first but after time. NOOOOoooooo........
You just have to deal with the settle or redo it.
You just have to deal with the settle or redo it.
OP
Yeah house was built 2006 so it's settled a little bit. I'm sure the guys trophy car did help any. I'd really jut like to get it dry and stable. The cracks aren't bad yet.
Short term test or fix i would slide that piece under the gutter farther out and maybe put something under the rear to give it more slope just enough to get water going on across the slab. Other option would be short piece of down spot and slide up on the end of the guter to extend it over to the slab. Usually couple short sharp point screws will hold them together.
Another short term fix if the property lay out allows it. If there's enough room there to sit a rain barrel, have the downspout going into the rain barrel, add a bulkhead fitting to the bottom with an appropriate sized hose/pipe leading around to the other side of the house. We had a similar issue to this, rain barrel worked perfectly to divert the majority of the water around.
OP
If I ever rip these shrubs out that would be a good way to keep free irrigation.
It works for us, we really need a bigger hose/bulkhead to keep up with big rains but its done well as a patch until we can fix it permanently.
Would cutting the slab across and installing one of those driveway drains be an option? Divert the gutter to run into the drain, across the drive into the side yard. Like one of these?
