Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Jun 29, 2011 6:19 pm Having an issue with out 1.5 year old house.
Were getting a fair bit of water seeping up through our concreted driveway, its seeping up through the joins and out one tiny crack in the driveway. The driveway was included as part of our new home package. I've attached a pic below. The builder has come out and had a look with a camera down the storm water drain pipes which run under the driveway and they reckon there not cracked, (i'm not 100% sure though, i'm considering paying out of my pocket someone to come out and put a camera down the pipes just to be sure). They reckon its possibly a water table under the driveway and there solution is to caulk up the crack in the join then reseal the driveway. To me this sounds like a bandaid repair and not fixing the actual problem, and chances are its going to leak again in another few months after its sealed. I'm really not sure which way to go from here, after reading up some info i'm going to monitor the meter over an hour or so while not using any water and see what happens there to make sure its not pressurised water. Has anyone had a similar issue or know anyone who may be able to provide some ideas/input on which way to tackle this issue. Or know of someone reputable in Melbourne I can contact to have a look and provide some solutions? Cheers, Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Water seepage through concrete 3Jun 29, 2011 8:12 pm Got any weather condition/leakage .... coincidence? and if so does it continue to 'leak' after the rain finishes? I think and am just guessing but I doubt there would be enough pressure giving the ground height at the edge of the driveway. Is it always wet and how near is the water main? You need to resolve this on many levels: aesthetics, corrosion, sand jacking(will develop into a step as it washes out the sand pad up hill and compacts downhill of the control joint, 'flexing' the mesh and corroding the steel that will grow and crack the concrete from the inside out) . Rant to cover a few thoughts I gotta get some sleep Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Water seepage through concrete 4Jun 29, 2011 10:09 pm onc_artisan ::: Got any weather condition/leakage .... coincidence? and if so does it continue to 'leak' after the rain finishes? I think and am just guessing but I doubt there would be enough pressure giving the ground height at the edge of the driveway. Is it always wet and how near is the water main? You need to resolve this on many levels: aesthetics, corrosion, sand jacking(will develop into a step as it washes out the sand pad up hill and compacts downhill of the control joint, 'flexing' the mesh and corroding the steel that will grow and crack the concrete from the inside out) . Rant to cover a few thoughts I gotta get some sleep thanks for the reply, it does get a little worse after rain, unsure if thats because of more water in the ground or if its coming down the drainpipe and leaking out somewhere under the driveway. ( if you look at the pic in my first post there is a downpipe about 1.5M out of shot to the right in line with that big water mark, this goes down through the concrete) It does continue to leak after the rain but eases up. It will only completely dry up after a few days of hot weather. Apart from that its pretty much wet all the time, even if only damp/slight wetness in the join. water mains is 3m or so back behind where the pic was taken from. i will post up the plan showing the area i'm talking about. I guess next question is how much would i be up for to get someone out with a camera to trace the pipes out to the main storm water to verifiy what the builder is saying. I'm just worried there 'fix' is going to visually hide the problem but it still get worse then next thing you know i have a sinkhole trying to swallow my car !! Cheers, Cal. Re: Water seepage through concrete 5Jun 29, 2011 10:18 pm heres the plans if it help understand better, you can see the downpipe on the top left corner of the driveway. mains in is about where that 5m setback line is. leak is near that conduit line on the driveway. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ also, just to throw more confusion into the works, the guy the builders got to come out with the camera said he did find some flexi pipe used, said he wasn;t a fan but reckons it wasn;t leaking. after seeing this thread it may be a posibility. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43688 If it wasn't under my driveway i;d dig it up and have a look, but kind of hard when theres the driveway over the top of it! Re: Water seepage through concrete 6Jun 30, 2011 5:37 am I would tend to suspect something other than a broken drain pipe from your description and the photos. I It's more likely to be water from somewhere else which might be running alongside the outside of the drain line which is a line of weakness in the soil. My first investigation would be to dig down to the drain pipe either side of the drive and see if the hole is wet, if any water is coming into it, and from what direction. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Water seepage through concrete 7Jun 30, 2011 9:28 am Why not on a dry day stick a hose pipe into your gutter and run it for half an hour. If the water starts to come out heavily over the next day or so, it probably is a leak, if it doesn't it is probably something else. Re: Water seepage through concrete 8Jun 30, 2011 1:08 pm Even block the down pipe going to the gutter and fill with water. I do like heavy plastic laid on any concrete to be poured, its so cheap and effective. Not sure where the supply line is? I would dig either side of the drive way where water seepage appears, you may locate source. You may have to put a drainage channel down the right side of the drive way. To stop the leak showing is not the solution although not too hard to do. Apart from the aesthetics it would be wise to resolve. Good Luck Pulpo Re: Water seepage through concrete 9Jul 03, 2011 7:25 pm Thanks for all the replies! Well after a few rain free days in melb, i dried up as much as i could of the excess water. Let it sit for a day and no seepage. I then put a fair bit of water down the downpipe for while and then monitored the driveway over the next day and no more seepage. I guess that does back up the builders conclusion that its not a cracked pipe. My next plan is to dig a hole on the side of the driveway and see how much water is there. I'm assuming if its not coming from the pipe i guess its coming up through the ground, what would be my options to help drain some of this away, given that its all happening under concrete?? Cheers, Cal Re: Water seepage through concrete 10Jul 03, 2011 9:56 pm Your best option would be lay some slotted drain pipes and connect to the drain. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Water seepage through concrete 11Jul 04, 2011 8:50 am I'm interested to hear the findings!! Now, and this may be waaay off, but is there the slightest possiblity that the lower section of concrete is actually fairly thin right along the joint and so - and helped by the contours of the site - water seeps under the whole lot (but how??? this is the key issue anyway) and then, because that last section of concrete is thin, it can push out and leak and wash out the sand and dirt at the joint line ... ... if this makes any sense (but it probably doesn't ) BTW, I think that - IF it does wash out the roadbase/sand, that can create voids under the concrete and eventually a pot hole or cracks ... (or so I've heard). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water seepage through concrete 12Nov 04, 2011 9:02 am Bit of an update. The builder had someone come out and put filler in the cracks and resealed the driveway. Was fine for about a month until it started leaking just like before. Now what there saying is that there's a water table under the driveway and it's my bad luck, there's nothing they can do. I mentioned that shouldn't the water have shown up in the site test etc and his answer was no. They are going speak to there superiors and get back to me but we all know that's code for 'I'm wiping my hands of this'. I just don't know what to do know, do I have a leg to stand on anywhere?? I want it fixed as its cracking even more and looks terrible! Any advice ideas would be much appreciated. Can provide more pics etc. Also have pic of the block before they started and progress pics for reference, all with no water. Cheers. Re: Water seepage through concrete (still going!) 13Nov 06, 2011 10:31 pm Don't know if this will be of any help , we have a house opposite with a driveway that appears of a similar angle. they also have this problem although it occurs where the drive meets the footpath. The water appears to be natural drainage from the backyard which is coming down the natural water table under the concrete and then leaking out at the first opportunity it can get. If I could suggest slotted drains or similar at the top of the driveway or the most practical point to place them to see if the water is coming via natural seepage from higher than the driveway. Settlement 1/2/12 New Shed 23/3/12 Slab poured 27/3/12 Frame complete 4/5/12 Roof complete 1/6/12 LOCKUP 29/6/12 Our new build blog http://kareenhillsownerbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Water seepage through concrete (still going!) 14Nov 07, 2011 11:44 am Hi Cal, you mentioned in an earlier post "My next plan is to dig a hole on the side of the driveway and see how much water is there.". What was your finding after doing this? Also, what service/s are running in that conduit which closely coincides with the exit location of the seeping? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water seepage through concrete (still going!) 15Nov 08, 2011 2:52 pm Lex Hi Cal, you mentioned in an earlier post "My next plan is to dig a hole on the side of the driveway and see how much water is there.". What was your finding after doing this? Also, what service/s are running in that conduit which closely coincides with the exit location of the seeping? Hi, dug down on the side shown in the pic above, just found water around the edge of the concrete. Only really after rain though, after a week or so of ok weather it is fairly dry. I wondered about that conduit Line but am not sure what's in it. And haven't been able to find it. Thanks for your advice. So far i have not noticed any issues with doors and windows. Builder advised they will organise drainers to inspect 2 weeks ago but no further… 7 20210 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Are you doing this with a building permit? Conversion of a non habitable room into a habitable room requires building permit. 3 17534 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 108255 |