Browse Forums Paving & Concreting Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 83Jul 28, 2016 10:47 am 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 85Jul 28, 2016 11:56 pm 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 87Jul 29, 2016 9:03 am 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 89Jul 29, 2016 5:28 pm 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 92Jul 29, 2016 7:10 pm SaveH2O Your path was designed as a swale, a negligible amount of water would pass through the expansion foam between the wall and the path. Comparing any effect the path may have had on the sub soil moisture levels to the effect of not having the required site drainage during construction for a house built on highly reactive soil doesn't even approach apples and oranges. So although my concrete perimeter path is level the amount of water that would pass through the expansion foam between the wall and path is nothing compared to having the proper site drainage during construction? Also, I see the builder we have used has not put temporary downpipes on homes they are building around the area or graded a slope away from the home either. I think it would be safe to say they did the same to our build too. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 93Jul 29, 2016 8:17 pm jennifer_sml So although my concrete perimeter path is level the amount of water that would pass through the expansion foam between the wall and path is nothing compared to having the proper site drainage during construction? IMHO...yes. I don't think that it is absolutely level going by the placement of the drains plus there is a lip on the boundary edge and the photo with the spirit level also shows a slight slope away from the house. Does a straight edge lay level with the surface when you lay it across the path? Ask the concreter about it when you see him next. The amount of water that could possibly seep through the expansion foam would be miniscule when compared to what downpipe pops can dump over small areas next to the foundation. jennifer_sml Also, I see the builder we have used has not put temporary downpipes on homes they are building around the area or graded a slope away from the home either. It would be a very good idea to take photos of those properties too. See if you can get some good shots of the slab's perimeter as well as the tell tale missing temporary downpipes but try to have some distinguishing feature in the shots for later identification. It doesn't take much rain for downpipe pops to create a quagmire on un-sloped highly reactive soil. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 94Jul 29, 2016 8:33 pm What month did the roof go up? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 95Jul 29, 2016 8:36 pm SaveH2O jennifer_sml I don't think that it is absolutely level going by the placement of the drains plus there is a lip on the boundary edge and the photo with the spirit level also shows a slight slope away from the house. Does a straight edge lay level with the surface when you lay it across the path? I laid the straight edge along different points of the foot path and most of it is level. There is a small lip on the boundry edge and I can see the concrete has pulled away from the fence leaving a small gap. There are 2 sections which I know it does slope towards the home a bit. From the side view the the concrete is sloped towards the trench drains. I went outside this afternoon when it was raining and saw one patch where a small amount of water did pond against the home (that was where the concrete sloped towards the home). But for everywhere else, the water seemed to be running to the drains. I went out again 15 mins after it stopped raining and the small amount of water where it sloped against the home was still there but did not see any water pond against the home. The areas where it slopes towards the home is also partially covered too under the main roof. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 97Jul 29, 2016 9:04 pm January was the wettest month since June 2012. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 98Jul 29, 2016 9:23 pm SaveH2O January was the wettest month since June 2012. Oh no, from the end of December till nearly the end January the house was not worked on as it was holidays, hence that's why down pipes only went up end of January I suppose. On the 29th January I went out to the site to meet a the fencer and I remember him commenting when he walked around the boundary to quote he felt like he was walking on quicksand as he was trying to get the mud piled up on his shoes off on the side of the pavement afterwards. The concreting went down 2nd week of March. There were a few cracks already at the beginning of March when we came for settlement inspection but was assured they were just movement cracks and very normal and there would be more so it would all get taken care of during 3 month warranty inspection. Ever since we moved in there have been more and more cracks but never really thought much of it. I mean our ss came over so many times between our settlement and warranty inspection to fix up little bits and pieces and never said anything apart from comment how good the concrete looked. Even upon our warranty inspection the warranty inspector said our concreting looked good and all the cracks were normal. It was not until I showed him one crack (which was the very first crack we noticed appeared before our settlement) that I was concerned about that he said he would send his structural engineer in. And that's how we got to this point. Me, spending day and night, restlessly, sleeplessly thinking about our how this could be happening! Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 99Jul 29, 2016 11:50 pm jennifer_sml No the land belongs to an estate company who we also bought our land from. Ok, make sure you keep an eye on it. If you decide to take photos of your builders other sites, try and get his signage in the shots too. And the cracks inside your home or outside etc, document those, take photos with a ruler next to the crack, date, what area etc. Re: Concrete Perimeter around home 100Jul 30, 2016 1:12 am jennifer_sml On the 29th January I went out to the site to meet a the fencer and I remember him commenting when he walked around the boundary to quote he felt like he was walking on quicksand as he was trying to get the mud piled up on his shoes off on the side of the pavement afterwards. Melbourne had rain that day, do you remember if there were large puddles pooling next to the slab? It is best if you jot down all of these little memories and make a time line. January's rainfall, supercharged by the roof drainage to concentrated areas, will be a focus...no doubt. Sub soil moisture samples are taken at different depths from different areas and compared. London to a brick that your moisture levels will be highest near the downpipes. I posted earlier that you needed to have the drainage pipes examined (camera) but I no longer consider these to be a suspect given the time frames and your short residency. Clay trench plugs however are a critical mandated requirement on reactive soils as per AS2870 and so the pipe trenches will need scrutiny if the cracks worsen and heave is recognised during the monitoring period. Hopefully your situation doesn't escalate to that. jennifer_sml Even upon our warranty inspection the warranty inspector said our concreting looked good and all the cracks were normal. It was not until I showed him one crack (which was the very first crack we noticed appeared before our settlement) that I was concerned about that he said he would send his structural engineer in. Who exactly was this "warranty inspector"? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12375 i had the my concreters concrete right up to the fence. I have pits all along my path, so the water tends to drain away from the house and into the pits. There's only one… 7 12643 Grab a hose, insert it at the top of the inlet/down pipe and turn the water on and see where the water is escaping from. Then you'll know. 3 8390 |