Hi I'm kathy from Victoria,I have just built my first home,and it's been a total nightmare,I'm posting my concerns on my driveway,it has a big dip on the right side,and it throws me over to the right side,I have nearly ran off the edge very scary,as I'm up on a hill,and my drive has no support under it,and its cracking,I have been in my home since the 17dec,2018,and noticed these problems just after I moved in the cracks are starting to spread,builder is aware,also manager,and my friends who are concreters it's a saftey risk,there going to fill it in,and put more planks on the retaining wall I just paid for can I have some honest feed back please kathy
It sounds like you’ve done the right thing by contacting the builder. (Did the builder organise the concreting of the driveway, or did you do it after handover?) You mention that they are going to fix it, so you just need to let them do that, then see if it works. Is the concrete cracking everywhere or just where the dip is?
Its cracking also down the side of my new home as well,and has started to have hair line fractures in other areas,
Hairline cracks are very common. I think they may be considered cosmetic and not a fault. The Guide to Standards and Tolerances has a table on p. 19: https://www.vba.vic.gov.au/__data/a...63/Guide-to-Standards-and-Tolerances-2015.pdf It does look like soil has washed out from underneath one of the sections of concrete.
That image (132885) looking at the house & driveway. Right side - That dark shading on right of driveway UNDER IT looks like a hole under the driveway slab ?? Is that so ? If thats case it needs to be filled (concrete ! possibly pumped under pressure) I wouldnt drive on any of it until its resolved. Washed out with rain ?? LOL image 1554 is a expansion joint not a crack
These pictures will show you the cracks in my drive there getting worse yes there was no soil under there at the start,we havent had rain to wash soil away we have had a hot summer,this driveway is a hazard
Those are hairline cracks ie not structural. Was the slab been kept moist to reduce the loss of moisture from the slab whilst it cured? You have mentioned that it has been hot in Melbourne, this wouldn't help. When concrete is poured, it is essentially a liquid, it will form to the surface below. A lack of soil below the concrete would mean that the concrete would fill the voids beneath it.
It looks like the expansion joint and the crack that has been sealed and grinded to cover it up that the steel work was not set right ,,most slabs take 28 days to cure and this drive way maybe was poured in several stages ..
Concrete was poured in august last year,wasnt hot when it was poured,I'm from cold ballarat,there was no soil under this part of driveway ,this is why my driveway has cracks,just started to put my car in garage in the last 3 weeks
The driveway has a dip in it will get better image tomorrow,builder wants to extend the retaining wall up,and fill it with concrete but to me that's only a bandaid fix,it has no support on right side the driveway is a absolute hazard,see if I go off the edge I can flip the car over and that's a scary thought
The driveway angle looks tricky to deal with in building it, but I can't see your car tipping over at those angles. Apart from the driveway, in your photo 132815 I would be questioning whether the "retaining wall" is actually going to support your land? Next to the garage the timber doesn't even touch the ground; but it all looks like it's sitting on top rather than retaining anything. It looks as though your block was built up in comparison to next door, so the retaining would typically be your responsibility
What does the building surveyor say about the proposed solution? You could always get someone in for a second opinion.
I assume that you mean the area in the circle? a) this should be a garden bed - plant it out with advanced shubs eg gardenias or lilipilis to define the edge of the driveway b) The pressure exerted from the driveway will dissipate at about 45 degrees from the bottom of the slab. This would appear to be exerting force below the retaining wall ie not affect the retaining wall
