Pavers sunken around edges

[wll6568]

I have this on going issue of pavers sunken especially around the edge of my house. Fixed it twice but continues to happen especially during winter where there's always or of rain. I pulled up some pavers can see a line of washed off sand and could see the footing??? Or is it something else?

One tradie told me I better off pull everything out and re do using concrete as he reckons it's due to constant underground water movement. If that's the case, may be i better just leave it as it is, let it rotten before I re do everything? As majority of those pavers still work fine?

Any professional builder or pavers here?

http://imgur.com/SWIsrw2
http://imgur.com/mWo8ONY
http://imgur.com/EyT53F9
http://imgur.com/oMcZFDN
http://imgur.com/9ZZhVVw

 

[Norwester]

wll6568,

Did you do the paving and was it like that before you pulled it up? (ie the last photo in series)

Ciao

Nor

 

[jerrybee]

I wonder if concrete would begin cracking over time too if the foundation is so problematic. Might be worth leaving for a few years to let it settle first.

 

[Sailesh Channan]

Bit hard to say from the photos provided however, you may need to find a way to get the water to drain away form that part of the house. It may involve installing yard gullies or redoing the contours so the water does not accumulate.

You quite likely have a highly reactive soils in the area that has a high shrink/swell ratio causing your problem.

Once you have fixed the underlying issue then redo in concrete or relay the pavers. You can reuse the sand however, I suggest adding some concrete to the sand as a dry mix. Make sure you have fall away from the house and hopefully this fixes your problems.

 

[wll6568]

wll6568,

Did you do the paving and was it like that before you pulled it up? (ie the last photo in series)

Ciao

Nor

I had a trade doing the paving and storm water before. Then two years later it got really bad, so I had it fixed by another guy. 8 months later, same thing happened, although not as bad as the first time, so I got another trader repaved the whole thing..... Now, one year gone, started moving again.

 

[wll6568]

Bit hard to say from the photos provided however, you may need to find a way to get the water to drain away form that part of the house. It may involve installing yard gullies or redoing the contours so the water does not accumulate.

You quite likely have a highly reactive soils in the area that has a high shrink/swell ratio causing your problem.

Once you have fixed the underlying issue then redo in concrete or relay the pavers. You can reuse the sand however, I suggest adding some concrete to the sand as a dry mix. Make sure you have fall away from the house and hopefully this fixes your problems.

That's right, the soil is highly reative, and each guy who fixed it said they have mixed some concrete in their sand, although i never actually be there to see them doing it, so not really sure if they actually used it or not.

Each guy blamed on the one before, saying they did a bad workmanship and didn't do good base, and said they would do a stronger base. But i was never actually there to see them doing it as I have to work. Now the latest guy who came to check it out told me he thinks it's the underground water movement, and said a concrete would fix the issue...

 

[wll6568]

Do you know what is the thing that i saw in the ground, when i pulled the pavers out? Is it the footings?.... How come it seems like its moving out from the house....Or is it meant to be like that? Would it do any damage to the house?

 

[Sailesh Channan]

I suggest pulling out the pavers and replace with concrete due to the soil reactivity. It may also be a good idea to add the odd pier to stop the concrete from moving.

 

[Norwester]

wll6568,

Nothing worse than throwing good money after bad...

This is a pretty crappy paving job. Look at the quality of the haunching, and how the second row from the left has been finished. Appears to be very little cement in any of that sand and as for the base....???

Does the sewer line run along the side of the house back towards the foreground of the last picture? Looks like it's been replaced (vent connection not painted). If so, then lack of trench compaction is more than likely the problem.....next on the list would be that its leaking........and next,next on the list would be that something is leaking under the house.......

You need to investigate further with a shovel my friend.....you are looking for pooling water along that whole side of the house (don't dig a long trench, just a couple of pot holes and dig lower than the footing/slab)

Do you know what is the thing that i saw in the ground, when i pulled the pavers out? Is it the footings?.... How come it seems like its moving out from the house....Or is it meant to be like that? Would it do any damage to the house?

Pictures aren't detailed enough to really say. It looks like the plastic edge of the slab/footing but seems to be to far away from the wall to be that or even overpour.......

Once again...the shovel is your friend......

Ciao

Nor

 

[wll6568]

Its almost seems like the slab moved further out, causing the sand to move??

Basically the areas where there are cracks/ holes in ground are:
- Some area along the edge of footing/ slab
- Around storm water pole

I am thinking may be the stormwater wasn't flowing quick enough, causing the water to pool? But would that wash off the sand under the pavers??

 

[Sailesh Channan]

That crack is quite likely the stormwater line that runs along the house for your roof drainage.

The soil in the excavation is still settling as the soils is pushed in with a machine and generally left uncompacted.

When it rains, will water will go through the gaps in your pavers and seep into stormwater trench causing it to subside. A concrete path will solve your problem or put a lot more fall on the pavers so the water runs off quickly.