Home Improvement

If you're looking for something to do, here's an easy project.

Like most concrete driveways, mine has cuts in it every so often to hopefully allow the slab to crack in an inconspicuous and controlled location, that is, inside those cuts. These cuts have done their job but now there are cracks deep in those cuts that penetrate the entire slab and allow water run and seep into the soil under the slab. This is bad because in the summer the water from rain or washing your car or lawn sprinklers will start to wash away the compacted ground undermining the slab (ants do this, too) and in the winter, rain and snow melt will seep in there and lift the slabs when the water freezes. Mine can lift 1/2" in some places. If you're lucky, when things warm up, the slabs will return to where they were but even so, the slabs move like plates on the Earth's crust and gaps enlarge or decrease and plates lift and eventually crack where they're not supposed to.

Get yourself some backer rod.



It's closed cell foam in the shape of a rod and after you've cleaned out the cuts to about an inch in depth with a putty knife and compressed air, cram this stuff in there. It needs to fit tight because what you're trying to do is create a floor for the runny caulk you're going to squeeze into that cut. If you don't completely seal the bottom, the caulk will run out all the way to China so make sure it's really crammed in there, double it up if you need to and set it about 3/8" below the top. I bought 250ft of 1/2" from Amazon and made up the rest of the 300ft I needed with stuff from Lowes. If you've got really narrow seams, the backer rod cuts easily with scissors to 1/2 or even 1/4 size, or you can get smaller diameter stuff to begin with. It's easier and more economical to crush the stuff that's too large than to double up on the smaller stuff.

Then go get some caulk made specifically for doing this job. This is what I bought.



Home Depot stocks it and it is readily available. It is polyurethane and it self-levels. For horizontal surfaces only! When you squeeze it into the joints, it comes out smoothly but it soon starts to seek level and it makes your blobby job look professional in about 3 minutes. Go slow on your hands and knees. If you don't put enough on, go back over it. The new will melt into the old. It's pretty amazing and very forgiving. Try to keep it about an 1/16" below the top of the driveway.

It needs to cure overnight before you drive on it and it's really done in about 3-4 days but you can carry on normally after that first night. If you've done a good job you will now have a flexible seal between the slabs of your concrete that will not allow water to penetrate and get into the soil but will allow the slabs to move because they do. In a few weeks time, the newness and shininess will also go away as normal dirt, dust and leaves begin to settle in.



Now no water will run down those seams and end up below the slab and hopefully, the driveway won't crack from lifting because of freeze. I cleaned the cuts on day 1. On day 2, I put all the backer rod in and on day 3, I caulked it. It took about 8 large 29oz tubes. The big tubes are way more economical. I only work a couple of hours a day. Somebody younger could do this in one day.

lurker said:

If you're looking for something to do, here's an easy project.

Like most concrete driveways, mine has cuts in it every so often to hopefully allow the slab to crack in an inconspicuous and controlled location, that is, inside those cuts. These cuts have done their job but now there are cracks deep in those cuts that penetrate the entire slab and allow water run and seep into the soil under the slab. This is bad because in the summer the water from rain or washing your car or lawn sprinklers will start to wash away the compacted ground undermining the slab (ants do this, too) and in the winter, rain and snow melt will seep in there and lift the slabs when the water freezes. Mine can lift 1/2" in some places. If you're lucky, when things warm up, the slabs will return to where they were but even so, the slabs move like plates on the Earth's crust and gaps enlarge or decrease and plates lift and eventually crack where they're not supposed to.

Get yourself some backer rod.

It's closed cell foam in the shape of a rod and after you've cleaned out the cuts to about an inch in depth with a putty knife and compressed air, cram this stuff in there. It needs to fit tight because what you're trying to do is create a floor for the runny caulk you're going to squeeze into that cut. If you don't completely seal the bottom, the caulk will run out all the way to China so make sure it's really crammed in there, double it up if you need to and set it about 3/8" below the top. I bought 250ft of 1/2" from Amazon and made up the rest of the 300ft I needed with stuff from Lowes. If you've got really narrow seams, the backer rod cuts easily with scissors to 1/2 or even 1/4 size, or you can get smaller diameter stuff to begin with. It's easier and more economical to crush the stuff that's too large than to double up on the smaller stuff.

Then go get some caulk made specifically for doing this job. This is what I bought.

Home Depot stocks it and it is readily available. It is polyurethane and it self-levels. For horizontal surfaces only! When you squeeze it into the joints, it comes out smoothly but it soon starts to seek level and it makes your blobby job look professional in about 3 minutes. Go slow on your hands and knees. If you don't put enough on, go back over it. The new will melt into the old. It's pretty amazing and very forgiving. Try to keep it about an 1/16" below the top of the driveway.

It needs to cure overnight before you drive on it and it's really done in about 3-4 days but you can carry on normally after that first night. If you've done a good job you will now have a flexible seal between the slabs of your concrete that will not allow water to penetrate and get into the soil but will allow the slabs to move because they do. In a few weeks time, the newness and shininess will also go away as normal dirt, dust and leaves begin to settle in.

Now no water will run down those seams and end up below the slab and hopefully, the driveway won't crack from lifting because of freeze. I cleaned the cuts on day 1. On day 2, I put all the backer rod in and on day 3, I caulked it. It took about 8 large 29oz tubes. The big tubes are way more economical. I only work a couple of hours a day. Somebody younger could do this in one day.

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Will this stuff work for large gaps? My driveway had wood laid down between the sections that had since started to rot away. One at the garage, one in the middle and one at the curb before the street. I'd say the gaps are more than an inch wide but I haven't measured to know the exact width.

Arative said:

Will this stuff work for large gaps? My driveway had wood laid down between the sections that had since started to rot away. One at the garage, one in the middle and one at the curb before the street. I'd say the gaps are more than an inch wide but I haven't measured to know the exact width.

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I would think you’d be ok but you’d have to figure out how to limit the depth. Running multiple runs of backer rod isn’t going to work. If they’re loose at all, they will float when you squeeze in the caulk. That’s gonna get real messy fast.

What you might do, is fill the gaps with clean sand. Fill up to about 3/8” below the surface and then caulk. The specs on the stuff say to limit the depth to around 1/4” but don’t say anything about width. So if you start at about 3/8” shy and don’t fill it to the brim, you should be ok.

It’s gonna take a ton of that stuff. Do the math and compute the volume. Might be costly.

mkopec said:

Why not just stuff the 1in gap with actual 1/2in backer board, you know, the stuff they use for joints in concrete, or where concrete comes in contact with the house or whatever. Then fill the rest with the caulk. The shit is cheap and built to last.

View attachment 552412

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I think that is what is in there now

The big gaps are between the garage and driveway and the driveway and the curb. There is a smaller half inch gap or so that is about midway in the driveway

Foler said:

Need some advice please…

After 8 months I finally have the permitting for tuff shed to install a 16x32 ft premier tall barn
View attachment 552382

Now I need to do the site prep for it. Barn will sit perpendicular on an incline. The door will be perpendicular to the incline - I know not ideal but I’ll level the ground in front of it and install a small retaining wall on the high side of the entry ramp so erosion doesn’t occur.. The incline really isn’t too crazy at all, I’d say it’s minor.

I’ve done a lot of research and plan on doing a crushed stone pad that is +1 ft wider on all sides (total dimension would then be 18x34) for drainage purposes. I plan to run electric and cat5e to it so I’ll need to stub conduit for both. I found these guys who do this work up in northern US and have a great tutorial.

How to Build a Gravel Shed Foundation - The Complete Guide

Want to build a gravel shed foundation? Here is a step-by-step guide with all the info you need to install a gravel shed foundation for your new building.

www.siteprep.com

I could do it myself but life is busy and I don’t have it in me to do it right now… My Google-fu can’t find anyone who does specifically what those guys do that I linked above in my area or really in florida

My questions are as follows.

1. In the linked tutorial they use 4x6 GC pressure treated lumbar. Railroad ties could also be an option but I’m growing fruit trees downhill of barn and would prefer chemicals not leeching into ground. Would concrete block be an even better option here for building the perimeter/retaining wall? I’m not super concerned about price.

2. If I use lumbar I’m wondering if deadmen would be necessary due to size of barn? For concrete block I’m not really sure how deadmen are done or if they’re necessary?

3. Who the hell should I be looking for to do this? Site prep contractor? Retaining wall contractor?

Will tag a few ppl who I think may have good input, obv no obligation to give it: Blazin lurkingdirk

Thanks in advance for any input and thoughts

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Gravel foundation could be okay, but I always over-engineer everything so it will stand up to a doomsday attack. For something that size you could absolutely do gravel, but especially because of the incline I would be inclined (ha) to to at least 10 concrete pylons under the structure, probably 14. Anchor to that, nothing will move and it will give peace of mind. Concrete pilons aren't hard to do, just need to do a lot of digging, buy a form, and use a LOT of rebar. You do that, not only will you have piece of mind, but you would also be able to move the building in the future if you chose to. Separate it from the pylons and pick that thing up. Easy to do (hard work, but not complicated) and it could even help you compensate somewhat for the incline.



I'd also lose the skylights and get a steel roof. If you're worried about enough light, you said you're running power, lighting is cheap, make sure you have about 10 options for the lights. All the way from "I'm just sneaking in for a minute at night when it's dark." to "I'm using this as a paint spray booth today." And final thing is were it me I would run power for a separate panel for this building. That way, as you figure out exactly how you're using it, you can add lights, outlets, fans, whatever. You won't know right away how all those things should be placed.


And as a side note, something I learned from experience, if you make a retaining wall for the ramp make that ramp a lot wider than you thought (do the entire width of the building) and make your retaining wall about 5 times longer than you thought you needed. If you're backing a trailer into the shed you don't want to be coming at it on the incline, have your trailer level out, and blah blah. It's a nightmare. Make the ramp long enough to get your tractor and trailer straightened out on a level. You'll thank me later.

Foler You could absolutely do this without the cement. I believe the cement is the better way. When you do the cement pylons it's an easy thing to tie them in with galvanized mounts that easily mount to both the cement and the bottom of your barn. Tuff Shed would totally work with that, I guarantee. As far as moving it, I simply mean if you sever those connections to the cement you could pick it up a number of ways and move it. Not that you're likely to do that.

If you don't do concrete piers, the crushed gravel you suggested will be great. I do think that a cement block perimeter would be good. Sit that in the gravel, make sure the gravel extends at least a foot outside your cement block supports. Look online for what is suggested for your gravel depth. I'm guessing 6 inches is minimum in Florida, but that's just a guess.

A final consideration, get your gravel all done, leveled and set. Put your support blocks in place, scatter bags and bags of cement over the gravel, hit it with a hose for a bit, then set your building bottom. It's going to feel like a foundation.

After watching Bush Radical... I agree with him that we, as Americans, over do foundations lol.

And I also agree with him, that there is no problem in that, and its not a bad thing in general.... but it is a /costly/ thing in all time, supplies, money, location restriction etc.

He has done a few different foundation types for his cabin full builds that are essentially doable solo and with simple supplies.

Foler said:

What do you guys think of this article? These guys are suggesting if you use concrete piers that you use with gravel.

Shed Foundation Piers: The Ultimate Guide

Ok so you’re both in agreement that the perimeter retaining wall should be concrete. I think that’s a good idea. I won’t have to worry about rot and termites for the perimeter.

On a side note - like I said I had extra skids put under it in the design. Do you think a structure like this could be moved? 32x16 tall gable barn.. I’d like to build a house here in the next 5-8 years at latest and it may require moving the shed. I think worse case scenario it could be disassembled and reassembled by a contractor(?)

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Yeah, making a gravel pad around the piers to support the weight of the barn is a good idea. It's also a good idea to include a couple piers for the centre of the building. What is considered the frost line where you're at? When I was living in Canada the frost line was listed as up to 4 feet, so any piers or posts or whatever needed to be 5 feet deep at least to prevent any frost heaving. I know you're in an area that doesn't get much frost, but I'd look it up if I were you. If you do ever get a rare frost it can move things like you wouldn't believe, especially in a we area like yours. You're probably good with just 3 foot piers. Especially if you do a gravel bed as well. And that article you linked (good article btw), did a fine job of accounting for a slope with the concrete as well.

And yeah, I've been involved in moving entire houses in tact. It takes time, but it's totally doable. I'd recommend thinking ahead and putting the barn at its final resting place if possible, even if it's out of the way now.

Alright here we go. The continuation of deck drama season 3.

So they "finished" the back deck. By that I mean it's 99% done but there is some missing finishing. All that's left is the pool deck and the giant trash pile. They show up today after 2 weeks of not seeing them claiming this long story about how they never pulled a permit for the pool deck. They were asking me to go to town hall and pull it.

Told them nope and they had told Friday or I'm cancelling the whole contract. MA has some big laws about breach of contract with contractors, so I'm prepared to go down that path.

By the way. This is how they left my yard with 4 feet holes for concrete. I think they roughed it in so they could frame the decking? I'm not even sure.

Noodleface said:

Alright here we go. The continuation of deck drama season 3.

So they "finished" the back deck. By that I mean it's 99% done but there is some missing finishing. All that's left is the pool deck and the giant trash pile. They show up today after 2 weeks of not seeing them claiming this long story about how they never pulled a permit for the pool deck. They were asking me to go to town hall and pull it.

Told them nope and they had told Friday or I'm cancelling the whole contract. MA has some big laws about breach of contract with contractors, so I'm prepared to go down that path.

By the way. This is how they left my yard with 4 feet holes for concrete. I think they roughed it in so they could frame the decking? I'm not even sure.

View attachment 552861

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Um I assume you mean they finished it more after that photo right? I don't consider all the deck boards finishing...

What holes are you talking about? I'm so confused because there's no pilings or any meaningful supports to actually hang the deck on? I've never seen someone build the frame separate from the support columns.

Palum said:

Um I assume you mean they finished it more after that photo right? I don't consider all the deck boards finishing...

What holes are you talking about? I'm so confused because there's no pilings or any meaningful supports to actually hang the deck on? I've never seen someone build the frame separate from the support columns.

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Your confusion echoes mine

There's 4 feet holes for piling under there somewhere. I mean that top part is like the base of the deck and that's what they did. It makes no sense!!!!!