We are in BCS -

Our driveway (7 years old) has holes appearing in it. Some are tiny and some continue to grow larger. Some are large enough so that I can scoop dirt out from underneath, like 2-3" long. The holes seem to grow larger over time. Also, concrete is beginning to separate at the seams in between sections, so that the dirt beneath is completely visible.

Our homebuilder was Top Line Homes in BCS. The owner has been notified and asked about it on multiple occasions and ignores or refuses to assist with a solution.

Can anyone give recommendations for filling or fixing without ripping up the concrete and replacing?

TexAg1987 said:

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Pictures?

Sounds like you may have an issue with water under the driveway.

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Or maybe a real poor mix and possibly rain when it was poured and the concrete never set properly? Seems like if you try to patch, more will just show up based on your description of it being all over.

Scary to read NO steel reinforcing was mentioned found.
So many NEW home builders, NO state registration/regulation, NO licensed residential designers required = such as this.
Would like to have an impartial, construction savvy 3rd party to point the blame finger, however ...

From best & most $$$ down
1) any structural engineer: visit, test, evaluate, design, inspect construction
2) any top rated concrete labor crew, to advise, then repair/replace
3) DIY using free advice from The Money Pit radio show, others in the biz or selling repair products - this is NOT the best path and will not last as long, costs more money in the long run in do-overs .... but if you are a renter and Owner doesn't take care of you .....

Nice to learn about a biz and their priorites of profits vs "stand behind one's quality of workmanship" ... as you report it. If indeed this problem is stone walled, after your continued calls, then you might want to warn others:
Google reviews (they currently have one 5-star rating with no details)
BBB (you might have to twist their arm to first LIST this biz, in order for all to rate them)
Home Builders Asso - they don't like black eyes killing their biz, so may police their own
https://gbvbuilders.org/
Chamber of Commerce?
Others?

Sounds like a combination of mud bubble pops and some soil movement. Pictures would be nice.

This happened to me about 10 years ago. I started noticing spots after we'd had a coulple of ice storms in DFW.

Bent down one day and picked up a handful of concrete and the brown pebble stone that was added as a decorative top.

Within a month there was exposed rebar where we'd turn our wheels entering/leaving the garage via the swing drive, and multiple spots that it was clearly doing the same thing just slower due to not having daily tire contact.

The home was a few years out of warranty (we'd built it) but the homebuilder's super, same guy who managed our build, came out to look. He then had their concrete guy out. Ultimately said it looked like the concrete "froze" in their term, and he wasn't referring to the storms.

THey ripped it up and replaced. he said they filed it under the 10 year structural warranty because it absolutely should not be failing in the manner it did, a least not in my lifetime.

Structural warranty is what should be pushed, and the builder I would think has insurance for the rare occassions they need to call in the 10 year.

The lack of rebar in the driveway is scary.

Was it poured on a 100 degree day and allowed to dry out prematurely?

You are VERY blessed by this home builder as I have not seen flatwork covered in the past inside the 10-year warranty/insurance. Good to learn!

https://www.2-10.com/blog/what-10-year-builders-warranty-cover/

Holes like this by any chance? For reference that's maybe 4" diameter.

Your situation at least sounds like what I'm dealing with now on a 4 y/o driveway. I have nothing helpful to add but am watching…

You can get a pretty good idea of what's going on from these pics. Our driveway is probably 75 yards long and fairy wide. Not sure how much longer we will live here maybe 2 or 3 years. It's definitely still driveable but tiny holes appear and grow over time and that's my concern.

Honestly, looks like there could be multiple issues.

There's a lot of exposed aggregate in those first two pictures. It's like they didn't tamp/vibrate enough to get the concrete to settle, which probably left several voids and contributed to the holes. Or they they tried to float it too late after it had dried too quickly?

That said, I'm not sure it looks like there's no rebar based on what I'm seeing. Maybe the sections were poured separately, and there are a few cold joints, but I don't think it's just missing reinforcement.

Just my two cents.

I'm not sure you can patch that. It'll probably continue to get worse

Looks to me like 2 issues:

1. You have clay balls in your concrete. That comes from the loader operator digging to deep under the aggregate pile when loading the bins to make the concrete. While it doesn't look great, it's structurally fine. My guess is your contractor didn't use a very professional concrete supplier. You could probably pursue getting this replaced at their cost.

2. The joints are not finished well. I think the contractor may have installed redwood joints and then finished the concrete on top of the wood, which left a thin layer of concrete and it's coming off. In addition, the other joint just doesn't appear finished clean. It's hard to tell in the pic if the joints are opening too far. We typically like to see longitudinal joints tights (rebar at that joint keeping it tight) and allow transverse joints to open / close using smooth dowel bars across those. Although driveways don't usually have enough load to justify dowels.

Is this something that could possibly show in an inspection if we were to list our home for sale? If so, what would the inspector require or recommend?

Without having to replace, is there any kind of filler that could be used to patch before any kind of inspection like that as a temporary cosmetic fix?

If you can clean out the "holes" so the dirt is removed, you could likely fill them with a patch type product. They can be bought at Home Depot I think.

As for the joints, those are tougher to fix.

I don't know what an inspector would say. I can only guess they may not even look at it.

EvenPar said:

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Is this something that could possibly show in an inspection if we were to list our home for sale? If so, what would the inspector require or recommend?

Without having to replace, is there any kind of filler that could be used to patch before any kind of inspection like that as a temporary cosmetic fix?

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Inspector opinion.

I note those on new construction or one year warranty inspections when the client is dealing with the builder directly if they are really bad. Very common around here. Pretty tough around dfw to get builders to repair concrete, though occasionally someone gets lucky.

On an older house, I generally would not comment on that type of thing. If the driveway has major cracks and deflection I usually mention it. Honestly, messed up driveways are pretty common after a certain age.

In your case, at 7 years old, I would look at it as poor workmanship on the builder's part, but also that is kind of is what it is and is not likely to cause catestrophic failure of the driveway. That is not really an inspection deficiency, IMHO.

Other inspectors may handle it differently.

Ardex it.

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