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Driveway too high against house, need a solution.

6K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  mgp roofing 
#1 ·
I'm staying at a friend's place, while working nearby. Anyway, last night, he asked me to find and correct the cause of a springy bit of his living room floor. So this afternoon, I crawled under the house. The springy floor is an easy fix (bowed joist, probably been like that from when the house was built) a 4x2 sistered on the side and the subfloor fixed to it will do the job.
However, the concrete driveway has been a known issue for years with regards to sloping the wrong way (towards the house!) There is a stainless steel flashing along the wall, which I had assumed kept the concrete separated from the wall, but when I was under the house I noticed water stains and rotten wood where the driveway meets the house. Closer inspection outside reveals that the stainless flashing is only mortared into a shallow saw cut in the concrete, and beneath it, the concrete is hard up against the hardboard siding.
Lucky for us, the joists are pressure treated (CCA) so they aren't rotten, though the blocking between them, the end of the sill plate, and the edge of the subfloor, is, as is the siding in the area. I suspect the bottom plate of the wall likely needs replacing also.
My query is, what is a workable way to keep the surface water away from the house wall, ripping up and lowering the driveway is not an option (code is 150mm below the siding which means it, and the floors of his and the neighbours' attached garages would need to be 450mm lower)
 

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#6 ·
Short of lowering the driveway or raising the house, about the only solution I can see is to cut out the concrete against the house and put in a lower section with a drain like they do with basement windows. Cover the area with a wooden deck type walkway
It's been a problem for a while since they tried to fix it once by putting in the drainage gutter.
 
#7 ·
I agree with the last poster. Apart from lowering the drive, you can only really cur the concrete away from the house and out some sort of guttering / drainage in. Reseal the side of the house.

This will be a messy job, but needs doing otherwise the timber is going to get wet and rot, this will be even more trouble! :(
 
#8 ·
I cut out a section of the concrete, I think the cure, without big expense, is to cut out a strip right along the wall. Repair framing/siding as needed. Lay another row of blocks on top of the existing wall, then form a new drainage channel alongside, as detailed in drawing. Connect to the outlet of the existing drain. If I continue the new drain along in front of the garage, the existing one would be redundant & could be filled in, since it needs fixing anyway because its a trip hazard.
 

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