Category: Site & Groundwork

I laid pavers for eleven years before I picked up an inspection licence, so when I crouch down at a front entry and rock a paver with my palm, I’m not guessing what I’m feeling for. On a job in Perth’s outer eastern suburbs last month, six pavers near the letterbox rocked under light pressure, and when I lifted one the bedding sand underneath had washed into a hollow the size of a dinner plate. The owners had no idea — from standing height it just looked like a slightly uneven path.

Continue reading Paving Settlement and Trip Hazards: A Perth Inspection Checklist

The crack ran from the expansion joint near the garage door in a dead straight diagonal, maybe 4mm wide at its widest point, and the vendor’s agent had already told the buyers it was “just concrete doing what concrete does.” I’ve written that exact line into more contract negotiations than I can count, and it’s rarely the whole story. On this one, in a suburb built over old workings from the Hunter coalfield, that diagonal crack combined with a step in the slab where it crossed the joint told me the movement was ongoing, not historical. The buyers renegotiated by close to $3,000 before settlement.

Continue reading Concrete Driveway Cracks: What Inspectors Flag in Newcastle Homes