Where the driveway meets the house
Isolation joints, caulking and the water that runs between them.
In short: No isolation joint between the slab and driveway at a Tallawong handover.
Two slabs, two movements
The house slab and the driveway are separate pours on different ground. They need to move independently, which is the job of an isolation joint between them.
What was missing
At a Tallawong handover the isolation joint had not been installed. The same house needed caulking over the foam strip at another slab to driveway join.
Why water matters here
An open or failed join lets water and debris under the slab edge, where reactive clay is most sensitive to moisture changes.
Colour and finish
The coloured concrete also showed patchy shades between sections. That is a finish item, worth noting but not structural.
Before you sign
Ask for the joint to be formed and sealed before handover. It is far harder to retrofit once landscaping is done.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Tallawong. Licensed building practitioners, NSW Fair Trading licence 366177C.
