Movement Joints: Where needed for stairs leading up to spillway spa?

[Michelle MG]

Yes, it will be hard to cut concrete that deep to create an expansion joint.

There are concrete saws but you can only cut as deep as the depth of the saw blade.

All of this should have been figured out before construction began. I assume you had no construction plans showing what they were going to do.

Correct- they did NOT make any plans to show me- but I do remember the general guy warning me before they started that the new stairs would have a line through them for a movement joint. I did not know much at the time and forgot about that until it was finished and I saw cracks in the coping mortar right where he had told me there would be a mastic line.. and then all they did to fix it was cut the mortar part and replace with mastic.

I just don't know what to do at this point.. from what you say, it sounds like they cannot cut thru the rest of the stairs now unless they demo it all and start over? So if this is possibly going to keep cracking the spa wall tiles (and maybe also the thinset under them?) are there any other options? My guess is that clay soil will expand/contract every season and keep putting some pressure on the spa wall near the stairs..

Do you know if there are any people who work for a PB company on this forum who may have an idea of best course of action?

 

[ajw22]

It is impossible to predict if you will have cracking problems, or not.

Give the builder the challenge of creating a full depth expansion joint and see what he comes up with.

 

[Michelle MG]

It is impossible to predict if you will have cracking problems, or not.

Give the builder the challenge of creating a full depth expansion joint and see what he comes up with.

OK thank you so much for all of your time on this- it really helps to have someone knowledgeable to ask all these questions and get some ideas before going back to the PB. I will indeed see how the PB responds to wanting the full depth expansion joint.