I recently moved into a 1927 Craftsman style home in the Bay Area. Its exterior is stucco that runs all the way down to the ground. On the west side of the house, there is a concrete path that runs the length of the house approximately 60' to 70'. Near the south side of the house, the concrete path has settled away from the house and has formed a gap that gets about 3" wide and about 10' long. About 50' to 60' of the path has a gap about a 1/2" wide so I filled it with sika flex and it looks like it will be water tight. I would like to know what I can do to seal the 3" x 10' gap. The reason that I want to fix this problem because there appears to be some damage to the concrete wall of the basement due to moisture intrusion and I suspect that moisture during the rainy season just runs down the gap and is slowly attributing to the erosion of the concrete. So far there has been no foundation settling but I plan on living here for a long time so I want fix it before I have some major work to do. At this time, I'm not too excited about removing the path and pouring new concrete although I may consider that some day.
Thanks in advance, VC

 

Welcome to the forums! The gap is, of course, caused by the sinking of the pad itself and sliding on its base. The base for the pour was not properly done, or has seen bad heaving from changes in the weather. Your best bet is to break up the pad(s), make a proper base for a pour, and repour them with a slight tilt away from the house.

 

I was afraid that you were gonna say that.
I like your suggestion as my best bet as permanent solution but I'm afraid that I will end up with an even worse situation if I try to pour concrete this close to my house since I have no experience with pouring or floating concrete and don't think I can afford to hire a contractor right now with the new fat mortgage. I'm saving my money to have a lot of concrete professionally completed in a couple of years but for now, I'm looking for a suggestions to provide a temporary (2 year) fix to keep moisture from attacking my foundation. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

You can buy bags of asphalt for patching. I would carefully mask the wall and sidewalk first then just dump and poke till it is filled. Never tried it and might have to be added to occasionally but it should seal the space.

 

For a temporary fix, a few cans of expanding foam will do the trick. After it hardens, cut it just below flush and top with sika flex.