AlwaysOneMoreProject

Relax, friend. The "smarter" comment was to say that crushed stone, as recommended by itsreallyconc, is smarter than the gravel I suggested. It wasn't in response to your expansion joint.

The advice about hiring a professional was in response to the fact that the guy was left begging for help in a thread that followed him saying he wouldn't hire a professional if he could help it... to a group made up of a number of professionals.

mudmixer

AlwaysOneMoreProject -

I referred to a "control joint" and its location and never referred to being a "expansion joint", which is different.

itsreallyconcrete is well versed in concrete and accurately observed it was not a contractor job and a rock would be an alternate IF you did not want to accumulate water and debris in the "void" area.

I just suggested a joint location if the OP chose to pour concrete and recognizes the need to control cracks just as the other suggesions/options were pointed out.

Since there were not any clues to the location and climate, all that can done is to give suggestions. Rock will easily allow moisture to collect and be absorbed by the soil near the "void". My first "knee jerk" reaction was rock for a job of that size, but in a cold climate, the moisture allowed around and below the masonry wall could create a disaster and ruin the wall due to settlement or frost heaving.

Dick

itsreallyconc

i referred to what ? this thread is so old i forget IF it were my house, we'd have used bagg'd conc mix & be done in a couple hrs,,, i don't see any indication there would be collecting / settling wtr if the work's done correctly.

we use mainly #57 stone for sub-surface drainage - that's not the case here from what i recall

head-first

OK, I finally have some time to get back to this. Thanks for all criticisms () and suggestions.

As time is not in my favor, I did contact a small-repair concrete guy in town to get a quote, but he was too busy to connect with me when I was available. I figured that I can and will do it on my own anyway. As I mentioned, I took out a book about masonry from the library, which also has a DVD. After reading/viewing, I am confident that I can do it.

Filling stone is the easiest option, and also my least favorite. Too much traffic and potential erosion.

I like the like the idea about cutting across and making the space trapezoidal. The sides will not be parallel with the mismatching dimensions of the side and it will have a somewhat odd shape, but unique is better than boring to me and I think it'll look very cool. It will up the price a little though, as renting a saw w/ blade for the job will be up around $50 (not including the extra concrete necessary for a larger void). I don't want to use my circular saw because that could throw off it's calibration with such rough cutting. I am going to check out some chisels. Somehow, I will make that cut, I'm just not sure how much I want to spend on that aspect.

I also really like the idea of creating an aggregate surface. That will be a plus for traction and appearance. This is also covered in the book I have and I think it'll be totally doable. And it does look fun.

Oh, and doing the sections one at a time seems like the way to go, especially after seeing how screeding is performed.

I will be back with my progress at some point.