The gravel will be your best bet. The deeper the gravel the better off you'll be from heaving and sinking effects. Compact the gravel as much as possible by doing it in 2-3 inch layers. Also does your existing patio have a drain? If it does than you might have a problem with the sand washing away over time. You can find edging where you buy you pavers, it is generally a poly material and is held in with 9-12 inch spikes. BTW you don't have to use a spike in every hole. After that is all done you'll have to raise the level of the lawn or beds to match the patio height. Or.....take out the patio and put down gravel and do everything the correct way from the beginning and have "piece of mind". Good luck

The city inspector says" minimal standard req met" so it is fine with them. Any advice what to do next? We spoke with the field manager again and they will not poor in a new concrete wall but use epoxy and we asked to talk to his manager.He said he has to talk with him first and he will get back to us with his phone#. They have 10 years structural and 5 years leak warranty but we don't want cracked brand new house. This post was edited by adymax on Fri, Sep 20, 13 at 11:34

The only thing quick about your question is the math. If the widow sill is less than 44" off the floor, then the top of a 4' window would be about 14" below the top of the foundation. You can pour a concrete lintel over the top of the window. The window opening should be framed out in the forms before the concrete is poured. The hopper windows are often set inside removable steel window bucks and poured directly into the concrete with the top of the window about a foot down from the top of the foundation. When you consider that the dirt will be about 9" below the top of the foundation, and the top of the windows will be lower, you should realize how much light will be blocked by a window well. The egress window well can't be more than 44" deep either without steps to climb out. When the gravel in the bottom of the window well should be 8" below the window frame to protect from rot and termites etc, the top of a standard window well would still be about 28" below the top of the foundation or 19" below the dirt level. If you go with a stepped window well, you will get more light into the basement, as will a wider well. At that point, you may want to consider making the hole for the window wider than the window and all the way to the top of the foundation even if the window doesn't go that high. Then you can side around the window and above it to make it look better and tie it into the rest of the house. If you want to go with the smallest window wells possible, I would increase the height of the window to 5'. That will tie them into the rest of the house nicer without any extra siding hanging down and give you more of what is usually much needed light in the basement, as the well will block the light coming in from the lower half. These are all details that should be drawn up on complete plan. It is often done on a separate sectional view. This will include the actual height of the foundation which may not be exactly 9' if using plywood forms, the thickness of the basement floor, how many sill plates to avoid anchor bolts interfering with the floor joists etc, etc. From there, it is easier to figure out where the top of the window will be in relation to the maximum sill height.

Thanks for everyone's comments. In our case, the majority of the left and back foundation concrete as well as about half of the front foundation concrete are looking like the pictures that I uploaded. We have not find any nearby new construction looks like that. So very concerned about the quality of the foundation. We are thinking of hiring a structural engineer to do a further evaluation. Any thoughts? I see couple folks mentioning "touch up before back fill". Is this a normal fix for issue like this assuming there is no structural concern? Our builder did not even notice us when back filling. They still think what we saw is normal. Since back fill is done at this point, what will be the proper fix then? Many thanks!