That would be very difficult and costly to try and seal all those joints and when you get into joints that wide it makes matters worse. I wish I had some good advice to give you, but I am stumped. The water is no doubt flowing down that slope and infiltrating the expansion joints, washing out the soil under the boards. I'm not sure why it was constructed like that, I would think a continuous slab with contraction joints would of been the way to go. I'm pretty sure this is not the direction you are wanting to go, but I'll throw it out there just the same. I have seen people plant grass or some sort of vegetation between the joints, but this is a very distinct look and involves maintenace. Here is a link of something similar. http://www.troublefreepools.com/viewtopic.php?t=826&postdays=0amp;postorder=asc&start=60 I just thought of something else. You could pull out the board, level the soil in the bottom of the joint as best you can, then fill half the depth of the joint with a concrete or mortar mix (making sure to put a piece of fiber board in the side to allow for some expansion), then rip the expansion board to the remaining depth and replace it. This should offer some stabilization to the soil in the joint and keep it from washing out. You could probably fill the entire joint this way, but I think it might look better to keep the expansion boards visible. See the sketch below.

"as of next week our entire savings is going into the lot" Based solely on your statement above, IMO, building is not right for you or your family at this time. Just because the lot you found is a "rare and lucky find", doesn't mean you have to buy it. Don't buy a good deal just because it's a good deal. This may be why your wife just doesn't "get it". Several statements you made make it seem as if you don't get it either. For instance: "The bank is giving me the money, why can't I just go to Home Depot....." Well, you can go to Home Depot, but the bank isn't going to give you that money BEFORE you go. Instead, YOU pay for your items at Home Depot yourself, then submit a draw request to the Bank to reimburse yourself. Seeing as you have no savings, can you pay cash for these items and wait for your next draw to be reimbursed? That's where these builders come into play. They foot the bill for the items, and wait for reimbursement. They assume the risk, which you pay "interest" for, so to speak. If you want affirmations, yet you've already said that "unless they can build the home I want for $72K less than they quoted me we've both wasted enough time" - why does it matter if you think it's a scam or not? If you can't get them to this price point, you said you won't consider a contract with them anyways. My advice, walk away from this lot, consider your wife's desires for a home and find a compromise. Renting may be your best option. Or maybe you can buy the home your wife loves, build equity for the next 20 years, sell and build your dream retirement home? Good luck, I think your marriage depends on the decisions you make...

Thanks Mrs S and dant1888. The molding idea is interesting. But if it has to be that wide it may not work out. None of our our other doors entrances have trims/molding that wide. stained trim piece is also a good idea. Let me discuss that some more and see how it looks. Another idea that came up today which I would like to share: Make the gap even. Ask the drywall guy to add "mud" such that the "switch wall" is level and parallel to the cabinet.

Greg Beach I had the issue in multiple rooms but only peeled the paint off in the worst room. In the other rooms, we skimmed, applied Gardz, waited 24+ hours, primed and then painted. I don't remember which primer we used - in some rooms it was Sherwin Williams (one of their pro primers because they provided the paint). In other rooms it might have been Ben Moore. We didn't spray the paint. It was always rolled and brushed. The failed paint left a weird residue behind that wouldn't come off no matter what we did. We cleaned the walls, wiped, vaccummed, etc . Only gardz stopped it