3 Essential Things About Basement Crack Repair You Should Know About
Foundation walls are meant to support the weight of your house. Moreover, by resisting the moisture surrounding your house, you get to live in a dry and stable environment. So, when cracks in your foundation wall appears, it is a major issue that needs to be resolved fast. These cracks could be due to a number of reasons such as concrete issues and most importantly water. This can lead to mold growth and damage your valuables.
Unlike Basement crack repairs, fixing of foundation is not quite that simple. Also, there is no one type of crack, both foundation and cracks are of different types that need to be handled accordingly. So, let’s understand a few important things about foundation before hiring a professional for the same:
1. Types of Foundation Cracks
Diagonal Settlement Crack – Heer the footing gets settled along with the foundation wall. The reason being, the soil beneath the footing gets eroded. The main culprit here is the water that you can downspout away from the house.
Foundation Failure – It’s not a common one as there is abnormal cracking patterns and excessive cracking involved. The best solution here is to build a second foundation altogether.
Normal Hairline Crack – One of the most common types of foundation cracks, they usually result during curing process due to the plastic shrinkage of concrete.
Wide Structural Crack – When the footing that supports the wall is poured on insufficient or disturbed soil, a significant settlement surfaces. This footing settlement results in wide structural cracking.
2. Basic Causes of Cracks
Settling – Shortly after a house is built, this happens. When a foundation is placed on a ground that still needs compressing, cracks occur as per the size of compression.
Shrinkage – Like settling, it also happens shortly after you have built your home. The reason being the concrete poured shrinks or dries too quickly resulting in hairline cracks.
Movement – One of the most common cracks, it causes when ground around the foundation shifts or moves. Over the time, as the movement continues, cracks keep widening and worsening.
3. Repairing the Cracks
The crack repairing methods all depend on the type of foundation and crack you are having. A professional can opt for an injection method, where cracks are filled with expanding and flexible urethane sealant. The reason being the walls are made of pieces and are solid and monolithic. These kind of cracks are best repaired from outside and if it’s not feasible install a tear resistant liner. Also, an under floor drainage system would protect your basement from any moisture.
Another option is Epoxy that is a viable option but if there is constant ground pressure then this technique won’t be able to prevent the wall from leaking or cracking again. If the cracks have been repaired before, then you need additional preparation work and exact knowledge of an effective method to seal those cracks again. Here you have to clean the previous repair as much as possible and then use the injection or any other method.
Conclusion
No doubt, all the cracks would eventually leak. Also, fixing only the leaking cracks would end up costing you more in the long run. So, make sure you get the best professional services to avail the most reliable methods for effective results. To know more about foundation crack repair methods, get in touch with us today!