Foundation Crack Repair

As long as you see a puddle or water seeping into your home, that should be a cause for concern!

Causes of foundation cracks

As long as there is a crack in the foundation of your home, you can be sure water will find its way into the house. Foundation cracks are very dangerous if left alone because this will compromise your house’s foundations and in some cases force someone out of their homes. A cracked foundation can be caused by a lot of things and the one thing they all have in common is that whenever there is water in there, it means your basement already is, or will be compromised soon. This is also one of the first and best indicators that you need to get help fast. The common causes of  foundation cracks that lead to water leaks are the following:

Sewer pipe leak – Damage to the sewer pipe can seep into the ground surrounding your home, and then find their way through cracks or gaps in the cement surrounding your basement.

Water pipe leak – Same as the above except that the water seeping into your basement can come from either the outside drain, or your indoor pipe system. This can be caused by botched repairs, drilling in the wall, and even improper pipe installation can cause this.

Clogs in the floor drain – If your floor drain is clogged naturally any water going in there is going to back up and flow out. Basements used for laundry or similar things are vulnerable to this. Additionally, this is where sewer water will back up the most when the sewer main is clogged and travel through the cracks on the foundation cement.

Window well leak – Window wells keep out water and dirt, while letting in sunshine into your basement. If your roof gutter is improperly set up or clogged, rain can be directed to your window well and water freely flows in through the cracks.

Rain flowing in – If you’re house is old, this can be an issue since in these cases the ground tends to slope into the house. This is because the soil is more compact in some areas more than others, making a slope where rainwater collects near your home and seeps into the basement through the cracks.

Honeycombs in cement – Honeycombs are caused when cement is improperly poured and the concrete hasn’t settled properly thus producing air pockets and cracks. Aside from causing your wall to be brittle, this gives water free reign to seep into your house.

Hydro-static pressure – This is the downward pressure generated by gravity and this forces surrounding water down into your basement walls like a bear hug. Like the compressing feeling you get in your chest when you take a deep dive, ground surrounding your basement that is saturated with water is a very disastrous combination. The basement was built to withstand this but if left unchecked the combined weight of the ground and water will overwhelm your walls causing a foundation crack to form.

Mortar joints – Old stone, brick, or cinder block built homes with eroded mortar joints will surely have water seep into them through cracks, not to mention affect the integrity of the whole structure itself.

Broken weeping tile – These are used to waterproof the points where your basement meets your foundation. If it is broken, then the water will not drain  and  cause a crack to form. Older, clay-based weeping tiles are vulnerable to this.

Foundation cracks solution

If you ask 5 untrained people how to do this, you will get 5 totally different answers. None of which will be to repair the crack, then waterproof the basement. While plugging up the foundation crack and keeping it watertight as a boat may seem like a good idea, believe us it isn’t. First, your house isn’t a boat, and if you build the basement like a boat it will act like a boat, and you don’t want this to happen lest you want to rip your house apart. The crack must be repaired, just waterproofing the wall will not be enough. Not all foundation cracks will cause structural damage to the home, our plumbers will assess the crack, its location and dimensions. If the crack is deemed damaging to the structure of the home, we will contact an engineer and follow their specifications to repairing the crack and reinforcing the structural integrity of your home. Once the foundation crack has been repaired, we will waterproof the basement. This will prevent any basement leaks from occurring permanently.

When to call the experts?

When you discover a basement leak in your home, don’t walk into the flooded basement without sealed rubber boots, they will keep your feet protected against infections from the bacteria in the unclean water. Always turn off the main power to avoid electrocution. When it comes to basement leaks always stay on the side of caution and don’t DIY. Our team is highly skilled and experienced in different interior and exterior methods to fix your basement leaks, so as soon as you see a dreaded puddle in your basement call us and we will solve this for you!