Another foundation crack...

Do it properly and get it sealed from the outside. I had cracks in my basement (block wall) and had the basement waterproofing done. It was $$$ but we were getting the basement done and didn't want to have headaches in the long run. Doing it from the inside mitigates the water that comes inside, but you want to stop it from coming in the first place, so best practice is to seal it from the outside.

325i wrote: ↑ 1.jpg2.jpgHey Everyone,

Need some thoughts on a foundation crack we spotted last year.

Pics attached - it starts off the window and we can trace it down about 2 feet where it becomes a hairline crack.

No leaks (yet) from this location and the house does get rained on pretty hard from the back.

Basement is finished so I can't see the back side of this.... just wondering what the standard practice is for this size of crack.

Should I be calling someone to dig and repair, or seal the crack from the inside?

Or, should I fill the crack from the outside to the point that we can get to and where it becomes a hairline crack.

thoughts?

Thanks!

Hiring someone to do it is going to be very expensive. That looks like a vertical crack which is very common and it does not look very wide.

Before I finished my basement I used one of those crack repair kits that fill it with an expanding foam from the inside. I didn't have any water issues from it but just decided to do it as I was finishing the inside. If no water is getting in, you may just want to keep an eye on it. If it starts getting wider or if water is seeping in, then it may become an issue. Do you not have any barrier between the foundation and the soil?

Even if there is no water is entering the crack (as far as you know) i would highly recommend you do something about it now since you dug it out, I would maybe dig a little deeper/wider.

This is what I would do,

- Clean the wall really good so whatever you put on it sticks good
- Fill in the crack with a waterproof caulk or something similar - let it cure/dry
- Apply BlueSkin over the crack & if you have left over you can overlap the edges of the first layer by a few cms - https://www.homedepot.ca/product/bakor- ... 1000403398
- Then you could do a plastic membrane on top like this - https://www.rona.ca/en/delta-foundation ... 02-0382001
or maybe just a rubber foundation sealer on top would also work, depends on how much work you are willing to put into it.

But at the Very least apply some blueskin or similar and filling the crack because it may not be leaking now but it could in the future & cause damage where instead of spending $250 to fix it now later you could be ripping down walls on the interior.

exrcoupe wrote: ↑ Do it properly and get it sealed from the outside. I had cracks in my basement (block wall) and had the basement waterproofing done. It was $$$ but we were getting the basement done and didn't want to have headaches in the long run. Doing it from the inside mitigates the water that comes inside, but you want to stop it from coming in the first place, so best practice is to seal it from the outside.

CrackSealing.jpg

Aquablock.jpg

Out of curiosity, what's the sq footage and how much did it cost you (range/ballpark will do). I surmise the cost of "digging" out is the majority of it as once you've dug, everything else is "easier" to do, relatively speaking? (Eg the bulk of the days it took was more digging rather than waterproofing?)

Thank you.

I didn't do the entire exterior of the house as one side didn't have any issues, but I did 73 linear feet and fortunately they were able to use a small backhoe to dig versus having to do it by hand. I got a few quotes from reputable companies and they were close in the $10-15K range.