Foundation Repair Questions

[joseywales]

It might be too late to ask, but for the first time in my life a contractor has shown up and will take action within 24 hours!

I have a crack on our poured foundation wall. House is nearly 30 years old and the crack has been there since we moved in, 15 years. Probably sold to us that way. Anyway, it hasn't changed and does drip, especially after heavy rain, or during prolonged rain. Enough that we will soak several towels.

The crack is wider on the outside of the home - all downspouts, etc. are routed away from the home. We have an underground drain to help with neighboring water. The outside crack is positioned under an overhang, so it rarely gets "direct" water.

Anyway, I had all of the tools out and even chiseled a tiny piece, then stopped. One concern was, where will the water go, once I complete the repair. I get weird with foundations, but also never trusted waterproofing folks. I found a foundation repair company and they showed up the next day. Great guy to talk with and seemed to know everything, without being told. In fact, he told me several times how to do it and exactly what I would need to complete the job myself.

The crack is not structural, minor in nature, and inside a closet.

Within a couple hours, he sent me the estimate for approval, which included our municipal Parcel #, etc., so he'd already looked that up. once I approved it, he sent me his Certificate of Insurance. I know some of you have better luck, but I've never had a contractor move so quickly and provided these items, without being pestered. He is the owner and at the age where he does not complete the work.

His plan:

Inside: Cut out the crack in a V, use muriatic acid to wash the concrete. Mix the hydraulic cement with a bonding agent and NOT water. let dry for 4 hours, then coat with rubberized waterproofing paint, covering about 12 " in either direction of the crack.

Outside: dig down 12-18" below grade, expose the crack and repair similar to above, adding a damp proof application, then a water proofing membrane. Then back fill, etc. He's not overly concerned about this outside crack and the inside was minor as well. However, since the walls outside the closet have been dry-walled, he can't see where the water might try to go, so eliminating it from coming in can only help.

Questions:

1 - The container I bought offers two ways to open the crack, but says to NOT us a V. Any thoughts on that?

2 - He's doing all of this for just over $700. That's a lot, or not, depending on how you look at it. Once complete, he will certify that it is repaired correctly AND that it was not structural in nature. If I had done it myself, I sense issues with either selling the house, or dealing with an insurance company, should "my repair" fail. Add to that, the fact that I'm on vacation and already replacing toilets, dealing with the pool, etc., we thought it made sense to let the pros take this one on. Thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why is he only going down 12-18" below grade ? Is that the extent of the crack ?

 

[joseywales]

It's odd. The leaking part of the crack, inside the house, is from your waist down. And it only looks like the paint is cracked, so it's not a wide crack and it looks like it wouldn't even leak, but it does. Above the waist, if you look very closely, you can see a fine crack on the surface. So on the inside, it appears to start at the top and run to the floor.

The crack on the outside is a bit wider and actually looks like a crack and could possibly go all the way down. I'm not sure why he's not going all the way down. I can tell you that we have an above ground pool, about 5 feet from this wall. He did say that it could be putting pressure on the ground near the house. This crack is under a slight overhang, from where out kitchen windows protrude. So, between the overhang and the pool, there isn't a lot of room for equipment. this will all have to be hand dug. He wasn't overly concerned with doing the outside, but said it could help reduce some pressure, incase the water wants to find another way in.

You're concerned we're not going deep enough? Can we assume that since it's to the bottom on the inside, it would be to the bottom on the outside?

 

[RPH]

Crack repairs I have been involved in went all they way down to the bottom. I was wondering about the 12-18 inches too.

 

[joseywales]

Thanks. the owner's son had me sing the contract, but he's waiting outside, until the workers arrive. They're running late - rush hour traffic out here is no fun.

Anyway, I texted the owner and just spoke with his son, who will ask why they aren't going to the bottom on the outside.

The foundation wall is about 12" above grade. So if he truly digs 18" below grade, he'll have patched 30" of the outside wall, leaving about 55" to the bottom, unaddressed on the outside wall. Ironically, that's almost exactly where the leak begins on the inside wall.

 

[kmacht]

Mountain out of a mole hill. Almost all poured foundations have minor cracks like you describe. They happen when the concrete cures and shrinks. The only problem is tgat they occasionally let water seep through. The common and inexpensive fix is to buy a polyurethane foam injection kit. It is all done from the inside and seals the crack so no more water can get through. No need to dig up the outside or paint on any rubberized coatings. The guy is quick to do the work because he doesn't want you to research the issue and find out you can fix it just as well for a fraction of the cost.

 

[GMCGarage]

Mountain out of a mole hill. Almost all poured foundations have minor cracks like you describe. They happen when the concrete cures and shrinks. The only problem is tgat they occasionally let water seep through. The common and inexpensive fix is to buy a polyurethane foam injection kit. It is all done from the inside and seals the crack so no more water can get through. No need to dig up the outside or paint on any rubberized coatings. The guy is quick to do the work because he doesn't want you to research the issue and find out you can fix it just as well for a fraction of the cost.

Its best not to have water coming from the outside to the inside of your house. Foam might stop the leak, but the water still might be getting into the crack on the outside and run the risk of freeze-thaw issues.

 

[joseywales]

Mountain out of a mole hill. Almost all poured foundations have minor cracks like you describe. They happen when the concrete cures and shrinks. The only problem is tgat they occasionally let water seep through. The common and inexpensive fix is to buy a polyurethane foam injection kit. It is all done from the inside and seals the crack so no more water can get through. No need to dig up the outside or paint on any rubberized coatings. The guy is quick to do the work because he doesn't want you to research the issue and find out you can fix it just as well for a fraction of the cost.

I appreciate the input, because I'm always leery, but I don't think this is totally the case here. The owner explained three times, in detail, how I could just do it myself. He knew I had the tools, skills (based on other jobs I have completed in the home) and the materials were ready, because they were sitting in the closet. He also explained that they have been moving more and more away from physical work and more toward property inspections. Same song I hear from every contractor - it's too hard to find reliable, skilled workers. He explained outside wall, exactly as you did, that the outside really didn't need to be addressed, but he wanted to hit the fist 18". The worker doing the job explained the outside wall repair this way:

"Typically, they wouldn’t address the outside at all. However, since the plumbing waste pipe runs along the inside wall, where the crack is, it's blocking the top 12” of the inside wall, so they can't dig out and patch that portion of the inside wall the way they would like. So they want to patch the outside of the wall, down far enough that it would be below the pipe area on the inside wall." Now, whether that makes sense to do that, I don't know.

It's raining and very tight quarters to dig the outside, so that means all hand tools and my guess is that no one wants to do that if they don't have to.

A fraction of the cost, no doubt about it. I had the tools, so it was about $20 for patch and gloves. I paid 97% more. Why? Right or wrong, here was my rational:

- He will provide a receipt for the work and certificate stating no structural issues, etc.

- If I repair it myself and there's a future issue, my insurance company could (will) blame me. the fact is, I had a professional evaluate the issue complete the repair, so that's that.

- same as above, with regard to selling the house. The wall will never be covered with drywall, so any buyer will see it and it will help to know it wasn't a DIY job.

- I'm on VACATION! And I already have two toilets to replace, among other items that I've fallen behind on.

My wife and I save where we can and spend where we feel it makes sense. It's a balance of time and money and thus far we haven't made any errors. If I install a toilet and it leaks, no big deal. If I repair this wall and it leaks, my wife will say we should have paid someone for that job!

I know you're not judging and appreciate what you've said. I just think in this case it made sense. I could be wrong about that and time will tell.

 

[joseywales]

An update. The outside wall now exposed, shows the that cracks ends 6" from the top of the wall. They're going to chip down a little below that, but stop short of 18".

 

[rburke65]

I'm sure time will tell on thus one. Hope it will be alright for you.