Concrete Cracks in Basements

Many homes that have concrete basements have foundation cracks. This is a normal situation because as the concrete cures it shrinks in volume. This shrinkage creates stresses in the concrete wall. To relieve the stress, the concrete cracks. The most common areas for a “shrinkage crack” to occur are in the middle of a long wall, below a corner of a basement window or where the foundation wall changes height.

A large number of homes built since 1990 have their walls coated with a waterproof membrane. This waterproofing protects many cracks from leaks, but it can be defeated. Whether your home is protected by waterproofing or not, there are several ways for water to get into the basement;

1. Soil above the waterproofing allows water to enter above the protective waterproofing. When rains occur, water enters the crack above the waterproofing and leaks into the crack from the top. The water runs down inside the crack until it is seen on the interior surface of the basement wall as a leak.
2. The corners of basement window openings are a common area for concrete to crack. During rains water runs off of the window and then enters the crack at the window opening corner. Again the water runs down the inside of the crack until the crack narrows and forces the water to the interior face of the basement wall.
3. Some cracks are sufficiently wide to exceed the maximum width the waterproofing is designed to protect. In this case the waterproofing tears and leaves a gap in protection against the water. Water can enter directly into the crack and enter the basement.
4. Foundation walls without waterproofing run a high risk of having cracks leak. Water can enter unhindered through any shrinkage cracks and appear on the interior side of the basement.

Whatever the source of the leak, homeowners wish to stop it.

DIY Concrete Basement Crack Repair Kits

Urethane foam injection used to be a process only professional repair technicians could perform. Kits with urethane foam are available for homeowners to stop water leaks in concrete basement cracks. Urethane foam liquid is injected into the crack using a common caulk gun. Once inside the crack the urethane begins to expand. This expansion forces the urethane foam all the wall through the crack. Once finished the crack will be sealed from top to bottom. Now water will remain on the outside of the basement and not leak into the basement.

Urethane Foam Injection Advantages

1. No chiseling the foundation wall
2. Entirely fills the crack top to bottom
3. Fast repair performed in about 2 hours
4. Little mess

Limitations

1. Concrete basements only. This repair will not work on block foundations.
2. Surface must be dry. The interior face of the basement wall must be dry for application.

This article is written by Aaron Kuertz with Applied Technologies Aaron has been in the waterproofing industry since 1998. Applied Technologies is a manufacturer and supplier to professional waterproofing contractors and homeowners in the United States. To learn more about concrete crack repair visit Applied Technologies on the web.

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DIY Construction

Doing the home improvement construction yourself has it’s pros and cons. The one major pro is that it’s far cheaper than hiring a professional contractor. Having said that you need to make sure you know what you’re doing. If you end up having to hire a contractor to fix the mess you’ve made it will end costing you far more than if you hired a contractor in the first place.

Hiring A Professional Contractor

Getting a professional contractor to do your home improvement construction makes your life easier. Basically you leave all the hard work and all the responsibility in the hands of someone who earns a living by knowing what he’s doing. You don’t need to worry about safety concerns either, if there are any issues the contractor should alert you and tell you what needs to be sorted. It’s more expensive off course, but the outcome should be very satisfying.

Construction Safety

Safety is a major concern. Whether you’re doing the construction yourself or you’ve hired a contractor you do need to make sure the home improvement construction is done safely. If you have hired a contractor he should be able to tell you if you need to do anything to improve safety. If you’re doing it yourself you should be extra careful. I would consult with a professional to make sure that I do the job safely. Nothing is more important than your health!

The Cost Of Construction

When it comes down to it the financial aspect is most likely going to decide how you will get your home improvement construction done. Let’s face it, if you’re on a tight budget you will probably be considering the DIY approach. That’s just fine if you know what you’re doing. However, if you don’t I urge you to consider hiring a professional. If you can’t afford that then you should reconsider the project. You have to thing about the long term costs of the project. As stated the DIY approach is cheaper IF you get it right. If you don’t it will end up being far more expensive.

There are many ways to approach home improvement construction. You need to consider quite a few things. Make sure the decision you make is the right one.

Know Your Own Limits

Some of us just aren’t blessed with great practical skills. Most can be learned of course, but do you really want your home and your family to be your guinea pigs? Before you throw yourself at a home repair project you really need to think hard about the scope of the problem. Is this a really simple problem or is it something a bit more complicated.

If it’s a simple problem it’s a good place to get some home improvement experience. The leaky faucet mentioned in the introduction is a great example of this kind of problem. If it’s not just he faucet, but your entire water system that is leaking you really want to consider bringing in a pro. The truth is that while doing it yourself might sound cheaper, shoddy repairs will usually be far more expensive than hiring a pro to begin with. So before you get started you need to determine if it’s a problem you can handle by yourself.

Determine If It’s A DIY Project Or Not – A Simple Rule Of Thumb

One very simple way to figure out if it’s a DIY project or not is to pay a visit to your local library or hardware store. If you find a book at the library that describes the problem and more importantly the solution in a way that’s easy for you to understand you might be able to pull it off yourself. You have to be really honest with yourself when reading about the solution. You have to admit to yourself whether or not you understand the solution. That’s something I find very hard to do, which is why I usually never let the library alone decide. The next thing I do is usually pay a visit to the local hardware store.

The staff at your local hardware store tend to be DIY’ers themselves and they tend to know the solutions to simple problems. If they do and if they think it’s a problem you can easily solve yourself ask them to explain the solution to you. If you understand what they are saying, ask them to show you, it’s time to move ahead. You can now, with reasonable confidence, start your home repair project.

If All Else Fails

Hire a professional! Even if you’ve already started your project and you find out that you’re in over your head do not hesitate to get a contractor. Even at this stage it’s liable to be the less expensive option. Finally you need to remember that you can take on home repair projects yourself. Just make sure you know what you’re doing.