foundation crack repair to keep out rain

Does the rain make my foundation crack get worse?

The answer to this question is a definite maybe. The rain has a cause and effect thing with the soil that is around your house. The soil then can crack your foundation, or if it is already cracked, make it worse. So, indirectly, the rain can worsen cracked foundations. A foundation crack repair will keep the rain out.

Why does concrete crack?

Most cracking in foundations comes from:

1. Shrinkage
2. Settlement
3. Stress

Concrete is one of the best building materials ever devised by man. Concrete is a building material made from mixing Portland cement, sand and water. After you mix the concrete two things will happen. It will get hard and it will crack. When it’s done right concrete will last a long time. But it will crack; it is just a matter of when.

Look at the concrete next time you go to the store. There are cracks in concrete everywhere. If the walls, floors and sidewalks are made of concrete, they probably have cracks in them.

Which is worse, a vertical crack or horizontal crack?

Typically, small vertical cracks are not structural while most horizontal cracks are.

The most common cause of horizontal cracks in a foundation is unbalanced soil pressure. Most soil movement is due to what is called expansive soil. When the soil has high clay content it is called clayey soil. As the clayey soil absorbs the ground water it expands. Think of rice. When you cook rice you start out with 2 cups of rice and 1 cup of water. 20 minutes later you have expanded rice and no water because the rice has absorbed the water and increased in size as a result. As the soil expands it is moving. Expansion is movement. This is known as soil swell.

Your foundation wall should be acting as a retaining wall against the soil swell. A horizontal crack in a foundation wall is likely a sign that the foundation is failing under the weight of the surrounding soil. The soil outside the foundation wall exerts an enormous pressure on the foundation wall. Foundation walls are designed to be strong enough to resist this load. A lot of pressure weighs down on your home from the entire weight of the house, and soil pressure from the earth. Occasionally additional loads exert pressure and the foundation begins to fail resulting in a horizontal crack in the foundation wall.

All concrete foundations will crack at some point. It is a fact. The severity of the cracking and it effects the structure’s integrity are varied. No crack is a good crack and all cracks should be repaired immediately.

Most Foundation Crack Repairs can be done in one day by A-1 Basement Solutions.