For this important reason, you must contact your local foundation repair company as soon as you notice these issues. Common reasons include settling, poor drainage, and unstable soils. In the U. Out of these, about 60 percent experience foundation issues. This movement is what often causes foundations to crack. There are many things to consider when determining whether a foundation crack is serious or not. For example, you must consider the number, size, and location of the cracks, as well as whether your home has other signs of structural damage.
Generally, older homes have more structural issues, and consequently, need frequent foundation inspections. Cracks in foundations can cause a myriad of issues.
For instance, leaks in the walls of the basement, problems with windows and doors, roof issues, and framing issues. Sometimes, foundation cracks signal that your home has other deeper structural problems. Foundation often develops cracks when exposed to landslide pressures, a sinkhole or an earthquake. Structural damage can occur in your foundation as the soil beneath your foundation alternates between freezing and thawing.
Cracks may appear if your home has a second story added and the original footings were not strengthened or designed for a two-story building.
Foundation that is not properly engineered or sized for the type of soils and the loads that it is carrying will experience cracking. The foundation may sink and crack if the soil was not properly compacted before digging the footings. Foundation failure may happen when leaks in plumbing occur. The moisture, either from sewer lines or water lines, migrates through the foundation causing cracking.
Heaving or lifting pressures of the soils may crack the foundation found in soils with a clay content, especially a high clay content. The changes in soil conditions, instead, are what cause most of the damage to a home foundation. As a homeowner, there are numerous indicators of foundation problems that you may want to familiarize yourself with. Winnipeg is known for Gumbo Clay, that moves up and down from year to year, so it is likely that Randy's cracks are not stable. I always suggest drawing a line across a crack, putting a couple of measurement marks on the line so that the movement of the crack can be tracked over time.
Check back every month for a year. If the crack doesn't move at all, fill it with anything. You'll eventually remove the nails after you've slid the injection ports over them. That way, you'll be able to grasp the extra length to remove the nail.
In a pinch, use pins, toothpicks, or thin coffee stirrers instead of nails to align the ports with the crack. Slide the plastic injection ports over the nails. Scoop smalls amounts of each epoxy part onto a piece of scrap wood, then mix them until they're a uniform gray color. Dab the base of a port with a small amount of epoxy, slide the port over a finishing nail, and press the epoxy-covered base against the foundation surface.
Repeat the steps to install the remaining injection ports. Don't apply so much epoxy that it'll spread and clog the hole when you press the port against the wall.
When mixed together, the 2 parts form a compound that will cure and harden. Use separate sticks to scoop out the 2 parts to avoid contaminating the containers. Remove the nails after installing the ports. Hold the base of the port against the wall with one hand. With the other, pinch the length of the nail that protrudes past the port's nozzle, then pull the nail directly out of the wall.
Spread the 2-part epoxy over the crack and injection ports' bases. Mix together the 2-part epoxy, and spread it over the crack with a trowel or putty knife. Allow the layer to cure for 6 to 10 hours, or according to the kit's instructions.
Scoop out the recommended amounts of each part of epoxy with separate sticks, then mix them together on a piece of scrap wood with a clean putty knife. Wipe your putty knife with a rag and mineral spirits or paint thinner as soon as you've finished spreading the epoxy over the crack.
The compound will be tough to remove once it has cured. Fill the lowest port until repair compound oozes out of the one above it. Insert the cartridge tip into the lowest port's nozzle, and squeeze the caulk gun's trigger. Keep squeezing the trigger until the compound starts seeping out of the port directly above the one you're filling. Stop squeezing as soon as the compound starts oozing out of the port above the one you're filling.
If too much seeps out, excess epoxy could drip onto the walls. Plug the nozzle, then continue filling each injection port. After injecting the first nozzle, plug it with one of the plastic caps that came with the injection port kit. Then insert the cartridge tip into the next port above the first, and inject it with the compound.
Repeat the steps until you've injected compound into each of the ports. Allow the repair compound to cure, then cut off the injection ports.
After you've injected and capped each port, let the compound cure according to your product's instructions. Polyurethane cures within minutes or hours, while epoxy may take up to 5 days. Finally, using a hacksaw, cut off the necks of the injection ports where they meet the foundation wall.
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Foundation cracks can come in many different shapes and sizes, and knowing which ones are more serious then others is very important. Most cracks are due to the home settling naturally and not a cause for you to be worried. In newer homes, you might see what is called shrinkage cracks. Shrinkage cracks can occur within the first year that the home is built, and generally not a cause of concern. What happens is that when the concrete foundation gets poured, it contains thousands of liters of water, and over time that water will slowly evaporate, causing the concrete to dry and slowly crack.
Most of the time you will see shrinkage cracks under basement windows and above door frames. It is not uncommon to also see shrinkage cracks in the middle of the wall as well. A more serious type of foundation crack that can occur on newer homes, but is not uncommon to see on some older homes, is caused by the ground moving.
This type of problem will require a full excavation of the surrounding foundation walls. So knowing which type of crack you are looking at is important. Vertical cracks in your foundation are typically the most common type of crack that you will see. These types of cracks are normally the result of the home settling, wall movement, tipping walls, or shrinkage due to the concrete drying. They can usually be found in the middle sections of a wall, and run vertically up and down, or diagonally.
You might find that measuring the crack with a ruler or a tape measure could prove a little difficult in trying to determine the exact width. Horizontal cracks are generally an indication of a much more serious problem.
Horizontal cracks are caused by what is called hydrostatic pressure coming from the outside of the wall. This could happen due to heavy rains or flooding, and over time this pressure can cause the foundation wall to cave in, causing the horizontal cracks to appear as the wall slowly begins to give out. If you notice horizontal cracks in the foundation, you should also be on the lookout for the following:. These are signs of a more serious problem going on that should have a professional contractor look at right away.
A stair-step crack is one of the more serious types of cracks that occur in concrete block and brick foundations. These cracks flow diagonal, going from the bottom to the top in a step-like pattern. Stair-step cracks are the cause of foundation movement. Foundation can mean many different things when dealing with what causes the stair-step crack.
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