How to Repair a Crack in a Concrete Foundation | This Old House
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2024
- Fixing a fractured foundation with This Old House general contractor Tom Silva. (See below for a shopping list and tools.)
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Shopping List for Repairing a Crack in a Concrete Foundation:
- triple-expanding foam insulation [amzn.to/2MbtRa9]
- mortar [amzn.to/2QxASAv]
- acrylic bonding agent [amzn.to/2KaKmAC]
- 5-gallon bucket [amzn.to/2QsJj06]
- sponge [amzn.to/2KaQ6KA]
Tools for Repairing a Crack in a Concrete Foundation:
- 5/8-inch-wide cold chisel [amzn.to/2MekF4E]
- hammer [amzn.to/2EFmwcR]
- drill [amzn.to/2Xb40A1] with mixing paddle [amzn.to/2HGKuGe]
- margin trowel [amzn.to/2wrwvOl]
- flat trowel [amzn.to/2VXu9B4]
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How to Repair a Crack in a Concrete Foundation | This Old House
/ thisoldhouse
Doing it RIGHT NOW!! following the video and I should be done today! I'm a 58 year old woman btw.
Aren't we all
That looks easy and fast to do. Repairing cracks in the basement as early as possible can prevent major structural problems in your house.
+American Basement Solutions but if your getting cracks, you might have a bigger problem, but i agree keep water out of there so it won't make it worse, freezing and eroding etc.
I'm glad that a lot of people see this for what it is, an improper fix. He should know better. That's a cosmetic fix at best and it isn't going to last long, I can tell you that from experience. You can't always believe what you watch on This Old House. There are different ways of fixing that below grade Foundational crack but that ain't one of them.
It's a cosmetic fix because there's nothing else to do. Part of the house settled, which is quite normal.
🎉I call it band aid fix, they do it when selling there home comes back down the line, movement over the years causes this turn down work like that I tell home owners the reason why. Cheers
It's crazy because Tom is a master carpenter, yet here he is doing foundation work
I'm a fashion designer and look at me repairing a foundation! 😳
A true Master Carpenter should have a well rounded knowledge base.
The wrong way unfulfilled. He should be using epoxy...
All these people saying this man is doing a horrible job, yet none of them got their own tv show, if y’all so good, why aren’t you guys getting paid like this man is. One thing I learned about this business is every mechanic or carpenter will never admit when someone does a great job, you can fix the wall the same as they did and make it look exactly the same as theirs, and they’ll still say your doing a horrible job lol. Old man got experience and been in the business for a long time, listen to him
Love and Peace not “ his “ tv show, 40 watt! Stick to reading your LL Bean catalogs....
EVERY DIY video on UA-cam is followed by comments from know-it-alls who'll trash the guy/girl doing the work. Hilarious !
Thank you so much for posting these directions. We fixed a crack in our wall tonight - I think the hardest part was digging out and chiseling the crack along the outside of the house - it went down about 4 feet. The power mixer for the mortar/acrylic mix was a great tip!
This is a hack job hahahah don't do what these people are doing in this video... fix it right ✅️
It must be awesome to have someone like Tom to come into your house to do repairs. You'll have peace of mind knowing that it's done right, and you get to learn something in the process.
We should all be so lucky
Just my $.02. I'm an ex roofer, and been in construction for 30+ years. Not to mention owning 3 homes. I have basement water issues in my current home but only during HEAVY rain. Like once every couple years when we get 10 inches in 2 days. I can say in confidence most water issues inside are resolved from the outside in proper drainage. Leaky gutter joints, clogged downspouts, improper grading, ect. From experience the majority of water in the basement problems can be fixed from the outside. Now, the size of the cracks shown here are big enough for rodents to enter so there are other issues to address as well. I'm talking about hairline cracks in the slab floors or walls. Just enough to let water in to be a pain. Bottom line is keep the water outside away from foundation walls and you have 75% of your battle fought.
in any event they need to keep water from the home and foundation so it doesn't keep settling and moving.... i would have just used a hydraulic cement for the entire job ... i really am not a foam fan.
Hydraulic cement is ok but if the crack is in a wall or floor that is subject to temperature changes due to the seasons, then a flexible sealant is recommended. All that expansion/contraction over time will break the seal of a cement and your problem repeats itself every couple years. Or like you said the house settling.
You're right. Plain and simple. I'm doing this right now and what a freakin' headache. I'm finding one crazy disaster after another. First I start inspecting the sod by the foundation it's over bricks soil has dropped below the footer, removing sod, brick, then find a pavement all up against the foundation. It was the bricks that got me though. Tomorrow I dig the trench out to daylight 25' and no I will not sledge out the cement walk this is going to be tricky. That's the only part that doesn't leak into the house. I guess the termites will continue their march into the house. Hope I can save this money pit. Can't put down termite solution until the foundation is resealed, repaired, back filled, graded etc. I am the one woman wrecking crew.
@@doloresm7396 I'm with you! Same here!
I'm not good in English, but this man make me 99% I'm understand what he teach. Thanks a lot Sir...
Tommy adding the acrylic is something ive never seen before. But Tommy knows his stuff for sure.
Excellent way to hide a problem. Surely know one will be the wiser.
This guy is an expert. Tom Silva knows what he's doing.
Realtor: “Just a tiny foundation crack, nothing to worry about” 😂😂😂
Legend has it that foam is still expanding to this day
And pushing out the mortar .
Hahahaha nice!
😂
😒
This man is the answer to everything !!! All companies should pay this man
I would go with expanding epoxy. It seals AND glues. It actually make the area of the crack stronger than the rest of the foundation.
You would go with expanding epoxy over what this guy did??
@@blakestevens2736 Yup
I'd trust Tom Silva
@@blakestevens2736 yup
Agree 100%. What Tom Silva did in this video is definitely not the way to do it. Poor job actually.
John's a good helper.
"If the foam keeps expanding, you gonna have your whole basements insulated" hahahah
LiPe VoLcOm carpenters and their masonry jokes 😂
]]
“Had a little bit of extra mortar so let’s mold a life size statute of Bob Villa in your front lawn.”
lol
Fantastic segment. I would love to hear TOH's thoughts on painting the interior of the basement with an impermeable sealer, like DryLok
The mold I had loved Drylock! If you have a hobby of raising mold I would suggest feeding it Drylock. My mold is very happy now and we get alone great.
I wouldn't use drylock because it traps water in the wall. Better to manage the water outside before it gets to the wall. If it gets in the wall, you want it to be able to get out.
@@matthewjamison1193 Agreed. That's the way I went. French drains, grading, and downspouts routed to discharge down slope and well away from the house. The "pros" I called all wanted to install interior drain tile around the interior of the basement. That didn't make much sense to me.
Is that huge crack an indicator of something graver?
Is this a band aid? Yes.
But if the ground cracked 10” of concrete nothing you put in there will hold up against those same forces.
This is a pretty good tutorial for parging though.
Also that looked like a type n mortar, for under grade you need type s.
I like your expertise, I watched your video and I liked the way you get wet the walls for making sand mix bonds with cement, not to many "pros" does it.
I will continue watching more videos from you.
thank you very much for making of you your best.
Everybody is commenting how bad this "fix" is. Sure it would be better to jack the house, dig out the soil, cut out the foundation, put up concrete forms, rebar and concrete, drains around the entire house etc. Maybe the guy doesn't have 60 grand laying around ?
True, but this is a DIY type video and it is implying that this is a "repair". In this unfinished crawlspace/basement it might be adequate, but they should make it more clear to the unsuspecting viewer that it is a cosmetic patch, not a repair at all. However, if you are "that" unsuspecting viewer you should not be doing your own DIY foundation work, you should consult a professional, and that professional should have an engineering license. It may seem expensive, but that license comes with liability insurance!
Excellent point. 15 years ago I did this same exact system of repairing a few cracks in my foundation walls (inside and out). Full interior & exterior paint job afterwards.... and guess what? It's all holding just fine. Not everybody is a millionaire.
And guess what! I done the same and that crack, well it's getting bigger. If the foundation is foooked, then that needs fixing. It will rare it's shiny head again one day. As they say, it all depends on the foundation.
@SupaTrending Daily you are so smart supa. You are rewarded with a cookie.
you might have had a new house with some settling, but if you have a 100 year old house it is going to continue to to settle and get worse over time
Nice job patching... I hope they also solved the settling problem or Tommy will be back patching in another year...
He didn't do jack shit to fix the problem. This is a cosmetic fix and a travesty to show this to the public. this will crack in no time and you're going to have to fix it again.
Yea, bro not knocking his work ,bad aid fix
You guys are the best...Second to none..Keep up the good work.
"Alright John"
"Alright John"
"I SAID ALRIGHT JOHN"
Concrete foundations move in and out through the seasons (expansion/contractions), they settle down as they get older. Using mortar to surface patch the Crack will only Crack within 5 years. Cracks are moving joints, and it's difficult to bond two different substrates together and have them stay bonded. Since concrete is porous, only certain materials can be used, yet even those materials differ on how far into the pores it gets. Most material, including epoxy, breaks at the bond point. I also noticed he applied the mortar on top of the paint both sides of the Crack. He may as well have just used school glue. It'll be re-cracked within 2 years. .
Briguyhastwins Thanks for sharing your foundation repair clips.
Good points. No easy solution...
@@westvalley411 squeze concrete in the hole or the dum spray foam that wat u stop water and it is allowed to move
Epoxy inject, route crack with grinder and then caulk with polyurethane. Like you said it will fail at bond. Poly caulk is superior, they all fail eventually. This was commercial method I've seen.
iv seen plenty of cracks in my life, and i must say this a pretty serous looking crack. i typically use sealboss products. but in this case i would have personally put some grout on first, let it dry then come back and drill some cartridge holes in order to inject sealboss A & B solution.
Love this show love these guys been watching you since I was a toddler trying to b Bob...thanks for all the help full tips
Use a grout bag and fill the entire thing with concrete!
The sound of trowel scraping against the wall is beautiful
Glad they could do the JoJ, would hate to do it all over again
Shouldn't this crack be excavated from the outside and repair the crack all the way to the foundation? What they've done is hide a crack, not repair it. Actually I expect the walls to continue to move and the crack will reappear.
I wish I knew, that sounds reasonable though. Hum, 🤔
I think the same.. you don’t know what’s happening on those foundations
Love it when they make it look fun to do.👍 Something an average homeowner can do.
That's is, I a couple off weeks you can replace the wall. :)
So, now that you can use epoxy injection, would you change the way you would fill this type of crack?
Bob would never have had Norm fix a foundation crack, he'd have brought in experts.
It can be hard to do but it's a better fix that will last longer if the crack is made wider in reverse. Meaning that you chisel at an angle that removes more material inside the crack than on the surface.
Thank you for the suggestion.
expandable foam can also crack a wall
Especially Urethane or Epoxy Injections. We've seen time over time, they can make their way into the weeping tile system around the perimeter of residential buildings (if the house has one) and will plug the weeping tile. A simple crack repair then becomes a very costly job if the homeowner plans on having a dry basement.
What is the right material for this job?
This crack needed pressurized epoxy injection. @Randy Bilyk Not sure how that would ever plug a perimeter drain...
I've been using my hammer the wrong way all my life !
Haha
Same
what type of cement to use for the joint (outdoor) between the footing and the outer brick walls? Mortar cement? always get confused by the amount of options....
My grandparents house old the foundation was old it had cracks my grandpa bough this other kind of cement that expands and he filled it the cracks he made the foundation even better
they never mention why to sponge or give the mud some texture. It breaks the surface tension and helps prevent cracks and promotes a more even drying and curing. It also helps with erosion i'm told.
For an old «stable» crack this can work fine.
What if I cannot access the outside of the crack? Its under dirt on the outside, I would have to remove a rock wall AND dig like 5 feet. Can I just fill the inside?
Sorry but this is not the proper way of fixing a crack. The change of weather is what caused the crack in the first place. Epoxy injection is the solution !!!!
Interesting repair, never heard of using spray foam.
Typically I’d recommend a combination of gel and LV epoxy. Use injection Ts bridge the crack with Gel, inject LV. Done.
Well, if you ever do use the foam, don't touch it while it's tacky, your fingers will stick together for about three days. The residue takes a couple of weeks to wear off your hands. I'm telling you from experience.
@@mytexasdays1526yeah it's unpleasant. I had acetone on hand luckily. but some still stuck for a couple days.
I will have to keep some incase I get a mortal wound lol.
this is not fixing the problem its fixing the looks of it
Fine display You have inspired me to work on my channel, thanks. 🐼
Better do this during the summer time😳🤔.
I have a cast iron pipe outside underground that has a 1/4 moon hole, from rust.
What can I use to fill it permanently? I can't replace it and it's only 6"" under ground.
Awesome video. Thanks so much for this video and ALL the other videos that I watched.
GOD bless and thanks again.
Call your county they might fix it
should be called HOW TO HIDE A SEVERE CRACK IN A WALL FROM THE NEW HOME BUYERS, THEN COLLECT YOUR MONEY AND RUN
I do t think that’s what they are trying to do. It’s probably your scammer mentality telling you that
lmfao!
So what do you recommend to fix a crack in concrete? One video you show uses epoxy with filler plugs and this video uses foam and mortar? Which is better?
none... hydraulic cement. dig down outside and fill the crack with hydraulic cement then water proof i would use the rubber and red guard on the wall
was the purpose to make it looking good or strength the wall?
Yes he showed perfectly what to do if you want to cover up a real problem and sell the house. Now you paint over it and the poor guy who bought the house has a basement full of water. If anything he only made the problem much worse.
Yep.. that what happen to me.. I have a crack about 12ft long
Franco Annoni how possibly can this fix make things much worse!?
@Grunf! Because the crack extends below grade. He sealed off the entire crack on the inside face of the wall, but only sealed the crack down to ground level on the exterior face. So hydrostatic pressure will force water into the crack below grade and it will sit there. If/when the soil freezes that water will expand and make the crack larger. If he did nothing then water would not build up in the crack, it would leak right through the wall!
Yep bought a house and about a month after I bought it I was snooping down in the basement and noticed the previous owner did just that it's been a whole year and it's still holding up maybe it was just a settling issue and now it's ok
Yeah, at a minimum he should have dug down below the frost line on the exterior side.
Silva LOVES that damn foam LOL
"A little extra mortar"? You started with 5 gallons!
Lol, they are good but just like everybody they make mistakes, 1/4 o a bucket was more than enough
They only show segments of the work. They may have gone and done some other areas of the basement but just ended up using the video footage at the beginning
The guy didn't need half a bag of mortar sitting around so Tommy saw some other areas to address so that's what he did. This was not an oops
Is it better to use a mortar pipe to get mortar deeper into the crack? And if you do that, do you even need the foam filler? Why not shove as much of the mortar into it as possible?
Thanks for sharing your foundation repair clips.
I'm curious why the exterior wasn't dug out to repair the crack below ground, any water getting in from the outside will freeze/thaw and break more concrete
Excellent informative video!
What a beauty job!
Love this channel
Prop the house up, smash down the entire side of the house & rebuild with titanium teflon coated military grade ballistic super steel. Then use CIA proof insulation, armoured quad panelled steel & anti tank paint with shark repellant.
That's what I would have done ✅
gatorsinthebayou finally someone that is talking some sense in the comment section! thank you sir!!
How would you get cia stainless steel
because murica
LOL
Oh you mean what this guy does on every show: ua-cam.com/video/Aff6EN3I7A0/v-deo.html
First we must identify why it has crack, subsequently we need to know because of the movement. Then accordingly we can suggest the repair procedure and for the repair we required to wear PPE very important for any kind of relative works.
The video is good showing how to repair.
3:49 lol the homeowner disappeared and the poor guy is talking to himself
Haha
Nice Job,i need to do this to my home
no - you need to do a proper job, not some half-assed hillbilly welfare job like this guy did
Thank you so much for this video. So helpful.
If you're using hydraulic cement would you still want to add the acrylic agent to it to make it stick better ?
Wouldn't a product like Thoroseal ir Masterseal 581 be a better patch, especially for the outside wall?
Is it a coincidence the crack appeared right where the shrub is growing?
Would this also work for a CBU wall? I have two large (1/2 inch wide) cracks on a bearing wall and need to repair.
You need to peel more concrete, wash with aboundabt water, and now you wait for it to dry, then you apply a epoxy special for structural concrete repairs with a brush (usually know has epoxy for cold concrete) then you fill with a mix of sand and cement (nearly dry consistency) or with concrete if the fracture is large enough, now you wait 12 hours, after than you need to apply aboundabt clean water to the repaired area every 8 hours for a week.
If the crack reached the rebar then you need to peel at least 2cm around the rebar before fiiling it with the sand-cement / concrete mixture.
Drylock works too if not better, it comes just just quikrete only gallon jug not paper bag.
This fix's it enough to sell basically. You have to fix the entire crack on the outside. Everything below grade needs done or water still gets in and expands.
Using garbage Quikrete "mortar mix" is bad too. At least user the Quikrete type S mortar mix, the other stuff crumbles if it stays in contact with moisture.
Inject an epoxy or use a hydraulic cement.
People saying "not everyone has 60k laying around" are right, but it doesn't take that much to do it right. It just takes a few more dollars and some more work to dig it out. If it's too hard to dig out inject the epoxy as far as it will go down low and hope for the best.
I always read the comments first so to get a better understanding of what's ahead. Piece of cake, think maybe I will choose different ingredients, add a little of this , a little of that and press dough! Michigan basement, hate it, fieldstone always crumbling always repairing. If I could afford a contractor and money was not a problem I would dig out the old and pour a new basement.
Thanks for the informative video 🙏🏾
Foam is soft because it’s still expanding. Never patch over expanding foam.
I'm not being rude just wondering what the point of this is with no outside excavation and membrane on the foundation?
How would I repair a concrete foundation where the I beam support is now exposed at one end where the concrete has crumbled away?
Remove all damaged concrete .Attach a plywood form to the wall and pour repair cement behind the form
Very good job
What type of foam and concrete are you using? We need to do a repair on my basement wall. Thank you!
remove the tree
Do you think it's root system is the source of the crack? Now that I look at the yard area near the crack I also see an open rain gutter down spout at 2:18 so perhaps the combo of that plus the tree/bush root system pulling the water towards that location creates a double whammy. Finally the other thing I noticed is that the crack runs down from the right side of a new window, leading me to conclude there was some sort of leakage associate with the old window and that perhaps the installation of the new window exacerbated the situation. I found a crack repair site here www.fortressfoundationrepair.com/solutions/concrete-crack-repair-and-reinforcement/ which addresses 6 causes for cracks and lists the following: "opening: due to thermal changes"and it does day "below grade" although the open and worst part of the crack in the video is above grade, but perhaps the crack is due to internal house temperature versus outside house temperature so different rates of expansion = cracking.
A bloody paragraph for three words, dude, chill a little.
Do you need to wait a couple of weeks before painting?
cool work . you are such a pro
Thank you
How could repair corroded cinder blocks from my storage room. They’re on the bottom of the wall or should say the first blocks of the wall
It's gonna crack again for sure
How bad is it to have a crack like that? Is that "fixed" enough?
Thank you sharing.👍
I have no idea of anything even remotely related to this topic, I just got a recommendation because I watched an old clip from the simpsons about foundation repair.
I have the exact same chisel
Sonny Wright do you really!!
Do you have to open the cracks wider?
Thank you for this video!!! On my list of things to do this summer
You guys are the best, but this one , i dont know....
Couldn't you use hydrolic cement instead of mortar
let's have a carpenter show how to do masonry
You lost in the woods there buddy? You realize he's a GC right? He's way beyond carpenter
In this episode they should have said that this isn't a permanent solution but an aesthetic temporary fix. The problem is of course the soil, it wouldn't be cost efficient and actually necessary to fix the foundation with piles because cracks doesn't make your house fall down like a cardhouse. An earthquake does. It only creates ripping seams, some weak points that in most cases are just aesthetically wrong and also bad for insulation and air tightness. Anyways, cracks in the basement aren't even annoying, it's just a basement. If you have cracks in your living room this would be a great, temporary solution for a few years.
My inlaws have a tiny hole in the basement wall we have tried everything we live in Southwestern Ontario and winter thaw has already started HELP
I used that same mix as well with the acrylic and for certain reason the entire coating cracked and literally didn't bonded to the wall. I just took the coat down and ready to put another coat. Can you help?
Would've been a better temp fix if they dug outside to base then filled it in.