How hard and expensive is it to repair a crack in the foundation on a house?

Most foundation cracks are fixable in a day, and crack repair runs $1,000 to $3,000. The hard part is the diagnosis, because a thin hairline and a widening structural crack get fixed two different ways.

Here is what we look for when we come out. A narrow vertical or diagonal crack that weeps water is usually a job for crack injection. We fill it from the inside with epoxy or polyurethane, the resin works into the full depth of the wall, and the leak stops. That work runs $1,000 to $3,000 and carries a 10-year warranty. It is one of the simpler fixes in the basement, and no, you do not need to dig up your yard for it.

A horizontal crack is a different animal. When a poured or block wall is cracked sideways, that is pressure from the soil pushing in. Here in New Hampshire the ground around your foundation is disturbed backfill, the looser dirt that got put back when the house was built. It drains slowly and holds water. Add a hard winter and frost heave, and that wet soil leans on the wall and pushes it inward. A horizontal crack means the wall is moving, so we stabilize it.

For a bowing or cracked wall we use carbon-fiber straps, which run $850 each and hold a 25-year warranty. For more movement we use a steel power brace at $1,300 per brace. If the footing under the wall has settled and the crack is from the house dropping, that is a pier job. Helical piers run $2,700 per pier for the first three, then $2,200 per pier after that and carry a 25-year engineered warranty. We do this work with our own crew, not a hired-out one.

What drives the cost is simple. How long the crack is, whether it is just leaking or actually moving, and how many spots need attention. A single injected crack is the low end. Several cracks plus wall stabilization or piers is the high end. We give you a free inspection and a free estimate, and you get the quote within 24 hours. No number gets thrown at you over the phone, because we have not seen the wall yet.

You probably do not need the big stuff. Plenty of the cracks we look at are cosmetic or a simple leak, and an injection settles it. We will tell you plainly if that is all you have. If the wall is genuinely moving, we will show you why on the spot.

One thing worth knowing. Most homeowner insurance policies do not cover foundation cracks from settling or soil pressure, since insurers treat that as wear and maintenance rather than a sudden event (Insurance Information Institute, iii.org). So this usually lands on you, which is one more reason to catch it early while it is still an injection and not a pier job.

If your basement also takes on water, the crack repair and your waterproofing are related but separate jobs. A leaking crack we inject. A whole-basement water problem is the Forever Dry System, our full-perimeter interior drainage. We can sort out which one you actually need during the inspection.

Financing is available through Hearth if you want to spread a larger structural job out, subject to approval. We make nothing on it. Every fix above is backed by the 603 guarantee.

Want eyes on it? Call us at 603-610-1770 or book your free inspection. We serve New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, and you will get your quote within 24 hours.

Related hubs: structural and foundation repair, foundation repair, helical piers, supplemental support, sill replacement.

Related questions

Is a foundation crack serious? Sometimes. A thin vertical crack that only weeps water is usually minor and fixed with injection at $1,000 to $3,000. A horizontal crack, a stair-step crack in block, or a wall that is bowing means the wall is under pressure or settling, and that needs stabilization or piers. We tell you which one you have for free.

Can you just fill a foundation crack yourself? You can patch the surface, but a hardware-store patch only seals the face. It does not fill the wall through its full depth, so water finds its way around it and the crack often comes back. Professional injection fills the whole crack and carries a 10-year warranty.

What if the whole foundation wall is bad, not just one crack? Then we are past injection. Depending on what we find we may use carbon-fiber straps at $850 each, a power brace at $1,300 per brace, or an auxiliary support wall at about $1,350 per linear foot. A full wall rebuild we price after we see it, since no two are the same.

Does fixing a crack stop my basement from leaking everywhere? It stops that crack. If water is coming in at the floor wall joint or seeping through the whole floor, that is a drainage issue, not a single crack, and the Forever Dry System handles it. The inspection tells us which.