How do I fix a foundation crack repair?

You fix a foundation crack by matching the fix to the crack. A narrow crack that only weeps water gets crack injection, which runs $1,000 to $3,000 and carries a 10-year warranty. A crack from a wall that is moving or settling needs stabilization or piers instead.

When we come look, we check the crack’s direction and width, whether it leaks, and whether it has grown. That tells us which of three jobs you actually have.

A thin crack that just leaks

A clean vertical or diagonal crack that weeps after rain is the common one. Concrete shrinks as it cures, and our New Hampshire freeze-thaw winters work on the wall every year, so a crack like that is usually a shrinkage or pressure crack that injection handles well.

We inject epoxy or polyurethane straight into the crack. The resin fills it the full depth of the wall, not just the face, so water cannot track around it. Polyurethane flexes a little, which helps on a hairline that still moves a hair. That work runs $1,000 to $3,000 with a 10-year warranty. No digging up your yard. One of the simpler fixes in the basement.

A hardware-store patch only seals the surface. Water finds its way behind it and the crack comes back. Sealing the face is a different thing from filling the wall.

When the wall is actually moving

A horizontal crack across the middle of a block wall is a different animal. So is a wall that leans or bows inward, stair-step cracking in block, or a crack that keeps widening month over month. Those point to soil pressure or settlement, and sealing the leak alone will not fix the cause.

Here is why the soil pushes. The dirt around your foundation is disturbed backfill, the looser fill the builder put back after the hole was dug for your house. It drains slower than packed natural ground and holds water, so after a hard New England rain or a spring melt that wet soil leans on the wall. Add NH frost heave, where frozen ground expands and pushes inward all winter, and a moving wall makes sense.

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

What it costs depends on three things

How long the crack is. Whether it is just leaking or actually moving. 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 your 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 a simple leak, and an injection settles it for good. If a full system is out of budget, fill the crack and don’t look back. We will tell you plainly when that is all you have, and if the wall is genuinely moving we will show you why right there.

One thing worth knowing. Most homeowner 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 [verify]). So this usually lands on you, 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 across the whole floor, that is a separate job. A leaking crack we inject. A whole-basement water problem is the Forever Dry System, our full-perimeter interior drainage. We sort out which one you need during the inspection. We also do not dig the outside of a wall to waterproof it; in our field experience that fix tends to fail in about two to three years. The durable route for ongoing water is interior drainage. For background on foundation water and soil, the DOE Building America program (basc.pnnl.gov) is a solid neutral read.

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 get your quote within 24 hours.

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

Related questions

Can I fix a foundation crack myself? You can patch the surface, but a hardware-store patch only seals the face. It does not fill the wall the full depth, so water tracks around it and the crack often comes back. Professional injection fills the whole crack and carries a 10-year warranty. For a stable thin crack that is the fix that lasts.

How do I know if my foundation crack is serious? Width and direction tell it. 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 carbon-fiber straps at $850 each each or piers. We tell you which one you have for free.

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 each, a power brace at $1,300 per brace per brace, or an auxiliary support wall at about $1,350 per linear foot per linear foot. A full wall rebuild or wall anchors we price after we see it, since no two are the same.

Does fixing the 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.