Most foundation cracks are not an emergency. Some are. The job is telling which one you have, and that is what the free inspection is for. Crack repair at 603 runs $1,000 to $3,000.
Which cracks should worry you?
Rough guide, and it is a guide, not a diagnosis:
- Thin vertical cracks are the most common thing we see and usually the least alarming. Concrete shrinks as it cures and it has to give somewhere.
- Horizontal cracks are the ones to take seriously. A horizontal crack in a foundation wall can mean the wall is being pushed on from outside.
- Stair-step cracks in block walls follow the mortar joints and can point to movement.
- A crack that is wider at one end than the other suggests something is moving rather than just shrinking.
- Any crack that is actively leaking needs handling regardless of shape, because water gets in and does its own damage.
If you can fit a quarter into it, or it has visibly changed since you first noticed it, call somebody. Us or anyone.
How we fix them
For a non-structural crack that leaks, injection fills the crack through its full depth and seals the path the water was using. For a structural crack, epoxy injection restores the bond across it. Where a wall needs real reinforcement, carbon fiber straps or a power brace do that work, and those are different jobs with their own prices.
What we do not do is smear something on the inside and call it fixed. A surface patch on a leaking crack hides it for a season.
When we tell you not to buy
Sometimes a homeowner is bracing for a full system and what they actually need is one crack filled. When a full system is out of budget, fill the crack and don’t look back. We will tell you when that is the situation, and we would rather do the small job right than talk you into the big one.
The reverse is also true. If you have got water coming in at the floor wall joint all the way around, filling one crack is not going to solve that, and we will say so.
The warranty
Non-structural crack injection carries a 10 year warranty on leakage through the treated area. Structural epoxy injection carries 10 years on the structural bond. Wall stabilization carries 25 years against further inward movement within design tolerances.
Read that first one carefully. Ten years on the crack we treated not leaking is not the same as ten years of a dry basement, because the crack we filled may not be the only way water gets in.
Questions we get
Can I fill it myself from the hardware store?
You can, and for a hairline shrinkage crack that is not leaking it may hold fine. For anything structural or anything wet, a surface product is a temporary measure.
Will it crack again in the same place?
A properly injected crack is not usually the one that comes back. New cracks elsewhere can happen as a house keeps settling.
Do you fix cracks in a slab floor?
We look at them. A floor crack and a wall crack are different problems.
How long does it take?
Most crack repairs are a few hours.
Crack shapes, and what they usually mean
| What the crack looks like | What it usually means | How urgent |
|---|---|---|
| Thin and vertical | Concrete shrinkage as it cured | Usually low. Seal it if it leaks |
| Horizontal across a wall | The wall may be under pressure from outside | Get it looked at |
| Stair-step through block joints | Movement following the mortar | Get it looked at |
| Wider at one end than the other | Something is moving, not just shrinking | Get it looked at |
| Any crack actively leaking | Water has a path in | Handle it regardless of shape |
| Hairline, dry, unchanged for years | Often nothing | Watch it. Note the date |
How the job runs
Somebody looks at the actual crack. Shape, width, whether it is wet, whether it lines up with anything else the house is doing. That is a short visit and it is free, and it is the only honest way to tell a shrinkage crack from something that matters.
You get told which one you have got. If it is the small one, we will say so, and we would rather do the small job right than talk you into a system you do not need yet.
The repair itself is usually a few hours. Injection fills the crack through its full depth rather than skinning over the face of it, which is the difference between a repair and a cosmetic patch that looks fine until the next wet spring.
If the wall needs real reinforcement, that is a different job with its own price and its own timeline, and we will lay that out separately rather than folding it into a crack quote.
What the state’s map records under Derry
Derry has a proper surficial geologic map, published by the New Hampshire Geological Survey in 1985 as GEO-89 at 1:24,000, and it is more detailed than most towns get.
That map records twelve mapped units (New Hampshire Geological Survey, Surficial Geologic Map of the Derry Quadrangle, Rockingham County, Gephart, 1985). Among them are alluvium, swamp deposits and stream terrace deposits from the Holocene, and a set of glacial lake deposits including Glacial Lake Auburn, Glacial Lake Cohas Brook, Glacial Lake Wilson and Glacial Lake Derry, plus the Chester glacial stream deposits.
Glacial lake deposits matter to anybody with a basement. Material that settled out in still water tends to be fine, and fine material holds water rather than letting it pass.
One honest limit, and we would rather state it than gloss it: the Derry quadrangle covers roughly two-thirds of the town, not all of it. So “Derry’s geology is X” is not a sentence anybody should write, including us. Part of the town is on that sheet and part is not.
Soils and how they drain
The USDA NRCS soil survey data for the town is aggregated by dominant component, and that carries its own caveat worth knowing: a component-percentage weighting gives a materially different drainage picture than a dominant-component one. Two legitimate methods, two different numbers. We are not going to pick whichever one sounds better.
Why we lead with the caveats
Because the alternative is a contractor telling you what is under your house based on a map that may not even cover your side of town.
Derry is one of the closest towns to our shop in East Kingston, so we are through there constantly and we are not guessing about the drive. What is under a specific foundation on a specific street is a different question, and the only honest way to answer it is to come and look.
That inspection is free, and you get a written scope out of it rather than a number over the phone.
Glacial lake ground, and what it tends to do
Four of the twelve units on the Derry sheet are glacial lake deposits. Material that settled out of standing water is finer than material dumped by a fast meltwater stream, and fine material is slow to give water up once it has taken it on.
That is a general property of the material, not a prediction about your foundation. Plenty of houses sit on fine ground with dry basements, usually because the water around them has somewhere better to go.
The stream terrace and alluvium units on the same map tell you where water has historically run and left material behind. Those are the low routes through town, and low routes stay low.
What our customers say
I hired 603 basement solutions to do some complex structural work in my home because I had rotting beams. From the initial appointment to the actual install they were incredibly professional and knowledgeable. They showed up on time and kept the workspace clean. I would absolutely recommend this company.
Gina Erdman, Google review, 5 stars
That is one of more than 240 Google reviews. We would rather you read them than take our word for anything on this page.
Related pages for Derry
- Basement waterproofing in Derry
- Structural and foundation repair
- Which foundation cracks matter
- Every town we cover
- Who you would actually be dealing with
- Basement waterproofing
- Straight answers to basement questions
Book a free inspection in Derry
Somebody comes out, looks at the actual space, and tells you straight what it needs and what it does not. You get a written number for a defined scope. No two hour pitch, because we would rather be at the next house.
If you are looking for a team that isn’t going to treat you like another number, we would be happy to give you an estimate free of charge. We don’t cut corners. We stand behind our work. We care.
Call 603-610-1770 or book your free inspection. We cover Derry and the surrounding towns from our shop in East Kingston, New Hampshire.
Common questions about foundation cracks
- Is this a foundation issue or settling?
- My house seems like it is sinking in one corner; windows and doors started slanting this winter. Is this a thing and can I fix it?
- Should I be worried about basement floor cracks?
- Should I sell a house with cracks in the basement walls and leaking
- We have a horizontal crack in a support beam in the basement. Is it serious?
- We just got a home inspection done and saw some cracks. What do they mean and do we need to fix them?
- What are some ways to fix a sinking foundation of an old house?
- What are the advantages of a helical pile?
- What are the best methods for repairing a cracked foundation?
- What are the common warning signs that indicate a foundation problem?
- What are the different types of underpinning?
- What are the pros and cons of a stone foundation?
More 603 services in Derry
- Basement Waterproofing in Derry, NH
- Basement Finishing in Derry, NH
- Crawl Space Encapsulation in Derry, NH
- Radon Mitigation in Derry, NH
