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.
Why Merrimack drains the way it does
Merrimack sits on more sand and gravel than most of the towns we cover, and that is measured rather than a feeling.
The town’s own master plan records that stratified drift aquifers underlie approximately 19 square miles, or 57 percent of the Town. Of the SSURGO-mapped acres inside the town line, 40.5 percent is well drained and another 39.5 percent is excessively drained, with Canton fine sandy loam and Windsor loamy sand among the most extensive soil series. The USGS separately found that more than 41 percent of the South Merrimack quadrangle is sand or gravel deposited by glacial meltwater.
Coarse ground moves water fast. The town notes the flip side of that plainly: soils with severe limitations for septic systems cover approximately 70 percent of Merrimack.
Where the water actually goes
Elevations run from several hills over 450 feet in western Merrimack down to under 150 feet along the Merrimack River, over rolling terrain with slopes mostly between 0 and 15 percent. The 100-year floodplain covers about 2,204 acres, and the town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan states that “the Island Drive area of Merrimack is particularly prone to flooding.”
This is not new. The same plan’s historic record includes a March 1977 ice jam on the Souhegan River with the impact recorded as five homes flooded in Merrimack. The USGS gage on the Souhegan at Merrimack drains 171 square miles and has a peak of record of 16,900 cubic feet per second.
Wetlands account for 509 acres, and the town defines wetlands as areas of poorly and very poorly drained soils, protected through its Wetland Conservation District.
What it means for a basement here
Ground that drains quickly is not the same as ground that keeps water away from a foundation. Fast-moving water still has to go somewhere, and a foundation is an obstacle in its path.
Worth knowing about the housing too: Census figures put Merrimack at 11,145 housing units, with 33.3 percent built before 1980 and the largest single cohort built in the 1980s. Foundations of different eras were built to different expectations.
All of that is town-level. None of it tells us what is under your house, and we would not quote a job off it. Somebody comes and looks first.
Where the drinking water comes from, and why it matters
About 85 percent of Merrimack takes its drinking water from wells, and the town’s stratified drift is the productive aquifer. The USGS records saturated thickness of stratified drift across this planning area ranging from under 20 feet near aquifer boundaries to more than 100 feet in the Souhegan and Merrimack valleys.
That is the same material a foundation sits in. Ground that yields water to a well is ground that moves water past a basement wall.
Merrimack holds 95 NFIP policies with $22,316,200 of insurance in force, and has recorded 51 paid losses totalling $1,205,852 along with 8 repetitive loss properties. Repetitive loss is the number worth noting, because it describes properties that flooded, were paid out, and flooded again.
What our customers say
I contracted 603 basement solutions to do helical pier systems to stop my foundation from sinking into the ground any further. They showed up with a beautiful CAT excavator and did incredible work. By far my favorite experience working with a contractor, they communicated well, they were professional, and they actually cared about every concern I had. I’d recommend them to anyone
adauri rosario de jesus, 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 Merrimack
- Basement waterproofing in Merrimack
- 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 Merrimack
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 Merrimack and the surrounding towns from our shop in East Kingston, New Hampshire.
Common questions about foundation cracks
- If you have a rotting sill plate or rim joist, is that simple to fix?
- Is a cement basement crack expected in a 2-year-old home?
- Is a stair step hairline crack something to worry about?
- Is foundation repair worth the expense in a house?
- Is it a good or bad idea to buy a 1984 home which has had foundation repair done?
- Is it a good practice to put a coat of waterproofing on my foundation?
- Is it better to put down a concrete slab or use concrete blocks for a foundation repair?
- Is it okay to buy a house with foundation problems?
- Is it possible to replace a rotten sill plate behind a shower without tearing out the shower?
- Is it possible to sell a home with a costly foundation issue?
- Is it possible to use old mortar for new foundation walls?
- Is it safe to drill into a concrete slab foundation to add new plumbing
More 603 services in Merrimack
- Basement Waterproofing in Merrimack, NH
- Basement Finishing in Merrimack, NH
- Crawl Space Encapsulation in Merrimack, NH
- Radon Mitigation in Merrimack, NH
