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.
Rochester is not a Merrimack valley town
This matters more than it sounds, and it is the reason advice that works in Nashua sometimes does not fit a house up here.
The state’s surficial map of the Rochester and Somersworth quadrangles records sand, gravel, silt and clay deposited in or graded to the synglacial sea that occupied the estuaries in this area (New Hampshire Geological Survey). That is marine sediment. It behaves differently from the river-valley sand and gravel further south and west.
Rochester spreads across four USGS quadrangles, all in New Hampshire: Rochester, Baxter Lake, Dover West and Milton. The city sits on the Cocheco River, and its own hazard planning documents record the watersheds, the floodplain extent, and the specific places where flooding has happened before.
Soils, drainage and steep ground
The city’s plan tabulates its soils by drainage class and by soil class, along with its topography and the parts of Rochester where slopes are steep. It also documents its stratified drift aquifer, its streams and surface waters, the Heath Bog wetland complex, and a fluvial erosion assessment for the river corridors.
That last one is the sort of thing most homeowners never see, and it is genuinely useful. A river that is actively cutting at its banks is a different neighbour than one that is stable.
What we take from it
Fine marine silt and clay do not move water the way sand does. Where that material sits, water tends to sit with it rather than pass through, and that changes the right fix for a wet basement. A drainage design that suits a sandy lot in Merrimack may be the wrong answer on a Rochester lot with fine sediment under it.
It also means we do not lead with a product here. We lead with a look. If you have had a quote from somebody who works mostly down around Nashua and something about it did not sit right, this is very possibly the reason.
Everything above is city-scale and mapped at city scale. Your lot is a different question and it is answered by going and looking at it, which costs you nothing.
What the city has documented about flooding
Rochester’s plan records its NFIP status, its floodplain extent and the specific locations where localized flooding has been documented, along with its wetlands including the Heath Bog complex and the streams and surface waters across the city.
The fluvial erosion assessment covering the river corridors is the part most homeowners never hear about. A river actively cutting its banks changes the ground near it over time, which is a slower problem than a flood and a longer-lasting one.
The city also documents its steep slopes, and slope is often what decides where water arrives rather than where it falls. Water landing uphill of you is still your problem when it gets to the bottom.
What our customers say
We hired 603 basement solutions to Install helical pier systems in our families house to stop our foundation from sinking. They were extremely professional from start to finish and did the job for the exact price quoted no surprises. Very happy with the whole team I would highly recommend recommend them for all structural work
Kendy alberto Rosario peralta, 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 Rochester
- Basement waterproofing in Rochester
- 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 Rochester
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 Rochester and the surrounding towns from our shop in East Kingston, New Hampshire.
Common questions about foundation cracks
- 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
- 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
More 603 services in Rochester
- Basement Waterproofing in Rochester, NH
- Basement Finishing in Rochester, NH
- Crawl Space Encapsulation in Rochester, NH
- Radon Mitigation in Rochester, NH
