Ok boys and girls. So i pulled up some of the paneling that the previous owner of my house had put up in the basement, and found an awesome crack that had been repaired by what I can only assume was a blind one armed man. Anyway he kind of seemed to know what he was doing but the lack of sight and arm must have prevented him from completing the task.
Anyway. Has anyone encountered this problem in their home ownership adventures, and if so how did you remedy the problem?
Is the crack leaking? signs of water damage? Even new houses can crack/settle all the time.
Really depends on what size crack are we talking here?
Assuming poured foundation? or Block?
If there is no water or mold I wouldn’t be concerned.
You said “crack” I assume there is not a big bow in the wall.
Does the wall look straight?
Straight wall, no water, no worries.
Poured foundation yes. The crack is leaking. It looks like he opened up a small slit in the corner where the floor and wall meet. It seems to flow all the way to the drain tile, because when I pour water down the slit it comes out of the sump pit. That’s good i guess because it keeps water from flowing all over the floor, but the moisture still escapes from the slit. I probably wouldnt have noticed it if it didnt smell a little funky.
Heh, Looks like Im poking the slit. Is there anyway to seal the slit from the basement environment and still keep the flow of water moving to the drain tile?
I saw some sites that offer urethane injection kits. Seemed kind of worth while but up until now I have never heard of them or know of anyone who has used them.
Not sure. Condom?:lol:
The house I grew up in was wet, the house I rented was wet, my first house was wet.
You should see my new house foundation, drainage, etc.
I don’t even have a sump pump!
I was so sick of water I went a little overboard so to speak.:eekdance:
If my basement ever gets wet I will post it here so we can start building an ark.:biglaugh:
Well that’s what the previous owner had. He basically had a wooden wall frame with wood paneling over it. I hated that shit so I ripped it apart with the hope of doing drywall. But i’m not going to put up drywall if it’s going to become wetwall lol.
AWDdrifter. …I saw pics of your house on here. Hell if you ever invite me over you’d probably have to kick me out because I’d want to live in your bathroom lol. Hey btw, are you still trying to get rid of that foam insulation?
LOL. What kind of shape is it in, and what are you asking for it? I could probably make most of it disappear. I only need a sheet or two at the most, but I’m sure I can convince my sister in laws bf to insulate my mother inlaw’s garage with the rest (thats his playground)
Been there done that. Had 7 cracks behind paneling in my basement. 4 of which seeped water. My fix was chiseling out crack to a V, drilling hole at bottom into draintile. Cut 1"(or 3/4") pvc pipe in half, put/lay in crack(v) to give water somewhere to go. filled in remaining v with hydrolic cement. reinstall paneling= problem gone. alot of work but it will never leak onto the floor again.
BTW use gloves with hydr cement. if it gets under your finger nails it will lift the nail and hurt like a bitch
I would start by having a professional come take a look. It shouldn’t cost you anything, and the piece of mind would be worth it because they’ll probably say “Well, we could dig out the foundation from the outside, jack up the 1st floor, and replace the foundation. But if I were you I’d seal that bitch up with some calk and put new paneling up.”
If you want to see some real foundation fun come over to my place. I’ve got 4 pillasters holding the bowing walls back since long before I moved in, plus I’ve had a plumbob hanging for years so I’ll know if the one questionable stretch of wall ever moves again. My philosophy: If it moves, I move. :lol:
One of my co-workers was just dealing with something very similar, except he hired experts to come in and fix it.
Word of warning. Lots of the experts he talked to asked if he had tried to fix it himself, and flat out said if the homeowner had already fucked it up they didn’t want anything to do with it. Guess it’s a lot bigger mess fixing a crack a homeowner has made bigger than one that occurred naturally.
My parents had a crack on both sides of the basement. They had professionals repair it. They dug the slit in the floor, attached what looks like plastic/fiberglass paneling to the wall down into the slit to the drain tile. They then cemented the slot at the bottom. The water still comes in but never enters the basement as it goes behind the sheet and right to the drain tile. Their basement is dry as a bone now.
