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konrad___far_north

Concrete Wall Crack Repair?

Konrad___far_north
13 years ago

I have a crack in basement wall and sometimes after a heavy downpour I have water come in. Took drywall and carpet off to see where, it looks like from a crack, starting from corner of window all the way down to floor, it seems the builder or previous owner had tried to seal it from inside. [picture]

I'm going to dig outside to expose the crack also. Can you give me advise in how to fix it properly, please. Or does this has to be given to the pro? Also better slope I need away from house and a window well I want to put in ...any advise would be nice.

I'm thinking of chiseling along the groove about 1/4" deep V groove for some silicone? But better let the expert decide.

Konrad

Comments (16)

  • mariend
    13 years ago

    Do you have drain tile around your house? That really helps along with not alot of flowers and shrubs. We have the drain tile and river rock. No plants except in scouped out spots with special things to put the plants in with black cloth & rock on top. Of course we get a lot of snow during the winter.
    As to fixing, others have advice.

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Yes, there is drain tile around the house...thanks.

  • bus_driver
    13 years ago

    I think you would be quite pleased with NP1 sealant. In caulking tubes. Available at professional commercial roofing and waterproofing suppliers. Available in colors. Perhaps can be bought online. Shelf life is limited, so use it soon after purchase.

    Here is a link that might be useful: One source

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you Bus!
    Would you still groove out the crack or just put over it?

  • dyno
    13 years ago

    What worked for my brother's house was hydraulic cement both sides, troweled tar then a styrofoam board slightly below grade bonded by the tar. Can't remember if we backfilled with original dirt or used drain rock. Either way it worked and no problems in the last 15 or so years.

  • stone_garden
    13 years ago

    The above picture looks a lot like the crack I had in my townhouse basement that I had fixed (by a company that dug all the way down to the foundation and used some black tarry goop and a thick waterproof patch, as well as caulking the inside.) The other mentioned fixed with the styrofoam sounds like another way I have seen it done in all my online readings. If you look around on the Internet and it's just a basic crack I am sure you could save a lot of money doing it yourself. In my case I was in a hurry and the way my home is and the soil it would have been impossible for me to dig, but I wish I could have. The only thing I would add is that I came across an article that described how important it is to tightly tamp backfill, and that with straight clay it is impossible so I guess you add some gravel. But if soil isn't tamped it leaves air spaces in the soil where water will collect, and tamping should be done a small layer at a time. Also grade the fill so it slopes away from the house. Lots of good info online! A foot of gravel against a house with a drain is also excellent if you have that kind of set-up, as gravel and sand don't move against a house the way clay does. But you need to have drains for this or you will just have a big sump next to the house.

  • bus_driver
    13 years ago

    Tamping backfill creates tremendous pressure against the wall and could cause inward buckling. Routing surface water away from the house and providing a way for water to escape rather than accumulating against the outside of the walls is the way to have a water-free basement.

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you for helping me out!
    I talked to the local NP1 dealer, he said not to use it, said that there is
    something they have for injecting into the crack and it only
    have to be done from one side of the wall. I will look into this and I'm
    almost ready to get at it. Of course I will still do it from both side of the
    wall and put something over on top,...like to go 200%.

  • worthy
    13 years ago


    Professionally filled crack with polyurethane foam injection Photo: Heather Joy Investments Ltd.

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you all!
    I bought this [link] looks like similar to your link above, ...still, not sure
    if it will go deep into crack, or it will come up in the other injection port
    because I'm dealing with a hair line crack.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sika Fix

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    worthy
    How deep did you drill the injection ports...I got conflicting instrtution from the guy who sold me this and on the product itself.

    The guy told me, [at BrockWhite Construtcion] to use a 3/8" bit,...he wanted to sell me a bit, I said that 3/8 looks too small when I seen the plastic port plugs, he said that these plugs..[about 5/8" diameter] will collapse when pounding in. Can you imagine...ruining the the ends of plugs!
    Fortunately the drill bit shank had a groove for a special hammer drill so I didn't buy it. Instruction on the product calls for 1/2" bit....that's more like it.

    He said to drill about 1" deep and gluing in the plug with anchor adhesive, question...I push pound the plug, large end in just below surface and glue the rest to the top including seal the surface on top..as I see in your picture.

    The instruction say, drill 4" deep on 45 degree [alternate] angle until you intersect crack...the guy said straight in. There is a picture on the instruction and the plugs are all straight in, the end of plastic ports are sticking out a fair amount, by this picture it look that these plugs are pushed about 3/4" deep.
    I don't really see it to drill 4" deep...if this product travels this good?

    QUESTION
    How did you drill and did this product come up on the next plug, 24" spacing?
    Did you inject water first?...they say it works better on wet cracks when
    Polyurethane getting in contact with moisture, it will foam and expand more.

    I'm ready to go but wanted to do this right, help is very much appreciated!

  • worthy
    13 years ago

    How deep did you drill the injection ports...I got conflicting instrtution from the guy who sold me this and on the product itself.

    The photo is of a house I repoed for the mortgage lender. That crack repair and others had already been done by the builder under warranty.

    All I can say is that when it comes to instructions I follow to the letter those of the manufacturer, not one salesperson at a distributor. You might try giving Sika in Montreal a call and ask for technical services.

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks..yes, this is what I had in mind too.

  • Konrad___far_north
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ended up returning the stuff I bought,..after contacting the manufacturer of the glue, needed a thinner glue because I was dealing with a hairline crack. The glue was a two component glue, ..needed a special gun for double barrel. All worked out good. It's been over a year when I did it, left the wall exposed for checking, it never has leaked since.

  • Basement_Questions
    10 years ago

    Hi Konrad far north...sorry guess I am late to the game with this reply just found this website. As for concrete crack repair there are several DIY products available on the web which are very user friendly. Poured wall cracks are recommended to be injected either with urethane or epoxy. I like a new product that goes one step further and uses carbon fiber in the surface seal and then gets injected which adds reinforcement of the crack repair. search concretecrackrepair.com

  • millworkman
    10 years ago

    Have to give credit where credit is due, at least this spammer read the post and actually addressed the poster directly. However he failed to recognize that the poster SOLVED his issue and did not need the spammers advice!!