What it is
Foundation repair, on a masonry contractor’s side of the trade, is everything a foundation needs that isn’t a full excavation or a steel pier — crack repair, spalling concrete and block, waterproofing failures, deteriorated parging, and the long list of small problems that, ignored, become big ones. When the job needs a structural engineer or a piering crew, we’ll tell you. When it doesn’t, we do it.
When you need it
- A vertical or diagonal crack in a poured wall, with or without active water entry
- A stair-step crack in a block (CMU) wall, especially at corners
- Spalling — face delamination — on a poured wall, usually below grade
- Failed parging on an exposed foundation wall above grade
- Water entry at the cove joint where wall meets floor
- White efflorescence on interior basement walls
How we do it
The first thing we figure out is why. A crack from settlement is a different repair than a crack from lateral pressure, which is different again from a crack from thermal movement at an overpoured cold joint. We look at the crack pattern, the drainage around the building, the gutter and grade situation, and the interior conditions. Some cracks need an epoxy or polyurethane injection from the inside. Some need exterior excavation, dimple-board membrane, and a new drain tile. Some need parging and a coating because the wall is sound but the surface is gone.
Materials and methods
- Low-viscosity epoxy injection for structural hairline cracks in poured concrete
- Polyurethane injection for active water-leaking cracks that need to remain flexible
- Hydraulic cement and polymer-modified parging for surface repair and re-coating
- Polyurea or asphalt-modified waterproof coatings for exterior application
- Dimple-board drainage membrane and perforated drain tile on full exterior fixes
- Type S mortar and concrete patching compounds for CMU spall and block re-grouting
A foundation that’s actively leaking is not a cosmetic issue. We treat it that way. The site walk includes the basement, the grading, the downspouts, and a look at whatever you’ve already tried — because half the foundations we see have already been patched once with the wrong material.