Basement Foundation Repair – What You Should Know
As a home ages and settles, it is inevitable that you may see basement foundation. The first step in the foundation repair of the basement begins with assessing the cause and severity. You should fix what caused the damage first if possible and then fix the damage that was caused. After you have fixed the source that caused the damage, you can repair the foundation yourself or hire a contractor that specializes in foundation repair, especially if it is a serious repair. There are various causes of needing basement foundation repair.
Aging
This is a frequent cause of having problems with your foundation. In older homes, bricks or stones were used to build basements walls. The bricks and stone were put together using mortar. Eventually it will break down, causing the older walls to sag and start to leak. If the old brick or stone basement walls are structurally sound, the foundation repair should be simple to fix. You will have to chip out the old mortar and replace it using a tuck-pointing trowel. If the walls are sagging, you might need to have it joined into a foundation of concrete or replaced. Both need a licensed contractor to do either foundation repair. If the load-bearing parts of the walls are starting to crumble or sag, this is a serious foundation repair and should be done by a professional contractor.
Water
This can also be a symptom or a cause of damage to the foundation. If you have water in your basement, you should check for cracks in the walls. If you see any cracks, they will need to be repair. This is especially true in colder climates and the reason is that between thawing and freezing, it can cause more foundation damage. You can repair small crack using a kit that includes sealers.
For larger cracks, there is a kit you can get but it is advisable to contact a contractor that specializes in foundation repair of basement walls. A large crack could indicate that there is possible structural damage to the foundations load-bearing pieces. If you decide to go with the kit it will contain hydraulic cement that when put into the cracks will expand and put pressure on each side of the crack, allowing no more water to flow in.
Seepage
This can happen due to the waterproof coating was not correctly applied on the exterior walls of the basement or the coating has worn off and needs to be reapplied. To do a foundation repair for this type of problem you have to re-grade the earth to make sure that the water will flow away from the foundation. Reapply sealant to the walls or in less severe cases just use waterproof paint on the interior walls
