How to Repair Flooding and Leaking Cracks in Your Basement or Crawl Space

Wall or floor cracks can lead to basement flooding.

Cracks in the basement walls and floors signal potentially serious damage to your foundation and lead to additional issues like leaks, mold, and pests. When water leaks through your basement walls or floors, it can quickly lead to flooding and damage to personal belongings.

Water can enter your home wherever there is an opening in the foundation. This includes cracks in the walls and floors and gaps around pipe conduits, windows, and cold joints. There are many different reasons why a foundation may crack, but three types of cracks are most common:

• Shrinkage Cracks
• Bulging Cracks
• Settlement cracks

Shrinkage cracks commonly occur in poured concrete foundations as the concrete cures and the concrete shrinks. These types of cracks are generally not a structural issue, but they can be susceptible to leakage. Foundations are typically sprayed with a material to help prevent water from coming through these small cracks, but failures in that type of membrane a fairly common.

Bulging cracks occur when the soil outside the foundation wall expands and puts pressure on the wall, causing it to move inward.

This is usually caused by clay soil that expands when it gets wet. These types of cracks will eventually get more significant as the problem gets worse. Water can penetrate through these cracks. A situation like this requires reinforcing the wall and waterproofing it.

Settlement cracks happen when the foundation settles.

This type of foundation issue can be caused by several different things but are generally related to the soil surrounding the home. The cracks can be all different shapes and sizes. Often they are wider at the top of the wall than at the bottom.

Water can come through these cracks and left untreated; they will often allow mud through as well.

Thrasher has several different techniques designed specifically to help homeowners stop leaks in their foundation walls and concrete floors and provide complete and long-lasting repairs that preserve the foundation's strength and safety. Due to the many different types of cracks and causes, it is essential to diagnose accurately, and a solution designed appropriately. Some situations can be solved with a straightforward solution, while others are more complex.

Fixing a Leak or Flooding Issue: Call the Experts

It's always best to consult an expert and get an inspection if flooding or leaking cracks are an issue at your home. Even if the cracks haven't leaked yet, it is a good idea to identify what has caused the cracks. If the cracks are not structural, they may need to be monitored, but they will need to be addressed if they are structural.

At Thrasher, we offer repairs for leaky floor cracks, and we can stop flooding through windows, and we provide patented, warrantied methods for repairing cracks in foundation walls. Our repair systems provide strength, stability, and waterproofing, giving you a basement and foundation that you are confident in, and they provide lasting results that are compatible with your foundation waterproofing system and will not crumble, flake, or fail due to the natural expansion and shrinking of the concrete. Thrasher is your local expert with solutions for all your foundation problems. We service Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. Contact us today for a free wall crack repair quote!