The "footing"on my house of concrete foundation has "slipped". What does this mean and how do I fix it? Cost?

Question

I have cracks in my concrete basement walls that are diagonal and form almost the letter "v" to the bottom corners of my basement. I was told by a fella who used to build houses that the "footing has slipped" in two areas at the corners. No water seeps through but slight moisture does form in areas of the cracks that are at the outside ground level. I'm in North Central Missouri what are the steps I need to be assured are done and the cost involved to fix this. I want to reside my house and am ready to replace a few windows and was told this needs to be fixed first. Thanks for your SINCERE reply.

Answer 1

Firstly, you have to investigate about the nature of the cracks. In new construction works, cracks are expected and are not dangerous upto some extents.
All you need to do is a very simple test, take a small strip of the glass and fix that at the crack width with some glue. Make sure that it is fixed at both ends of the crack width, then note the time and date at which it is fixed. Now you have to observe, if the glass breaks, it means the crack is active and can be dangerous. If you find it doesn't break for more than two weeks, it is not dangerous.
If cracks are not active, there are a no. of cement based epoxies are available in the market which you can apply to fill those cracks.
I am a practicing civil engineer and I have been working in this field for last five years. you can contact me on my messenger for any kind of help if you need.
Regards.

Answer 2

I am assuming that the cracks are large with gaps bigger than a pencil lead? If they are small with cracks the size of a hair, don't worry about them. But if they are large, then you have a major problem.

When a house is build the first thing that is done is to pour a foundation footer that the rest of the house is built on. The footer is concrete that is poured in a trench and it must be level and never move because the whole house rests on it. If something happens and the footer moves then the house is no longer level, the basement cracks, windows won't shut properly and doors won't shut properly. The fix can be very expensive. It involves digging down to the footer, doing an inspection and replacement if necessary. You could be talking thousands of dollars.

Get several people to look at your problem and have them give you an estimate. As a check on the contractor's hire a certified home inspector to look at it and give you a report.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You need the independent advice of a consulting structural engineer. They will inspect the cracking and advise you whether it is serious and what ought to be done about it.

When you know that... then you get a price from a contractor for that work.

In a basement, there needs to be a structure that retains the adjoining soil. Moisture increases the intensity of the load onto the structure and is usually "dealt with" so that it doesn't enter the building, or so that, if it is meant to enter, that it is captured in such a way so as to be serviceable.

If your footings are "slipping" it means that your dwelling is sliding down a hillside (measured in inches per year not miles per hour)... Are you sliding down a hillside?

More likely that the basement walls are failing structurally by excessive load or hydrostatic pressure.... you need an engineer to design the apporpriate resolution. This will save you a lot of money in trial and error.

Answer 4

In the yellow pages are companies that level houses and fix foundatins.

What they do is dig several as needed post hole size holes right next to your footer, slip in a steel jack and raise the footer up, leveling the house. They leave this jack right in the hole to hold the house and as time passes, the dirt due to ground pressure gets under the foundation and supports it.

This is a common repair. For an aveage house this costs about $7500.

They must be licensed in most states and your repairs are usually covered by a Home Owners Insurance of yours. So check you Policy and call your agent.

Answer 5

All houses settle. . Some more than others. Do not worry so much. Cracks in walls, foundations and slabs are to be expected. Only when those faults , bulge, buckel or sag, then you have trouble.
Many people say that any cracks are 'bad'. They dont know circa 1800's homes that have cracked foundations, yet still stand as glorious as when they were built. So dont loose any sleep over some cracks here and there. Live in, upgrade and enjoy your home.

Answer 6

Call companies that shore houses and see what they say.

I live in the south, where basements are not an issue, but I have heard if you have a house w/ a basement and foundation cracks, you could have a problem w/ radon gas. So it is good to get it checked and fixed.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Here's a link to an awesome company, give this guys a call and they can tell you what to do from their! OK Trust me just calll the # their awesome
www.thrasherbasement.com
k.