We are looking at a home to purchase (southeastern Wisconsin) and the basement walls have long, horizontal cracks which are probably the result of heavy clay soils and improper drainage towards the house over the years. Years ago I had a smaller home with a similar situation and I just dug it out by hand (whew!) and then had a mason friend knock out some uneven bricks and reset new ones. It cost me a case of beer at the time. I want to do it as in expensively as possible and not pay some basement contractor 15-20 grand. Any suggestions?
2007-05-25 02:01:40 · 5 answers · asked by craig s 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
My wife and I bought a house with the exact same problem-clay soil, poor drainage, etc. We reconfigured our gutters so they would drain further away from the house and tried hydraulic cement. Neither worked.
Being in the construction business, I happened to stumble across a guy that did epoxy injections for concrete repair. He came to my house and drilled 1/4" holes in the middle of the crack every foot or so. He then pumps epoxy into the crack at those various locations. The epoxy works so well that I could see it coming out of the crack on the outside of the house where the foundation wall was exposed.
To make a long story short, it cost me $1,800 for him to repair around 40 linear feet of crack. He absolutely said I would have no leaks-and I haven't even had a drop. I would go that route again in a heartbeat.
2007-05-25 03:34:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A trench needs to be dug out around the problem walls that is almost a foot wide. The walls have to be repaired with mortar and brick where need be, and then the hole around the walls filled with pea gravel to assure proper drainage in the future. Hopefull no tree roots have gotten around the drainage tiles under the basement floor. That can be diagnosed by a snake.
Have a home inspector come in and assess. If you really want the house, you could get the cost of having it done knocked off the price of the house possibly. Good Luck!
2007-05-25 09:14:25 · answer #2 · answered by mscrankyangel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you have home inspectors in this state when you pruchswse a house. IN NJ, they have them and if there's an issue they mark it on the report. The cost can be negotiated in the price of the house.
now if you are taking $15-20 to make a repair, you will never recover that in the sale of this house.
You may want to consider walking away from this one and checking another unit.
Mc
2007-05-25 09:10:40 · answer #3 · answered by Michael M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hydraulic cement works wonders.
2007-05-25 09:10:46 · answer #4 · answered by gerdie65 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't but it unless the seller repairs it first!
2007-05-25 09:57:25 · answer #5 · answered by elz98409 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋