A friend of mine has asked me for advice on a repair to his basement wall. Seems that he has a crack that runs from below a basement window to the floor.
He said that ten wears ago he dug away the outside fill and first tarred the wall then covered it with roofing felt. It worked fine until recently and now he is looking for a longer lasting repair. The wall has shown no further signs of movement that he has noticed. I understand that he has a set of steps that he will have to remove if he wants to do another exterior repair. I was wondering if any of you folks would have an idea that might work. I suspect that there is some sort of sealant that might work from the inside, though I haven’t had any experience with such products. My suggestion was to dig it up again and use some sort of pit liner material, but then I’m not the one that will be doing the grunt work ( he’s a friend people, not someone that I owe money, etc., to!).
Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks
Replies
Nothing you do from the inside will do any good for very long. And nothing you do from the outside will prevent leakage for very long if there is static water pressure present.
Probably the best approach for the outside would be to dig it out, clean the wall, install some rubber membrane, cover that with foam insulation (to protect the rubber from damage) and then backfill. But if it's leaking then the real need is to dig down below the foundation and install tile.
The foundation repair contractors have some sort of epoxy system that they fill cracks with. I'm not sure what it is, but it seems to be gaining popularity over the homegrown tar and caulk repairs that many homeowners do.
Eric
while I have not used any of them, I plan to use a company that injects epoxy into the crack. it is done from the inside so access is needed. cost is about $600 for a floor to ceiling crack.
while there are others i believe this particular company is called Crack X.
HO
bobl Volo, non valeo
I used a contractor that did that on my last home. The crach was like the original poster descibed.
The epoxy is injected at sometihing like 2000 to 3000 psi. It is a fast setting, thin syrup consistancy. Small straws were placed in the crack every 6" from floor to the edge of the window. Injection started at the floor, and as the epoxy started to ozz out of the next hole up, the tech moved on up the wall. When complete he covered the crack with a trowelable epoxy.
Cost about $300.00 for a 5' crack, but got a lifetime warrenty that was transferable to the next home owner. Niether I or the family that bought the house have ever had the leak agian.
Dave
Here's a detailed fact sheet on the epoxy system offered by Simpson. I haven't used it, but it looks pretty good.
http://www.strongtie.com/ftp/fliers/F-SAS-CRKPAC02.pdf
Sounds like a perfect job for an epoxy drill and fill
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Thanks for the info. I'll pass it on and keep a copy in my mental files for future reference.