When you own a home you have a lot of things to worry about and a lot of things that will, over time, need to be fixed. When you discover that you might have a crack in the foundation you need to understand that this could lead to big problems down the road. It can cause wall damage, floor damage and even damage to your plumbing which can in the end, if not taken care of, can cause water a long with mold damage. Learn how to do your own minor foundation crack repair.
The most important thing you should do is to take a good look at the cracked area. Take a chisel and a hammer to clear away the crack. If your crack doesn’t seem to be due to some sort of settling you can probably go ahead and patch up the crack yourself without any problems whatsoever.
When you chisel out the cracks will be widening the cracks so that you can put the cement in.. Make sure that after you do this however, you get rid of all the pieces of concrete you create as well as any dirt there might be. You need to have this area as clean as possible before you pour your cement.
Items you are going to need to fix this situation are a chisel, a hammer, some foundation cement for repairs, a trowel, some shovels, picks, helical piers and mounting bolts and a ratchet wrench. Make sure that you have all of these items before you start to do your work.
Take the cement and follow the instructions just as they are on the cement package. After it is mixed you can then take a a trowel and then spread the cement all over the crack that you have discovered. Make sure that you smooth it over the entire area that needs to be repaired. You should then let the cement dry for at least two days before you do anything else.
Before you let the cement totally dry it’s a good thing to take a broom that is wet and sweep across the top of the area that you have patched up. This will help to blend in the patched area with the rest of the area when it has dried.
If during your examination you discovered that your foundation is cracked because of the settling of the dirt below your foundation you will need to install some helical piers. How you do this is to take a shovel and dig next to your house, you may also need to use a pick. Do this until you come to the actual foundation and it is visible. Take the piers and screw them into your dirt. You will need to place one pier every three feet along the side of the house that is beginning to settle.
Take the mounting bolts for the piers and tighten them with your ratchet wrench. Then you will need to take some dirt with a shovel and make sure that the piers are completely covered and the soil is packed down tightly.
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