Cracked Foundation Contractor or Engineer?

NY_Yankees_Fan · Nov 26, 2014

I have a crack in my home foundation. I plan to sell my home in the spring and I know any inspector with a pair of eyes will see it. So do I call a concrete foundation contractor or engineer. The foundation is poured concrete and is 28 years old. The height of the wall is 8'. I noticed the crack about 3 years ago and it seems to getting worse. The crack is from the top of the wall to the bottom, and the floor also has a crack in it about 7' long. About 6 months ago I notices water stains at the bottom of the crack. About 18" to the left of the crack is the main support beam for the house. I do not have any cracks on the 1st floor to indicate the beam is moving.

As I see it I have a few choices 1. Call a foundation contractor to get his recommendation for repair. 2. Call a structural engineer to review the crack and develop a plan to repair and then gets quotes based on his specification.

I am leaning towards #2 since if I was buying the home I would ask how do I know it was done correctly and will I have problems in the future.

So what would you do? I do not have the tools or the expertise to do this myself. Thanks

RedNeckRacin · Nov 26, 2014

I would try and investigate what caused the cracks if it just happened recently. You might have some water drainage issues. Can you tell if the wall is pushing at all?

lt190b · Nov 26, 2014

NY_Yankees_Fan said:
I have a crack in my home foundation. I plan to sell my home in the spring and I know any inspector with a pair of eyes will see it. So do I call a concrete foundation contractor or engineer. The foundation is poured concrete and is 28 years old. The height of the wall is 8'. I noticed the crack about 3 years ago and it seems to getting worse. The crack is from the top of the wall to the bottom, and the floor also has a crack in it about 7' long. About 6 months ago I notices water stains at the bottom of the crack. About 18" to the left of the crack is the main support beam for the house. I do not have any cracks on the 1st floor to indicate the beam is moving.

As I see it I have a few choices 1. Call a foundation contractor to get his recommendation for repair. 2. Call a structural engineer to review the crack and develop a plan to repair and then gets quotes based on his specification.

I am leaning towards #2 since if I was buying the home I would ask how do I know it was done correctly and will I have problems in the future.

So what would you do? I do not have the tools or the expertise to do this myself. Thanks

Get 2-3 quotes for the repair. Disclose crack in your listing,if you are listing for sale, then when you get a contract, negotiate an agreeable price and let the buyer get it fixed to suite themselves. you don't have put up with the mess. lt190b

Tomtint · Nov 26, 2014

Concrete cracks are not unusual. In the past when we have had any cracking, if it was not opening or leaking and just a hairline, it would be left alone. If it is opening or leaking, first we would figure out why, and if it was drainage issues we would address that. Also would excavate down to the footing and V groove the crack, fill it with hydro cement and then rubberized coat the repair. We would also lay ice and water barrier against the wall before back filling. Then V groove the inside and pack it with hydrolic cement as well. On the inside we spend a bit more time to make it look pretty.

Gary Fowler · Nov 26, 2014

lt190b said:
Get 2-3 quotes for the repair. Disclose crack in your listing,if you are listing for sale, then when you get a contract, negotiate an agreeable price and let the buyer get it fixed to suite themselves. you don't have put up with the mess. lt190b

Many if not most lending agencies will not make a loan on a house with an un-repaired foundation crack. You will need to get it fixed prior to the sale. I had mine fixed by a contractor that used hydraulic pressure to push in a bunch of 4"x12" concrete piles called CoreLocked by patent. If I had it to do over, I would have had drilled and poured footing. The corelocked depends on the slab weight to push the piles into the ground and I don't think that they are very stabile at least not as much as a drilled and poured pile is. This was over 15 years ago and they were $250 per pile for perimeter and $500 for interior piles.
In Houston area there was only 2 companies that did foundation repair and both were owned by the same parent company so not much choice on fixing but they give lifetime transferrable warranty on their work

dmccarty · Nov 26, 2014

Get the Engineer. The engineer ain't going to make money on the repair so his/her plan to fix the problem is what the contractor needs to do. A coworker had some settling of his house so he had a structural engineer look at the problem The engineer's solution was a concrete pad and a 4x4 under a section of floor. It cost my coworker less than $100 in materials to fix the problem. It costs a few hours/hundred dollars to pay for the engineer's time and plan.

I would bet the coworker would have paid FAR more money to a contractor and who knows if the problem would have been solved.

Later,
Dan

Egon · Nov 26, 2014

You are gonna need two Engineers. A soils engineer and a structural engineer.

newbury · Nov 26, 2014

In Virginia we had a major crack caused by an earthquake. Since I've lived in Northern Virginia since 1975 and never felt a tremor we didn't have earthquake insurance and found out our house insurance didn't cover it.. We got a registered engineer ($$) who recommended several firms. Three firms cam in with bids around $18K, they were going to excavate outside, dig under the footing, build the Taj Mahal. They were all accustomed to billing the insurance agency.

The engineer recommended one more, a small firm, they came in and basically put long rebar down two walls and rebuilt from the inside and the bill came to around 7 or 8K AND PASSED THE ENGINEERS APPROVAL. The engineer wasn't going to pass it if I had done the work my self.

So get an engineer that you can work with and get it approved.

CurlyDave · Nov 26, 2014

Egon said:
You are gonna need two Engineers. A soils engineer and a structural engineer.

I think Egon is absolutely right. Especially if you are selling the house soon. This must all her disclosed and a nice neat package with engineer's stamped letters, plans, inspector approvals, etc. will go a long way toward removing the negatives. I would not disclose the issue in the listing -- no one will come to see the house. The disclosure goes with the rest of the disclosures. If the repair is cosmetically good, the buyer may not even notice it in looking at the house. This is really important.

NY_Yankees_Fan · Nov 26, 2014

I am starting the process of finding an engineer. I am hoping it can all be done inside the basement and not involve the outside as I have a 20' wide deck on the other side of the wall. What ever it takes, I got to get it done the last thing I want is the sale falling through because of a crack. We worked hard to upkeep the home new roof, windows, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. I had the track home build seems like yesterday, everything wears out......good thing I am not getting old too...LOL

EddieWalker · Nov 27, 2014

I agree with the others about finding a soil engineer. Do not talk to any foundation repair people until you have a engineer design a fix. Foundation repair companies as a whole are the worse of the worse crooks in the trades. Most go out of business every five years and start a new business because that's about how long their repairs last.

The crack is caused by movement in the soil. You have to know what the dirt is doing before you can fix it.

Eddie

deerefan · Dec 1, 2014

EddieWalker said:
I agree with the others about finding a soil engineer. Do not talk to any foundation repair people until you have a engineer design a fix. Foundation repair companies as a whole are the worse of the worse crooks in the trades. Most go out of business every five years and start a new business because that's about how long their repairs last.

The crack is caused by movement in the soil. You have to know what the dirt is doing before you can fix it.

Eddie

I work for a large Commercial GC/Concrete Contractor and in my area, especially south of us, foundation issues are a big problem. Though it will be an added expense, does as Eddie says and involve an engineer. Make sure he is a licensed engineer. There are a lot of "engineers" floating around that quite frankly have no business calling themselves an engineer. Make sure he is independent of any company you pursue in making the repair. Try to find out what psi concrete was poured, the make-up of the concrete, rebar used and what type. Weather conditions, such as freezing, can cause concrete issues, especially if a substantial amount of moisture is present.

dodge man · Dec 1, 2014

Tomtint said:
Concrete cracks are not unusual. In the past when we have had any cracking, if it was not opening or leaking and just a hairline, it would be left alone. If it is opening or leaking, first we would figure out why, and if it was drainage issues we would address that. Also would excavate down to the footing and V groove the crack, fill it with hydro cement and then rubberized coat the repair. We would also lay ice and water barrier against the wall before back filling. Then V groove the inside and pack it with hydrolic cement as well. On the inside we spend a bit more time to make it look pretty.

There you go, that's a plan. I work for an engineering company and unless you think there is some kind of major structural problem, you don't need an engineer. Cracking like you describe isn't that uncommon.

Deere Dude · Dec 1, 2014

NY_Yankees_Fan said:
I am starting the process of finding an engineer. I am hoping it can all be done inside the basement and not involve the outside as I have a 20' wide deck on the other side of the wall. What ever it takes, I got to get it done the last thing I want is the sale falling through because of a crack. We worked hard to upkeep the home new roof, windows, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. I had the track home build seems like yesterday, everything wears out......good thing I am not getting old too...LOL

Can you see the dirt level under the deck? Did the dirt settle so rainwater builds up and pushes on the wall? The water has to be pitched away from the house because hydraulic pressure will do that to walls.

Streetcar · Dec 2, 2014

First off I am an engineer. In most states it is illegal to claim to be an engineer without having having the license. An engineer can tell if problem is structural or not and give method for repair. Engineers can and do lose their license for doing work they are not qualified to complete. for foundation repair I would get an engineer

deerefan · Dec 2, 2014

Streetcar said:
First off I am an engineer. In most states it is illegal to claim to be an engineer without having having the license. An engineer can tell if problem is structural or not and give method for repair. Engineers can and do lose their license for doing work they are not qualified to complete. for foundation repair I would get an engineer

My comment was not directed toward you, a legitimate licensed engineer. For example, my BIL graduated in engineering. He is not licensed, but whenever someone asks him or his wife what he does for a living, he is quick to say I am an engineer. IMHO, no license, no engineer. Unless you can "stamp" your work, in my line of work, we have no use for you or your input. Of course when I tell him or his wife this they argue until they are blue in the face. Hey, I took four years of biology in college, but I am no biologist. In our area, unfortunately, these mom and pop foundation companies are hiring these kids out of college who took four years of engineering, paying them a decent wage (60k-70k/yr) and having them give their "word" the repair is going to work and be permanent. Very concerning when you are dealing with your home's foundation. We agree-get a licensed engineer- it will be money well spent.

dave1949 · Dec 2, 2014

My son's college room mate is a licensed Civil Eng. in Mass. I never realized what a long process, with oversight on projects, it is to become licensed. It's not just a piece of paper.

deerefan · Dec 2, 2014

dave1949 said:
My son's college room mate is a licensed Civil Eng. in Mass. I never realized what a long process, with oversight on projects, it is to become licensed. It's not just a piece of paper.

Exactly. That is why they make the money they make and earn the title. Nothing annoys me more than someone carrying a title they did not earn.

CurlyDave · Dec 2, 2014

deerefan said:
Exactly. That is why they make the money they make and earn the title. Nothing annoys me more than someone carrying a title they did not earn.

It depends on the specific field of engineering. I would probably annoy you beyond your wildest imagination.

I am an engineer. I have degrees in engineering from prestigious Universities. I have earned the right to be called an engineer. Over my lifetime I have designed and built: nuclear fuel processing plants, satellites, and payloads for satellites. Never once have I needed a license to do this, and I do not have a stamp. Now the guys who designed the buildings I worked in, they needed a license and they had to stamp the plans for the buildings.

In the field of electrical engineering, the guy who designs an electrical substation needs a license and a stamp. The guy who designs the computer that controls the substation, not only doesn't need one, if he said on a resume that he had the license probably wouldn't get hired.

* * * * * *

In my private life, when I need to build a foundation or a retaining wall, I design it and then bring the plans to a licensed civil or mechanical engineer and pay him to check the plans and stamp them.