Understanding Foundation Cracks: Causes and What They Mean for Your Home
Understanding Foundation Cracks
Your home and everything in it, including you and your family, rests on its foundation. So you aren't alone in worrying about cracks in your foundation. However, it is important to note that not all foundation cracks are necesarrily a problem. It all depends on the type of foundation you have, poured, concrete, or block.
Shrinkage Cracks in Poured Walls
Concrete can crack over time, often early in its lifelspan as it cures and shrinks. So if you find a short, often vertical hairline crack in your foundation wall, especially if it occurs near the seam where the the forms were joined together for the initial foundation pour, it may be nothing to worry about. Typically, cracks of this nature don't represent structural weakness.
Diagonal Foundation Cracks in Poured Walls
If a poured concrete wall is experiencing excessive stress, it will often begin to fail from the corners in. This typically results in longer diagonal cracks that emerge from the upper corners of the wall. If you see cracks of this type, you should likely call for an inspection, as this can be an indication of serious structural issues with your home's foundation and is often associated with the foundation sinking or settling. If you do see foundation wall cracks of this type, don't panic. Most foundations can be stabalized and even lifted back to their original position using specialized equiptment. This is often far less disruptive and expensive than total foundation repair.
Cracks in Block Walls
When block walls fail, they tend to fail horizontally in the middle, bowing in as the mortar joints break. This being the case, the evidence of a failing block wall, will usually consist of horizontal cracks midway up the basement wall. You may also see stairstep cracks as the joints fail around the concrete blocks at different levels. Similar to cracks in poured walls, cracks in block walls indicate a foundation under extreme stress, but just like poured walls, block foundations can be repaired.
When to Repair a Foundation Crack
Foundation wall cracks won't go away on their own, in fact, they will more than likely get worse over time. The important thing to remember it that foundation cracks worsen so slowly, it is easy to put them on the backburner and forget about them. However, this leaves your foundation at risk for potential failure, an incredibly messy and expensive situation. It will never be cheaper to fix a foundation crack than it is sooner rather than later.
If your basement wall is cracking due to foundation settlement, you may see symptoms all over your house that you didn't even know were related. Problems like sticking windows and doors, sloping floors and gapping ceilings can all be related to a sinking foundation. This means that choosing to repair your damaged foundation, will also fix those other pesky issues around your home.
