# A crack in concrete



## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

After heavy rains, the basement of my house flooded. The floor is carpeted and the carpet was ruined. Beneath the carpet there turned out to be concrete. In one room the concrete has a crack that is very narrow and about two feet long. This crack appears to be where the water came in.

What is the best way to repair the crack?

Great thanks


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## Indy (May 16, 2010)

It sounds like you have a bigger problem than a small crack. Do you have a sump pit with a pump or natural drainage? Is your pump working properly? Where does it drain to.

Normally there is a drain tile that runs on both sides of your basement footer for the entire perimeter of the basement draining rain and ground water away from your basement into a sump pit and then pumped away to a storm drain or out into the yard.

Tree roots or debris can clog drain tile causing them to drain slow. You need to figure out why the water is not draining away. If you have that much water under your basement floor patching the crack wont fix the problem.


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

Hello,Tom! It can also be due to settling, and newness of the home. I also know that Eric has some very good points as well. It would help to know when the house was built, Whether the area where the crack is, is an addition, and general knowledge will help. I understand that the area where the crack was found was carpeted, so if there had been a crack there, that You could not have known. Now, I also agree that something was very wrong, to allow that much water in. I would check out the sump pump, and see if it is running, if it is picking up water, and moving it out side as it should. You also could have roots in the drain tile. and that is usually a big job. I would do a complete study on what went wrong.If You are in the country, You should be able to find where Your water is pumped. I have been there, and done that. I was younger, so I could dig around the foundation, and replace the bad pipe. My house was built in the 40's, and We put a addition on the house around 10 years ago. I was told By the inspector, that the preparation prior to the pour, was sa good as it gets. And I have a crack in the center of the floor, You may not have to do any thing to the crack except to force a bit of sealer in there. unless You know its running in there. So there are some things to check, before You do just a repair on the crack, and not check out the other things. I talk too much, Ha, but I hope it' helps .


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

It sounds more like the "weeper" drain around the foundation isn't draining properly. This will allow such a thing to happen. Settling to the house and roots are also contributing factors to look into.


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## BearLeeAlive (Mar 22, 2010)

Tom, this is all good info so far. A crack in a concrete slab on a basement floor is very normal. Concrete shrinks as it is cured. If it did not come through that crack, it would likely find another route.

The absolute number one reason for water in basements, and this is likely in 75% of the cases, is that rain water is not dispersed from the structure properly. There should be a good positive slope away from the hose for at least 4'. If this slope is soil, there should be a good layer of clay under the topsoil sloping away. Clay has very low permeability and water will not pass through it very fast at all. Topsoil on the other hand is like a sponge, so don't use just topsoil to make this slope. The rainwater from the roof should be lead away from tho foundation with a pipe as long as possible, preferably 6' or more. Make sure eavetroughs are clean and no water running over them.

Once the above has been addressed, and if it is fine and the problem persists, some sort of weeping tile system, complete with sump pump needs to be in place. I would assume you don't have one, or you likely may not have had this problem. If putting in afterward, on of the best methods short of completely excavating you foundation to the bottom of the footings, is to cut a channel on the inside along the foundation wall, excavate about 12" deep then use a weeping tile and drainage rock in this trench leading to a sump. Just put concrete back in on the top 2-3". This should keep your floor dry.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Tom

That's very common don't forget water will always run down hill and find it's own level and if it finds a crack in the basement it will come it, take a trip down to the home center outlets and pickup crack filler made just for type of job it's comes in tubes the norm..to fix it for good is a very big job and not cheap, basement walls are one thing but floors ,,,,wow...the norm is a hole in the floor and a pump in the hole.. 

I had a house in the hills of Colorado and in the spring time you could say the Colorado river started in my basement ,with 2 pumps running 24/7 for a min. of 60 days..

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mftha said:


> After heavy rains, the basement of my house flooded. The floor is carpeted and the carpet was ruined. Beneath the carpet there turned out to be concrete. In one room the concrete has a crack that is very narrow and about two feet long. This crack appears to be where the water came in.
> 
> What is the best way to repair the crack?
> 
> Great thanks


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

BearLeeAlive said:


> If putting in afterward, on of the best methods short of completely excavating you foundation to the bottom of the footings, is to cut a channel on the inside along the foundation wall, excavate about 12" deep then use a weeping tile and drainage rock in this trench leading to a sump. Just put concrete back in on the top 2-3". This should keep your floor dry.


I agree and disagree to some degree here. 12" may not be deep enough. You will have to confer to your local code. It may require it to be at least 3'-4' deep. Here, again, one HAS to check with their local code before doing anything. Most weeper systems are placed level or slightly above the foundation and or footings. Remember some of these can be 15' deep. Water tables vary in depth throughout the entire world.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just pointing out. Local codes must be adhered to. It is for your own safety.


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## BearLeeAlive (Mar 22, 2010)

Ken, we have done quite a few of those interior troughs. We go right alongside the footing and just a bit deeper at the most. If you went down 4' you would be severely affecting the integrity of the foundation, causing serious damage and potential liability could happen. Seriously, you should NEVER dig below the level of a footing. We have done this when adding on an addition that is lower, but we follow an engineered method for underpinning to keep the foundation from collapsing, especially on older foundations that have no rebar in therm.

Besides, as long as you are at least to the level of the bottom of the footing, and keep any ground water to that level, there will be no water entering the basement through the floor. It is at this level (the bottom of the footings) that we place weeping tile inside and out on all new homes we build.

Another thing we have done is to use a drainage membrane along the bottom 2-4' or so of the wall, continuous to the drainage trench before placing the concrete. This will drain any water that should come through the wall.


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## Jack Wilson (Mar 14, 2010)

BearLeeAlive said:


> Ken, we have done quite a few of those interior troughs. We go right alongside the footing and just a bit deeper at the most. If you went down 4' you would be severely affecting the integrity of the foundation, causing serious damage and potential liability could happen. Seriously, you should NEVER dig below the level of a footing. We have done this when adding on an addition that is lower, but we follow an engineered method for underpinning to keep the foundation from collapsing, especially on older foundations that have no rebar in therm.


Hey Jim, (assuming that the basement is aprox. 8' and 6' of that is below grade), I think Ken meant 4' below grade, not below the foundation. 

Tom, also keep in mind naturally occurring ground water. It may not simply be a matter of excess rain, but a combination. We once dug a basement and had to run 6" tile while we were digging, just to finish excavating. There was SO much ground water we needed to slope a line about 100' away from the house so that we could continue. Fortunately we had that kind of room to work with.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

I fixed a leak on a cistern (we lived *out*in the country in central KY) with some sort of masonry repair compound. It can in a quart can and was a dark grey color. Can't remember the name but it worked great. I suggest you fill the crack with something to start.


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

BearLeeAlive said:


> Ken, we have done quite a few of those interior troughs. We go right alongside the footing and just a bit deeper at the most. If you went down 4' you would be severely affecting the integrity of the foundation, causing serious damage and potential liability could happen. Seriously, you should NEVER dig below the level of a footing. We have done this when adding on an addition that is lower, but we follow an engineered method for underpinning to keep the foundation from collapsing, especially on older foundations that have no rebar in therm.
> 
> Besides, as long as you are at least to the level of the bottom of the footing, and keep any ground water to that level, there will be no water entering the basement through the floor. It is at this level (the bottom of the footings) that we place weeping tile inside and out on all new homes we build.
> 
> Another thing we have done is to use a drainage membrane along the bottom 2-4' or so of the wall, continuous to the drainage trench before placing the concrete. This will drain any water that should come through the wall.


Hi Jim,

Here I agree with you. I should have stated a bit better of what I was thinking. Most of the weeper systems I've seen replaced/repaired, were run along the "outside" of the foundation. This is what I'm referring too. I've seen exactly what you're describing done many times, a fairly tough job at times indeed. You were referring to "inside" and I was referring to "outside".  Both are causes for leakage in basements. 

My apologies if you were thinking I said below the foundation. This isn't what I was trying to say. It has to be level or above the footings. I think we were both on the same page but just different locations. :dance3::lol:


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## BearLeeAlive (Mar 22, 2010)

Hamlin said:


> Hi Jim,
> 
> Here I agree with you. I should have stated a bit better of what I was thinking. Most of the weeper systems I've seen replaced/repaired, were run along the "outside" of the foundation. This is what I'm referring too. I've seen exactly what you're describing done many times, a fairly tough job at times indeed. You were referring to "inside" and I was referring to "outside".  Both are causes for leakage in basements.


Ahhh.....gotcha. I was a bit concerned. I many have not been clear when I first mentioned the method. Yeah, this is done as an option to doing/redoing the exterior drainage which in lots of cases due to plantings, decks, concrete etc. is not a viable option. On the exterior you really have to get down to the bottom of the footings as well.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

I had a problem with water coming into my basement in a old house that was built in 1918. I had a few plumbers come in and give my estimates. The plan they had was to dig a trench 18" out from the basement wall in either direction of where the water was pooling. The trenches drained back to a corner where a 4' hole was dug to place a sump pump. The sump pump came with a plastic tub which was used to collect the water.

The inspector came in and had a look and he made no mention of the hole being dug 4' below the fottings. I would agree if you were to break apart the footing you would run into problems but footings are poured with rebar which is tied together and the weight is distributed along the bottom of the footing. 

In my case I had success and did not have any further problems. I have seen a new product come out recently and was featured in one the emails I subscribe to Wood News E. When I return back home I will try and locate the articel and post if for you to read.


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