Poured concrete crack patching

[David C. Macy]

House was built in 2002. Ryan home.

The poured concrete had some cracking that was patched.

Home has a 10 year stucture warranty.

Client plans on finishing basement.

The cracks appeared to be satisfactorly patched with an epoxy.

The exterior was graded away from the house.

Walls are covered with insulation.

My questions are.

What is the best way to provide air flow from the finished wall to the foundation wall. It seems there are newer technologies popping up all the time.

Secondly, how would you report the patched cracks.

Would you tell the client to monitor the cracks. Soon he will be finishing the basement.

Would you state the cracks have been patched or satisfactorly patched.


Thanks

Dave

[David P. Valley]

David,

That is an epoxy injection due to past leaks in that particular cracked area of the foundation.

What these epoxy companies do is... they will bond the cracked surfaces together by injecting a specially formulated epoxy material that will stop water from leaking into a basement. This process closes the crack and restores the structural integrity of the wall by producing a "weld" that is equal to the original concrete in strength and performance. Most of these epoxy injection companies will offer a ten year warranty.

Just inform your clients to obtain the paperwork for this particular injection and tell them to make sure that the warranty is transferrable to the new home owners.

I always test these areas with my moisture meter while I'm on site. I've never found one to be excessively moist. Recommend periodic monitoring.

[Richard L. Bennett]

This is not from the HI's point of view but from my point of view as someone who has had to write procedures for inspecting critical systems

Here is what I would recommend

This and perhaps other areas must be re inspected for future failures

To make these future inspections possible build into the basement inspection / maintenance panels. It could be a built in book case with a back panel that can be removed etc.

Areas like the back of a bath tub, HVAC systems, attics etc need to have some access.

I realize that this is not always possible but during remolding it is a good time to try to do some of these things

Good luck

PS My house has some extra access points for WDO treatment and inspection etc.

rlb

[Marcel R. Cyr]

It is good and necessary that the owner hold that ten year warranty, for it might be usefull before the ten years are up. I would definitely monitor this cracked and repaired area for future problems.
The warranty probably covers the epoxy joint for failure, but nothing guaranties that the masonry foundation will not crack parallel to the epoxied joint.
Stress from exterior pressures caused it to crack in the first place and no one knows if it might not happen again.

Cover this up and a leak starts, where do you go from there? Pull out your warranty, and the Contractor, if he is still around will say, if I expose the cracked area and find that my joint repair is still good, you will have to pay my labor for exposing the area and repair the finishes at your cost.
Just my thoughts.

Marcel
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[rwand1]

I believe expoxy has fallen from favour. Expoxy can cause further cracks and the repaired crack can fail. The newer method is polyurethane, which acts more like a gasket and is pliable. I have come across numberous expoxy injections that have failed or have been done improperly and leak.