Protect your foundation — before it cracks up
Here in Canada, when winter comes, it’s usually followed by a lot of snow. This year has been lighter than most, but a recent freezing rainstorm had me thinking about foundations.
I get a lot of questions and emails from concerned homeowners worrying about their foundations. They’ve found a crack, they’re worried about water getting in and they want to know what they can do to protect their homes from inside and out, their basement and foundation.
With the spring melt just a few months away, I thought this would be a good opportunity to address some of those questions.
CRACKS IN THE FOUNDATION
Not all cracks are serious. If you do see a crack, don’t start panicking. When concrete cures or dries, it can crack, so if you’ve just laid a new foundation and see a few small cracks, don’t call me just yet. Mark them with tape and check back in a few months. If they aren’t growing, they can usually be filled with an epoxy injection or an expandable foam. It’s for this reason that I wouldn’t recommend finishing a basement right away after a new foundation is placed. Let your home go through a few winter seasons so if any cracks do appear, they can be fixed more easily.
When my son was renovating his home, he found some major cracks in his foundation, so big repairs became a necessity. If you can fit a coin in any of the cracks, it’s time to waterproof from the outside.
When it comes to foundation cracks, you don’t want to take chances. Think about the building envelope: Start by protecting your house from the outside and work your way in.
FIXING CRACKS AND WATERPROOFING
In case of any serious cracking, you will want to excavate the foundation to expose the crack from the outside. Cracks will then be filled with hydraulic cement that will expand as it dries, creating a seal.
You will also want to wrap your foundation in a waterproof membrane. Usually, a black tar or asphalt compound will be painted on your concrete foundation. This is covered by a waterproof mastic coating, a mesh coating, and finally another layer of mastic coating. This is to keep water vapour from seeping through the concrete foundation.
GETTING A PASSING GRADE
Proper sloping around your property will prevent more water from coming in. When you bring in an expert to repair your foundation, the measure of a true pro will be if they’re checking grading around the home.
Whenever I’m checking out a home, I like to carry a small rubber ball with me. Why? It offers a quick and easy way to test the grading of the driveway. Simply place the ball on the pavement and see which direction it rolls — you want the driveway to be graded so that the ball rolls away from the foundation. It stands to reason that meltwater will flow in the same direction of the driveway.
OTHER AREAS IN NEED OF ATTENTION
When the ground is frozen during the winter, excavating to repair any major cracking isn’t really an option. So what can you do to protect your basement from water during the winter months?
Start by taking care of your pipes. A frozen pipe can burst leading to water damage, especially if you have pre-existing cracks in your foundation.
Sometimes hot and cold water lines are close to outside walls, especially when it comes to kitchen sinks. Proper insulation will go a long way to protecting your pipes.
Check your eavestroughs to make sure there are no blockages that will prevent meltwater from freely flowing — install screens to keep debris out of your system. Make sure that your downspouts are ejecting water at least 90 centimetres away from your home.
When it comes to your foundation, you don’t want to take any chances. Don’t let the cracks drive you crazy. If you’re worried about water seeping in, it’s time to call in the experts.
Watch Mike Holmes in his series Holmes Makes It Right on HGTV. For more information, visit makeitright.ca. For Postmedia News