Interior Solutions
Foundation Crack Repair
A crack that leaks in spring will leak worse next spring. Injection seals it through the entire wall thickness in a few hours, from the inside, with no excavation.
Typically a single-visit repair · Free assessment
What you get
- Sealed through the full wall thickness, not just surface-patched
- No excavation and no damage to landscaping
- Most repairs completed in a single visit
- Transferable lifetime warranty on the repaired crack
Why poured foundations crack
Concrete shrinks as it cures. A poured wall loses volume in its first year and relieves that stress by cracking, usually vertically and usually near a window, a corner, or a form-tie line where the section is weakest. This is normal and happens in the majority of poured foundations. It is not a defect in the house.
The problem is that a shrinkage crack is a continuous void from the outside face of the wall to the inside face. Once the soil outside is saturated, that void is a pipe.
Nova Scotia accelerates the process in three ways:
- Freeze-thaw cycling. Water inside the crack expands about 9% when it freezes. Across an Atlantic winter, that cycle repeats dozens of times, wedging the crack a little wider each time.
- Hydrostatic pressure. Clay-heavy till soils drain slowly. After a heavy rain the soil against your wall stays saturated for days, holding water against the crack under pressure.
- Seasonal soil movement. Soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, and that cycle works the wall back and forth.
How injection actually works
Injection is not filling a crack from the front. It is pressurising resin so that it travels the full depth of the wall and cures against the soil side.
We mount ports along the crack, seal the exposed face so the resin cannot escape, then pump from the bottom port upward. When resin appears at the port above, we know the section between them is completely filled and we move up. The result is a solid resin key running the entire height and thickness of the crack.
Polyurethane expands as it reacts with moisture, which is exactly why it works on an actively leaking crack: the water in the crack is a catalyst, not an obstacle. It cures flexible, so when the wall moves next spring the seal moves with it.
Epoxy is used when the crack is structural. It cures rigid and stronger than the concrete around it, effectively welding the wall back into a single monolithic section. It requires a dry, clean crack and a wall that is no longer moving.
When injection is not the answer
We will tell you when a crack needs something else:
- Horizontal cracks in a block wall, often with inward bowing, indicate lateral soil pressure. That is a structural problem requiring reinforcement, not a sealant.
- Stair-step cracking through mortar joints in block foundations means the wall is moving at the joints. Injection will not hold, and the fix is usually exterior work or stitching.
- Wide, actively moving cracks need concrete stitching to mechanically tie the two sides together before any sealing is worthwhile.
- Water entering at the floor–wall joint rather than through the wall is a drainage problem. Sealing the wall will not touch it. You need interior weeping tile.
The assessment is free, and it is genuinely diagnostic. If the honest answer is that you do not need us yet, that is the answer you will get.
Questions
About foundation crack repair
What is the difference between epoxy and polyurethane injection?
Polyurethane is a flexible, expanding resin. It tolerates moisture, so it can be injected into a crack that is actively leaking, and it stays elastic, which matters because concrete moves seasonally. It is the right choice for a crack whose job is to stop water. Epoxy is rigid and structural. It welds the two sides of the crack back together and restores the wall's original strength, but it needs a relatively dry, clean crack and it will not tolerate future movement. We use polyurethane for water and epoxy for structure, and we tell you which yours needs.
Are foundation cracks dangerous?
Most are not. Vertical or near-vertical hairline cracks in a poured wall are usually shrinkage cracks from the original curing, and they are a water problem rather than a structural one. What warrants a closer look are horizontal cracks, stair-step cracks in block walls, cracks wider than about 6 mm, cracks where one side has shifted out of plane with the other, and any crack that is visibly growing. Those can indicate soil pressure or footing movement, and they may need concrete stitching or engineering input rather than injection alone.
Can I just use hydraulic cement or a caulk from the hardware store?
Those are surface patches. They fill the visible face of the crack but leave the rest of the wall thickness open, so water continues to travel through the concrete and simply finds the edge of the patch. They also cannot move with the wall, so the seasonal expansion and contraction that opened the crack in the first place will break the patch loose. Injection fills the crack from the exterior face inward, which is why it holds.
How long does a crack repair take?
A typical single crack takes two to three hours start to finish. You can be in the house while we work, and the area is usable the same day.
My crack only leaks sometimes. Should I still fix it?
Yes, and sooner is cheaper. A crack that leaks only during heavy rain or spring melt is still admitting moisture into the concrete continuously, and every freeze-thaw cycle drives it a little wider. The repair cost does not change much with crack size, but the collateral damage does: finished walls, flooring, and stored belongings are what actually make a wet basement expensive.
Further reading
More on foundation crack repair
Wet Basement Solutions in Halifax: Start With the Source
How to work out why a Halifax basement is wet (wall seepage, floor-joint water, or surface runoff), and which fix each one actually needs.
Structural Concrete Repairs: Restoring Strength, Not Just Sealing
When a foundation crack is structural rather than cosmetic, and what restoring the wall's load-carrying capacity actually involves. Epoxy, staples and carbon fibre.
Should You Waterproof Your Basement in Winter? Usually, Yes
Interior waterproofing carries on through a Nova Scotia winter, and booking it then means you are dry before spring melt, with a far better spot in the schedule.
Where we do this work
Foundation Crack Repair across mainland Nova Scotia
Free assessment
Tell us what you’re seeing.
We’ll come out, diagnose it properly, and give you a written quote. No charge, and no pressure. If a cheaper fix will solve it, that’s what we’ll tell you.
(902) 555-0100