Cracks And Leaks In Basement Of 1yr Old House

[cookie]

I have a house that is a year old--we had a crack by one of the basement windows right after the basement was poured--the builder later had a company come and shoot polyurethane to fill the crack--this stopped the leak--this waterproofing company has subsequently come to our home on two other occasions to put polyurethane into 3 other cracks in basement walls at the window areas-- We now have 3 more vertical cracks in the foundation--we have had two different waterproofing companies come to evaluate our foundation problems--the first company says put new drain system both inside the house and outside the house with a pump placed in floor to pump water from under the house--the second company says that's overkill and we just need the drain system placed in the floor inside in the basement--how do we know who to believe? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated--and we do know that we picked a real lulu of a builder but that's another story!!!!

[TJ1962]

Vertical cracking or pured walls off of windows, etc. are an expected consquence of concrete curing with restraint. (Turning from a plastic state to a solid cured state.) The amount of water and restraint dictates the amount of cracking.

Steel in foundation reduces this. However steel is not code in residential. With this being a new home, concrete will shrink or lose moisture and harden 40% in the first 27 days. It will reach 60% cure in the first year and finally 100% cure after 3 years.

Your drainage system should be new and per code. What does one have to do with the other? If water is coming from the cracks and not up from the floor or bottom of wall, then the cracks themselves can be treated. However, with the newness of foundation the cracks that are being repaired are still cracking with curing of foundation.