Fixing a Cracked Foundation

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Exterior house foundation crack
The significant crack that pushed the house sill off the foundation.

When I say this is the biggest project we’ve taken on, I don’t mean in size. The lake house only about 900 square feet.

In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words. The house was off the foundation due to a significant crack. Before we fixed the crack we had to mitigate the cause, water flowing through the property (a whole other story).

Close up of home foundation crack
Close up image of the foundation crack from the exterior.

John got estimates for repairing the foundation, but at upwards of $15,000 it wasn’t in the budget. He set out to do it himself.

He dug away the dirt from the foundation to relieve the pressure and then using jacks he lifted the house. Using additional jacks he braced the foundation to push it back into place.

There are no pictures of the actual jacking because he made me leave! He and Connell worked together to jack it back into place.

Pump jacks and wooden braces in basement
Pump jacks set to push the foundation back into position.

Once it was plumb, level and as square as possible (iykyk), John used a special epoxy to secure and seal the concrete foundation.

Repaired foundation crack from exterior.