Hi,
We are looking to buy a new house. My husband is "in love" with this one place and he doesn’t want to let go.
But I wanted to ask important questions that bother me:
1. Regarding the basement: The house is 3 years old and I see small and kind of insignificant looking cracks in the floor of the basement. THe realestate agent says that this is the foundation "settling in" and every basement has them. And my husband agrees wth him, but I was thinking: This house is only 3 years old so what if these small cosmetic cracks become more significant in 20 years?
2. How would I know that there was ever a water problem in the basement? Is there a way to check? Is there a way to know that for sure this basement was always dry, and will stay that way?
3. My husband found a crack in the foundation outside. He says a crack in the foundation can be fixed Is this true? Is this a significant fix ?
Thank you
I build custom homes for a living. People that tell you the concrete should not have cracks do not have a clue what they are talking about. I can tell you in life of 3 things that will happen. You will live you will die and concrete will crack.
The person that invents something to stop concrete from cracking would never have to work again. Not saying all concrete cracks all the time. Sometimes you get lucky. Cracks are not a problem. When the concrete lifts is when you have to be concerned. Take a credit card and slid it over the crack if the lift on one side of the crack is higher then you have up heaving. This could be a future problem if it continues to lift.
1) Small spider cracks are common and happen to all concrete in the curing stages. It is expected.
2) You can not tell if water has ever been present in a basement due to the moister level of any below grade structure.
3) Any crack can be sealed and fixed. It may not happen on the 1st try but keep at it. I recommend you use sikaflex caulking (Home Depot carries this product)
If the house is only 3 years old then you have a drainage system installed around the footers. This is to take any water at the footer level to a sub pump and eject it from the house. Make sure you have no settled areas outside at the walls. These settled areas will hold water and let it run down the wall, if a crack is in this area it will seep into the house before it makes it to the footer drain system. If you do have settlement, fill them in so the water runs away from the house. Make sure all your downspouts extent a min of 10′ from the house even if you have to bury them.
Do not let cracks in concrete and a little water seepage stop you from buying a house you like.
Hope this helps!