Wall Crack Repair

Small cracks in foundation walls are common in Kansas City homes. Usually a side effect of the natural curing process of concrete, these cracks usually do not threaten the foundation.  However, even small cracks in a foundation can be a major problem if they leak groundwater into your basement or crawl space.

The crack repair systems we use are based on time-tested best-practices in the industry. Several of our warrantied methods are award-winning techniques that have been used in thousands of homes worldwide.

Concrete Foundation Crack Repair: Polyurethane Injection vs Epoxy Injection

By far the number one question our new customers ask is “Should I use epoxy or polyurethane foam to fix my basement crack?”  The vast majority of cracks in a foundation wall that leak water should be repaired using a urethane foam.

Polyurethane Foams

Urethanes react with moisture in the crack to foam and expand inside the wall.  This completely fills the void from top to bottom and all the way through. In fact, the urethanes can expand up to 30x their initial volume.  Urethane foams are flexible and move with the expansion and contraction of a foundation wall from freeze/thaw cycles.  Much less resin is needed with urethane foams since they expand in volume.  That makes them much more economical than epoxies.  Finally, urethane injection is relatively easier to do than an epoxy injection.

Epoxies

Epoxies weld the crack together and restore structural strength.  The bond strength can be much higher than concrete.  Movement is eliminated in the concrete wall during expansion and contraction cycles.

Foundations that are moving or have a continuing stress load on them may need additional repair methods to stabilize the wall and prevent further damage.  The epoxy is stronger than the concrete, but the continued stress load may cause the concrete to crack again.