Horizontal Cracks In Concrete Basement Walls

Because basement floors are poured after the walls are.

Horizontal cracks in concrete basement walls.

Backfill damage excessive height or premature backfill before the first floor framing was in place. The most common cause of horizontal cracks in concrete block foundation walls is excessive unbalanced soil pressure. Stair step cracks may also signify heaving. Horizontal foundation cracks located at mid wall height on a foundation possible vehicle loading look for a driveway near the wall or site history involving movement of heavy equipment near.

If the crack is horizontal or runs at a jagged 45 degree angle it might mean there s a more serious problem. Vertical cracks run the same direction as drywall generally making them less serious. Horizontal cracks horizontal cracks found on foundation walls are indications of a very serious problem and over time they can lead to a complete foundation wall failure. If a horizontal crack appears where the foundation wall meets the basement floor it s not a structural problem but it should be sealed.

A step crack is horizontal and vertical cracking between the cinder blocks or bricks. You can t handle this cracked wall by simply filling the crack and finishing off the basement. We rarely see cast in place concrete foundation walls which have developed a horizontal crack because of lateral or inward soil pressure. Concrete walls containing horizontal cracks are serious issues.

Vertical and diagonal cracks in concrete walls typically indicate foundation movement. There s also a stair step crack on each end of the horizontal crack and the wall is bowed in about 1 in. This type of movement will have horizontal cracks that may occur near the center of the wall or nearer to the top of the wall. The crack line can look like steps.

Sometimes the soil pressure may shear the first course of concrete block above the basement floor slab and the wall slides inward. If a vertical crack widens at the top or bottom the wall is either settling or gradually heaving which may present serious issues. However these products can fail after a few years if your foundation or retaining wall continues to move slightly leaving you with little choice but to chip them out and start all over again. Several masonry patching products such as hydraulic cement do an adequate job of filling cracks in concrete walls.

These types of cracks allow water to get into the basement. Corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel. Cracked basement walls this basement has a crack running horizontally along the block concrete wall. In concrete block foundation walls horizontal cracks are typically caused by the foundation wall being forced and bowed inward under the lateral or inward pressure of the soil.