Foundation and footing cracks

3682 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Aggie67, Apr 23, 2011

willk53

Discussion Starter · Apr 18, 2011

I bought a 5 year old home and right after moving in noticed about and inch of water in the crawlspace. I had gutters installed (there were none before), removed vegetation next to the foundation and fixed the grade around the foundation. This is near Reno which has a relatively dry and cold winter climate. The night I noticed the water there was about a foot of snow on the roof and backyard that was melted suddenly when snow turned to rain. Since I made the corrections there has been no further problems with water in the crawlspace after storms. My only concern is that I have noticed several hairline cracks in the footings. I have pulled away most of the insulation along the foundation walls and noticed hairline cracks there too (but just a few). No cracks are larger than 1/16" wide. The photo shows one of the widest on the footing. Is it normal to have these kind of cracks?

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concretemasonry

· #2 · Apr 18, 2011 (Edited)

Could the cracks be old and just exposed now that you torn off the insulation to reveal the area of the wall?

The cracks could be shrinkage cracks. The white stains appear to be efflorescence, which is a soluable salt that was probably from a previous slow water intrusion that carried salts from the concrete or the soil inside there it was deposited as the water evaporated.

Dick

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Foundation and footing cracks

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