There are a few different methods to repair a basement floor crack. You first need to determine if the crack has stopped growing and spreading. If you have a crack that continues to widen or lengthen, there could be structural damage beneath the surface and should be checked out by a professional.
Other problems that require a professional can be cracks that become uneven or continue to expand and grow up walls. A basement floor crack repair service like 58 Foundations has the know-how and the experience to recognize a normal aging settlement or a serious matter like a sinkhole beneath your foundation.
Most concrete cracks are common due to a house settling. There could also be moisture beneath the foundation that causes sinking to occur. If you are noticing only hairline cracks, the chances are that the damage will not spread and you can simply repair a basement floor crack with a few steps.
Repairing a Crack with a Concrete Patch
A liquid concrete repair kit, using an injection method, will contain everything that is needed for a 1/16-in.wide x 8-in.deep x 8-ft. long crack. The first step is to make sure the crack is void of any water or moisture that could interfere with the adhesive. Use a hairdryer to dry the crack and check later to make sure the water has not returned.
A kit contains an epoxy crack sealer, tubes of Liquid Concrete Repair (LCR), a viscous epoxy in a caulk-type cartridge, and plastic injection ports to deliver the LCR deep into the crack. The injection ports are placed into parts of the crack. A batch of epoxy sealer is then smoothed along the crack, leaving the injection ports open. The ports are then filled with the crack sealer to help provide support for the internal crack. The ports are then sealed and cut off even with the floor.
Repairing a Crack with Bonding Adhesive
This method of how to repair a basement floor crack also begins with a dry clean surface. However, the crack’s edges are chiseled to undercut the edges and smoothed out as much as possible. The crack is then painted evenly with a brush with concrete bonding material.
Next, a mixture of the sand mix is used to complete filling in the crack and leveling the surface. Allow the mixture to dry. This is known as patching a crack. As long as you have a dry clean surface to work with and all debris has been chipped and swept away, the bonding material and the sand mixture will stay in place.
There are other methods of sealing off a small crack in a concrete floor, such as using a crack lock filler that holds a crack from growing in width. Any method you choose should work for cracks less than 1/4″ in width.
If you are unsure of how to handle an unsightly crack, contact a professional, such as https://58foundations.com/foundation-repair/basement-floor-crack-repair/ for a free home estimate.
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