What crack repair does
Base walls crack for reasons. Small shrink cracks are common and harmless. Step cracks that follow joints hint at settling. Flat cracks with a bow need urgent eyes. We read the crack first. Then we fix for the cause.
Worn mortar in old base walls gets repointed. Water entry gets traced to its source. What we will not do is smear goop over a deep trouble and call it fixed. If the crack needs a pro beyond us, we say so.
Baltimore's old homes often sit on brick or stone bases with lime mortar. Time wears that mortar thin. Repointing these bases is plain, honest work.
Signs to watch
- Step cracks that climb the joints.
- Flat cracks with the wall bowing in.
- Water seeps through the base wall.
- Mortar falls out in chunks down low.
- Doors stick as the house shifts.
Bows and wide cracks need fast eyes. Hairlines can wait for a look.
How it works
Step 1: We read the cracks. Shape, width, and drift are noted. We check if cracks are still moving.
Step 2: We trace water. Grade, spouts, and gutters are checked. Water source shapes the fix.
Step 3: We repoint bad joints. Failed mortar comes out. New mix goes in, inside and out as needed.
Step 4: We seal entry points. Sound joints get guard where water pressed in.
Step 5: We set watch points. We show you how to watch cracks for drift over time.
Fix water first
Most wet bases start outside. Grade slopes to the wall. Spouts dump at the base. Gutters spill over. Fix these and half the trouble ends.
Repointing a base that stays wet is short-lived work. We walk the outside with you. Small grade fixes beat big wall fixes.
What shapes the price
Crack scope leads. Long runs cost more than short ones. Inside and out adds hours. Water source fixes add scope. Deep trouble that needs a pro costs more.
Each base tells its own tale. Every project is different — contact us for a free written estimate.
Old bases are worth saving
Brick and stone bases have held homes for a century. Their mortar just wears out. Fresh joints give them decades more. It is far cheaper than new walls.
We like this work. It is honest and it lasts. Your home stands on it, quite plainly.
Reading your foundation cracks
Not every crack spells trouble. Hairline cracks run thin and straight through mortar or block. They come from the wall curing and settling in its first years. Most never grow. We watch them, and most stay put for decades without a second thought.
Stair-step cracks follow the mortar joints like steps, climbing the wall. They mean one part of the wall is settling faster than the rest. Small steps deserve watching and measuring. Wide steps, or steps that keep growing season to season, need a mason's eyes soon.
Horizontal cracks are the serious ones. They run level along the wall, often where soil presses hardest against it. They mean the wall is bowing inward under pressure. This is beyond a simple fix. It needs proper repair before it grows, and sometimes an engineer's eyes first.
Measure what you see. Mark the ends of a crack with pencil and date it. Check back in a season. A crack that does not move is a crack you can plan around. A crack that grows is a crack you should call about. We read them free at a visit and tell you which kind you have.
How we fix them
The fix fits the crack. Hairlines get cleaned and filled with a flexible sealant. It keeps water out and moves a little with the wall through the seasons. Quick work, done from inside in most cases, with no digging and no mess.
Stair-step cracks in mortar joints get repointed. We rake the failed joints to solid depth and pack fresh mortar in, matched to the wall. If the wall has settled and stopped moving, the repair holds for years. If settling is still active, we say so and talk through next steps honestly.
Wide cracks may need more than mortar. We can stitch them with bars set across the crack and repoint over the work. The bars tie the wall together across the break. The joints hide the repair. It is honest structural repair, not a cover-up.
What we will not do is hide a serious crack behind paint or caulk. A horizontal crack or a bowing wall needs engineering eyes, and we say that plainly even when it costs us the job. Some jobs are not ours. We would rather lose the work than sell you the wrong fix.
Ready when you are. Call (301) 679-9193 or send the form for a free on-site estimate.