Foundation cracks

[homealone]

Many conditions can cause leaky cracks in your masonry or concrete foundations. Some of these are caused by what is called innocent causes, these are unlikey to affect the structure of the home. Innocent causes can be things like shrinkage and initial settlement of the home.

Before attempting to repair the leaky cracks in your foundation, it is important to identify the cause of the cracks. Other than innocent cracks some can actually cause serious damage to the structure of your home, and would need to be repaired by a professional.
To identify a more serious crack in your home is to measure it. If the crack is 1/4" and becomming larger, this is a good sign that you will need professional help. As for innocent cracks they can repaired with out a professional. Innocent cracks are usally located under or above windows and doorways and along a long wall.
To repair an innocent crack in your foundation you can purchase a polyurethane foam. This in injected into the crack in a liquid form and this allows a slow gentle filling process of the crack. After only a few minutes the Polyurethane foam will begin foaming. Water is the catalyst for polyurethan foam. The foams volume will become up to 25 times its liquid form and seal the crack, preventing water from entering your home.

This concrete crack repair process using polyurethane injection is likely to be more successful and more durable than other crack patching methods. Surface patching of the crack is just that. Only the inside of the basement wall is covered by a repair. Chiseling out the crack and filling it with hydraulic cement only fills a portion of the crack.Water can still enter the basement crack and will eventually force out the patch or hydraulic cement.

Once the basement wall crack is completed by the use of polyurethan foam, water will not be able to leak into the basement. The basement will then be safe for storage of items.

[flippinout]

I was not aware that there was such a thing as an innocent crack, but your repair idea would be a good one as you said, because the polyurethane foam will expand and seal the crack, keeping out moisture.

Can a general contractor take care of the larger cracks that you might get in your basement walls or would you have to call someone that specializes in cracked walls?

[homealone]

A general contractor should be able to handle the more aggressive cracks in your basement walls, unless there has been severe structural damage to the home. If you are wanting to use a general contractor its a good idea to ask for references, and contact those references and see what they say about the contractor's work. It is always good to seek references if its a general contractor or even a certified professional. When it comes to your home I am sure you will want the best.