Most people know that concrete doesn’t cure in the freezing weather. If someone needs to effect some concrete repairs in their basement, do they need to wait for warmer weather to get them fixed? Adam Tracy explains.
Narrator: It’s time once again for the “Crack Man Podcast” hosted by A1 Foundation Crack Repair. I’m Darren Kincaid here with the Crack Daddy himself, Adam Tracy. Adam and The Crack Man Rich have over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry. Rich as over 25 years as the president and founder of A1 Foundation Crack Repair. This podcast provides expert basement waterproofing, concrete repair, and preventative maintenance tips for homeowners and businesses. A1 Foundation’s valuable insight will help avert a disastrous flood within the basement, health problems associated with water infiltration, and protect your biggest investment….your home. The topic of today’s podcast: The weather is getting cooler, do I need to wait for foundation crack repairs?
Narrator: So, Adam, most people know that concrete doesn’t cure in the freezing weather. If someone needs to effect some concrete repairs in their basement. Do they need to wait for warmer weather to get them fixed?
Adam: Well, this is a common question we get as the weather and the calendar starts to turn to the colder months. Customers will often ask us after we figured out their scenario or in their situation and they have either a foundation crack or an issue with their foundation that needs repair. What do I need to do? Should I wait until the spring? Should I wait until the weather gets warmer to get this thing fixed? And my answer is always no, you don’t.
99.9% of our repairs are going to happen on the interior of the foundation. So, let’s say that you have a foundation crack, it has been leaking this fall as rain continues. And you said, jeez, you know, I want to get this repaired but I’m afraid that the cold weather is going to affect this, and it’s going to not make it a good repair. If you have to dig out the foundation and do exterior repairs, you would be starting to get into this because as the weather gets colder, it’s harder to actually dig out the foundation. The materials are subject to freezing temperatures, and yes, concrete has issues as you get into lower temperature ranges and repair issues as well. But because we do 99% of our work from the inside, we’re not really subject to those temperatures.
So, we keep our materials that are used for the foundation repairs in our heated environment or a temperature controlled environment. And the concrete in the foundation itself, in the basement, is usually above 50 degrees or maybe slightly lower. So, I usually tell people, well, if you’re below 40 degrees in your foundation downstairs in the basement, then we’re going to have issues. But you also have issues as well, because you shouldn’t be that cold if you’re going to have major pipe issues, etc. So, when we do a foundation repair, because we’re doing it from the inside, it will go through to the outside and set properly because the material has been set at a temperature coming into the foundation.
The other reason why you don’t want to wait until the spring or into the warm summer month is that a lot of the damage will actually occur during the fall and the winter and into spring season. as water begins to freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw. What happens is, especially with foundation cracks, it actually starts to widen the gaps a little bit on the exterior and it’s like driving a wedge into the foundation. This happens a little bit at a time. Every time it freezes and thaws, and every time it freezes and thaws. So, oftentimes we’ll have the phone call with the customer who has an issue, and they call early to late fall, and they decide, no, I want to wait until the spring to deal with this, and they go back to look at addressing it and the situation has gotten a lot worse. And the reason why is because what the winter does, it make challenges to the foundation as you do have the flaws in them. So, no, it’s not necessary to wait on it and in fact, I would recommend getting it done before winter or as winter is going through because then your chances of having subsequent damage or additional issues down the line reduce.
The longer you wait, the more chances that it would become a worse situation. So, my long answer to the question here is nope, don’t wait, get it done right away or as soon as you can get it done. If you wait longer, it may be a different issue into the spring and summer months that could cost you more money.
Narrator: Very good, Adam. Thanks for explaining that you don’t need to postpone necessary concrete repairs until warmer weather.
Narrator: If you have a basement water problem and think you need a professional, or, if you’d like more information on foundation crack repair and basement waterproofing topics, please visit A1FoundationCrackRepair.com or call Rich at (866) 929-3171. Or you can email Rich at info@a1foundationcrackrepair.com. Thanks for listening and keep that basement dry.