Having cracks in your foundation is completely normal. It is rare that the integrity of the building will be questioned and they are not always a construction defect.
A passive crack is considered stable. It does not evolve or very little over the years. Its only big flaw is that it doesn’t look good. It can appear as early as the first years after construction or well after.
In the first case, it may be due to the curing of the concretee or poor compaction. It can stabilize during the first years and there will be no urgency to intervene. However, an inspection of the concrete is recommended to ensure that a repair will prevent it from reappearing.
As long as the building inspection has not concluded that there is a serious lack of integrity, the repair can either wait or be carried out without much discomfort.
How to repair a foundation crack?
In less serious cases, crack repairs can be done from the inside or the outside. The crack is therefore plugged and waterproofed to prevent future water infiltration. Excavation of the soil surrounding the house is inevitable when tackling the problem from the outside.
In severe cases, when for example the walls and the footing sink, the house will have to rest on steel piles. The piles fixed on the foundation will take over the load of the building and prevent it from continuing to collapse since they are anchored on a stable ground, i.e. refusal. Sometimes a foundation straightening can be done in order to upgrade the house and foundation.
It is always good to remember how important it is to regularly (every 3 to 5 years) have your home inspected to detect possible problems quickly, before they become insurmountable. Finally, subsidy and work aid programs (in reimbursements or tax credits) exist in the regions concerned by problems related to natural elements: check with your municipality!
