A foundation crack repaired from both directions at a home just west of Moline, Illinois — excavated and sealed from the outside, then repaired again on the interior face of the wall.

Project photos

Project overview

At a home in Illinois just west of Moline, our crew repaired a foundation crack from both sides of the wall. The crew excavated along the exterior of the foundation to expose the crack from the outside, cleaned it, and sealed it using the exterior repair method Behncke Construction has relied on for decades. The same crack was then repaired and sealed again on the interior side of the wall.

Project details

Working from the outside meant digging down along the foundation until the full length of the crack was accessible. With the wall exposed, the crack could be cleaned out and sealed at the face where water would otherwise begin its path into the wall — the approach we use for below-grade water problems whenever the exterior can be reached.

The interior repair was carried out as a second line of protection rather than as a substitute for the exterior work. Treating both faces of the wall means the repair does not depend on a single seal holding up over time. Once the below-grade work was complete, the excavation was backfilled and the ground alongside the house restored.

What homeowners should know

One thing that surprises many homeowners is how often access — not the crack itself — decides how a foundation crack gets repaired. Exterior repair requires digging along the wall, and that is not always possible. A driveway, a patio or deck, a utility line, mature landscaping, a close property line, or simply the depth of the foundation can all rule it out. When the outside can be reached safely, as it could here, repairing from that side addresses the water before it enters the wall. When it cannot, a properly executed interior repair is often the appropriate answer instead.

This is why two homes with what look like identical cracks can receive different — and equally legitimate — repairs. If you are comparing proposals, it is worth asking what can actually be reached on your particular house before comparing methods. Our Learning Center covers how to tell whether a foundation crack is serious and how exterior waterproofing generally works.

Photo highlights

• The completed repair on the interior face of the foundation wall, below the floor framing.
• The exterior of the foundation after excavation, with the crack running down the exposed wall.
• A closer view of the same crack on the outside face of the wall.
• The trench carried down to the base of the wall so the full length of the crack could be reached.
• The ground alongside the house backfilled and restored after the work was finished.

Related services

• Foundation Repair
• Basement Waterproofing
• More recent project updates