Injection repairs for leaking cracks in poured Morristown foundations, plus an honest look at cracks in older block and stone walls.
Crack injection is the right fix for one kind of Morristown foundation: poured concrete. You will find poured walls in many postwar houses and in newer construction scattered around town. A leaking crack in one of those walls can usually be filled from inside in a few hours by pumping polyurethane or epoxy resin through ports along the crack. Polyurethane is the usual choice for stopping water. Epoxy is used when the contractor also wants to bond the concrete back together. The job is usually quick and fairly clean, and it is worth asking whether the repair carries any warranty against new leaks.
A lot of the town's older housing does not have poured walls at all. Fieldstone, brick, and block foundations need different repairs. Gaps in stone and brick are usually repointed with a compatible mortar, and block walls with cracks are often handled with drainage or reinforcement because water travels through the hollow cores. A good contractor will tell you plainly if injection is not the right tool for your wall. Applying injection resin to the wrong kind of wall wastes money and leaves the leak in place. If you are not sure what your foundation is made of, the contractor can tell you at the first visit.
Some cracks are about movement rather than water. Horizontal cracks in block, stair-step cracks, bowing walls, and cracks that keep widening can show soil pressure or settlement, which on Morristown's sloped lots sometimes shows up on the uphill wall. Freeze and thaw through the winter can also open existing cracks a little more each year. If you see these signs, get a structural engineer's opinion before sealing anything, and mark the ends of the crack with a date so you can track it. That simple record helps everyone see what is changing.
Not in the usual way. Injection is designed for solid poured concrete. Stone walls are repaired by repointing the mortar joints and managing water with drainage.
Water that gets into a crack freezes and expands, which can widen it slightly over time. Northern New Jersey winters bring many freeze and thaw cycles, so an untreated leaking crack often gets worse.
Horizontal cracks, bowing, stair-step patterns in block, and cracks that keep widening deserve a structural engineer's look. Hairline vertical cracks in poured walls are usually not structural but can still leak.
In September 2011, after Hurricane Irene and the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, the Whippany River overflowed onto Martin Luther King Avenue, closing it between George and Spring streets.
patch.comMorristown's housing is old: about 23% of homes were built in 1939 or earlier and about half before 1970.
api.censusreporter.orgThe Whippany River runs through Morristown on its way to the Rockaway River and the Passaic basin.
en.wikipedia.orgA drain at the base of Morristown basement walls, old stone and new concrete alike, that carries seepage to a sump pump before it spreads across the floor.
Digging along a Morristown foundation to seal the outside of the wall and add drainage, when the lot and the house make it possible.
Sealing the damp crawl spaces under Morristown additions, porches, and older wings to protect framing and cut down on musty air.
Pumping out, drying, and clearing damaged materials after a storm, river overflow, or sump failure in a Morristown basement.