What does a brick or block foundation actually do for the house?
Your foundation does two jobs at the same time — it carries everything above it and it keeps water and soil pressure on the outside where they belong. On older Michigan homes, a lot of those foundations are brick or block, and they're a different repair from a poured concrete foundation. They want a mason who has actually worked with that material, not a generalist or a waterproofing-only crew that's going to slap a coating on it and call it good.
What foundation problems do Michigan homeowners run into most often?
Most Michigan foundation calls land in a few categories. Stair-step cracks running diagonally through the mortar joints of a block wall, horizontal cracks across the middle of a block wall (the ones to take seriously), bowing or leaning walls being pushed in by soil pressure, deteriorated brick on a foundation that's been getting splashed by gutters or grade issues, failed parging on the exterior, and persistent moisture or efflorescence inside the basement.
How do you fix a cracked or bowing masonry foundation?
The fix depends on the cause. A crack from old settlement that isn't moving anymore can be sealed and tuckpointed. A wall that's actively bowing or being pushed by hydrostatic pressure needs more serious reinforcement and drainage work to take the load off it. Deteriorated brick or block units come out and get replaced with matching material. After foundation work is complete, plenty of homeowners go on to upgrade the basement with stone accent walls or stone flooring as part of a finish-out.
Is a crack in my foundation serious?
Vertical cracks are usually the least worrying — most older homes have a few from normal settling. Horizontal cracks across a block wall are the ones to take seriously, because they signal soil pressure pushing the wall in. Stair-step cracks that follow the mortar joints suggest one part of the foundation is settling differently from another. We look at every crack with the rest of the wall in mind, not in isolation.
Don't guess about your foundation. Call Adam Baker Masonry at (616) 612-1284 for a free foundation inspection. We'll take an honest look, explain what we see, and give you a written estimate for the repair that actually fits the problem.
