How Do you Know What Foundation Cracks Mean?

There are a variety of types of foundation cracks that may affect your South Dakota home or business, and most of them look very different and can mean different things for your foundation. Whether you have foundation cracks, bowing walls, a settling foundation, or heaving, Rapid Foundation Repair can help you repair it. So, if you notice these types of cracks around your South Dakota home or business make sure to call us right away so that we can take a look at them.

The first type of foundation crack is an angled and horizontal crack. They will look like the picture to the right, and most of the time these cracks mean that your foundation walls are beginning or have been bowing, creating cracks.

The second type of foundation crack is just an angled crack, pictured to the left. This crack usually means that your foundation is settling. This can be caused by many things, and Rapid Foundation Repair can help you figure out what caused it and what needs to be done to fix it.

The third type of foundation crack is a vertical and horizontal crack, pictured to the right. This type of crack means that your home may be experiencing either bowing walls or foundation settlement, or possibly both. In this case, you definitely want to receive repairs.

The fourth type of foundation crack is a center converging crack, as shown on the left. This type of crack will affect brick walls. This means that your home or business is experiencing bowing walls and/or foundation settlement.

The fifth type of foundation crack is a horizontal crack which will affect brick walls, as shown on the right. This crack means that you likely have bowing walls. Bowing walls are easily fixed by Rapid Foundation Repair and our variety of foundation repair options.

The sixth type of foundation crack is a stair step crack that only affects brick walls. There are two different types of stair step cracks, and this one means that your home or business is experiencing heave or settlement. Heave is upward motion of your foundation.

The seventh type of foundation crack is a vertical crack, pictured to the right, which affects a regular foundation wall. These cracks can usually mean settlement or heaving for your business or home’s foundation. There are many types of vertical cracks, but Rapid Foundation Repair can identify them.

The eighth type of foundation crack is also a vertical crack, and it can mean settlement. As we said before, especially with these vertical cracks, it is hard to tell what they mean, but Rapid Foundation Repair has the experience, and we can identify them all.

The ninth type of foundation crack is, again, a vertical crack, but this one is wider near the top. This crack means one specific side of your home or business is settling. Sometimes, instead of the entire foundation settling, one side will sink at a time, causing this type of cracking.

The tenth type of foundation crack is a “wider-at-top-than-bottom” crack. This crack basically means that one side of your home or business is settling, and then the other side will. They will alternate back and forth. This can also be repaired by Rapid Foundation Repair’s team of experts.

The eleventh type of crack is a vertical crack that splits or gets wider near the bottom. This crack signifies that your foundation is beginning, or has been, settling, but only in the center. Another way you can tell this is happening is if your foundation floors are sloping down to the center of the room.