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01/15/2005: "the future is DIY crack repair"

The crack in our foundation is finally going to go away next week. It's not going to cost $300, like all the quotes that I've been getting. I'm embracing the future of foundation repair and going DIY, baby!

We've had two cracks in our foundation before. One was a rather huge one that happened even before we took possession of the house back when it was brand new. Another happened a couple years in, and was covered by the Ontario New Home Warranty program. This newest one I discovered last summer, but didn't do anything about simply because I wasn't finishing the basement yet, and it wasn't leaking. It's still not leaking, but with almost all the drywall up, it's time for that crack to disappear.

I called around to get quotes for fixing it, and was rather unhappy to discover that a hairline crack will cost anywhere between $300 and $350 + GST to get a professional to repair it. That's a lot more than I had hoped. Fixing a crack isn't that big a deal, I watched the guy do it last time. You glue on the injection ports, seal the crack on the outside, come back a few hours later when the sealer is cured, and inject either epoxy or polyurethane into the crack. Voila, no crack.

I wondered if there wasn't a do-it-yourself kit for foundation repair. My local Home Depot was no help, but I did find something online last year. It was just under US$180, not exactly a huge savings. I thought I'd try and find that online one again and did another search yesterday, and found a huge range of prices. One for US$168, another for a numbing US$254... but then I found one for US$69.95. Bingo! It's got everything that the other kits come with, will be more than sufficient to fill my hairline crack, and is a heck of a lot more reasonable than some of the other kits I've found.

I called the toll-free number, found out that they're actually located in Nova Scotia, and they ship free to Canada. Out came the credit card, and my order should be shipped on Monday, all for less than $100. Woo-hoo! Now I've got $200 to put into actually finishing the basement, as opposed to just fixing it.

Once I get the kit and actually use it, I'll follow up and let you all know how it went. If the kit is as good as the price, I'll certainly be putting a link up for all to follow.