Is Your Northgate Basement Wet? Foundation Issues or Concrete Cracks?

If you have a foundation, concrete or wet basement issue in the north suburbs of Seattle, someone can help.

There are solutions to raise your sunk concrete slab, fill your concrete cracks, level your house or get your basement dry.

If your building or property has an issue in one of these areas, maybe you aren’t really sure how bad your problem is.

You could start a short phone call and talk about it.

You can describe your issue on the phone and they will let you know what your options are. If you agree, they could arrange a day to meet at your home for a closer look.

Sometimes It’s Hard to Tell If You Have a Problem or Not

Look, in some instances, it can be hard to tell if you have a real problem or not.

For example, some basement floor cracks are normal and harmless; other times, they can indicate a major problem.

In other situations, like when you have water in your basement every time it rains, it’s pretty obvious you have a problem that needs fixing.

You May Have a Foundation Problem if You See Any of These Signs

1. Water in your crawlspace or basement
2. Separated or cracked interior molding (usually door or crown molding)
3. Gaps around exterior doors and garage doors
4. Floors are uneven, weak or warped
5. Doors or windows that stick to their frames
6. Cracks in any solid surface wall, brick wall or mortar
7. Uneven or sloping floors
8. Vertical cracks in the sheet rock between a door frame and the ceiling
9. Separation between two exterior walls or a wall and chimney
10. Large cracks in a basement floor or concrete foundation
11. New gaps between a wall and ceiling or wall and floor
12. Your basement always smells musty or is damp and humid
13. Pooling of water near your house after rains

How Can This Problem Even Be Fixed?

Major building structural problems, such as leveling an entire home, is a big project, but these kinds of projects are completed every day. They get done.

Homeowners are sometimes surprised that someone can permanently lift up their house, but it can be done. You just have to find the right company to do it for you.

The right company can handle this kind of job, but only when they have an experienced supervisor, trained workers and the best equipment designed for the job. It’s a tough and tricky job, your contractor can do it. And once they’ve completed the job and left, your house will be safe and sound again.

Slab Jacking or Concrete Slab Lifting in Northgate

Property owners sometimes notice a section of their concrete walkway, patio, garage floor or driveway has sunk a bit through the years. If this has happened at your place, they can usually fix it by using a process called mudjacking or slab jacking.

This process of mudjacking is really effective, yet quite simple.

They utilize a mud-like substance which a good technician will inject directly underneath the slab that has sunk. This substance fills up any empty cavities and then starts to push the slab up. Once the slab has reached the correct height, they stop. Pretty simple really.

Besides wanting a nicer appearance, the main reason property owners call for slab jacking is that having two connecting uneven concrete sections can lead to trips, falls and stubbed toes. Almost all jobs are finished in just a couple of hours.

Northgate Basement Waterproofing Contractor

If your basement allows water to get in it after a decent rain, they will put a stop to it.

They will figure out where water is getting in and how to stop it. No property owner should put up with a wet basement.

In order to get your basement dry, sometimes they may have to work on the inside of your basement. Sometimes they are able to get the job done by working just on the outside.

They may be able to stop water from getting into your house by just fixing the grading of your lot, putting up gutters, putting in a french drain or other tactic.

They may not have to get access to your basement walls at all.

Why Do These Problems Happen?

While we can’t see it occur, the soil moves a little bit over time. It can contract and expand.

This happens mostly due to the effects of water and temperature. And while this movement is really small and gradual, these contraction and expansion movements can put stress on whatever structure sits on top of (or in) that soil. And over time, this continual stress can impact the integrity of even a very solidly built structure.

Most building owners will not experience a dramatic foundation or water issue, but a few will. There are a few things a homeowner might be able to do in order do help prevent problems.

To start with, they can make sure the lot their house sits on is properly graded and moves water out and away from their house. They can also make sure they have proper rain gutters that take the rain that hits the top of their house and moves it away from the house.

One of the biggest factors that impact this situation is something that the homeowner can’t control. It’s the absorbency of the soil that a house is built on.

Soil that can absorb and hold lots of moisture will expand more than soil that does not hold water well. You are pretty lucky here in the north suburbs of Seattle, most of the soil under these homes is not too absorbent.

Another item that could be a factor is the presence of a large tree that is too close to your house. During a long dry spell, a large tree’s roots can suck all the moisture from the soil around it. And thick roots can also put pressure on your foundation too.

As the years go by, environmental pressures acting against your building structure can result in a few small cracks.

Sometimes small cracks stay small; but sometimes they get big. And big cracks let in moisture and bugs. And moisture in your basement is not good.

Do I Need to Get My Place Inspected?

Look, if you have some issue with your property that is worrying you, just get a professional to at least take a look at it. At least you’ll know what your situation is.

It may be that you don’t even have a real problem and you don’t need to have it fixed. Maybe you are getting worried for no reason. But you are better off having it inspected and at least knowing what your issue is.

It is normal to hope that your problem simply goes away, but a concrete crack and foundation fault is not going to fix itself. It won’t get better over time. It’s almost always better to fix the issue now instead of later.

If you notice small amounts of water in your basement somewhat regularly, water can lead to mold. And nobody wants to have a mold problem in their basement.

Thinking that you might try to sell your house without doing any repairs probably isn’t the best idea either. Very few house buyers are interested in a property that has any sign of water in the basement or visual structural problem.

And if you know your place has a serious issue, you are obligated to inform the buyer of what it is. You don’t want the buyer to come back after you once the sale is over.

Don’t assume that your problem is too difficult to fix. Or that it will cost too much. An experienced company can correct almost any issue you have. And the cost might be lower than what you are thinking.

Get Your House Fixed

When the time comes to picking a North Seattle contractor to get your home fixed, you have a few good choices. These experienced repair crews can inspect your property, come up with a plan and then complete the repairs as promised. They will get your house back into top shape.

Where Can They Work?

They do home repair work near Northgate Mall and the surrounding suburbs. This includes Haller Lake, Maple Leaf, Pinehurst, Victory Heights and the neighboring areas including the 98125 and 98133 zip codes.

Just make a quick call and talk about what your problem is. And then it goes from there.

Projects They Do:

– Waterproofing a Basement
– Repairing a Foundation
– Repairing a Foundation Crack
– Mudjacking and Slab Jacking
– Leveling an Entire House

  206-539-1117

206-539-1117