Spring is upon us and you’ve decided to sell your home, and you know there are cracks in your foundation, should you worry about it?
If you’re asking this question you’re part of a very large group of homeowners who have faced the same situation. As far as I am concerned all foundations have cracks in them; those whom would disagree aren’t looking close enough. Since concrete shrinks as it dries, fine hairline cracks in poured concrete foundations are to be expected, and I doubt there is a concrete block foundation that doesn’t have cracks in some of the mortar joints.
When you sell your house there is usually a home inspection that follows an accepted offer. The problems start when the home inspector reports that there are foundation cracks; this is a situation you can somewhat control.
When a home inspector reports to the buyer that there a cracks in the foundation, experience has shown that there are 3 typical outcomes:
- The buyers decide to walk away from the deal since they deem the home to be structurally unsound;
- The buyers demand that the seller fix the foundation crack(s); and
- The buyer arranges for a repair estimate to resolve the “foundation issues” – usually a full foundation waterproofing job in the 10’s of $1000’s to be paid by the seller.
I believe that the most effective way to avoid these situations is to fix the cracks in the basement foundation so that the inspector will only report that there are repaired foundation cracks. When you hand over a warranty from a reputable waterproofing company there really isn’t much to talk about. When you take the wind out of the buyers’ sails you eliminate at least one big argument for a price reduction.
Looking to get foundation cracks sealed before a buyer’s home inspector will find them? Contact a waterproofing company you can trust.