Foundation crack repair went sideways on me hard

Found a 3-foot crack in my basement wall last month after that big rainstorm in Austin. Paid a local guy $400 to inject epoxy and seal it, but now it's leaking again after only 3 weeks. Anyone else had bad luck with those DIY foundation repair kits?

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craig.grant4mo ago

Man, that "went sideways" part really hits home. I watched my neighbor try one of those DIY crack injection kits from the hardware store last summer, and it failed in less than a month. The thing is, those quick fixes kind of remind me of how people patch a leaky roof with a tarp instead of actually fixing the hole. It covers the problem for a bit, but eventually the real issue finds a way back through. With foundation cracks, it's usually about water pressure or the ground shifting, not just the crack itself. So slapping some epoxy on it without dealing with the drainage or soil around your house is like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound. That $400 guy probably just did the easy part and skipped the real prep work.

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noran214mo ago

My cousin tried one of those DIY kits on his garage floor crack after a bad freeze, and it looked perfect for like two weeks. Then his dog dug a hole right outside that spot and water just poured in during the next storm. He ended up having to dig up the whole side of the house to put in a French drain, which cost way more than just fixing the crack. It's funny how these little projects always seem to snowball into way bigger problems than you planned for.

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