In this article I will be talking about new construction foundation cracks. I will discuss what you should know about them, whether they are a concern or not, and how to deal with them.

Your first thought may be “My house is brand new, how is there a crack in the foundation already?”. While I agree with this thought, it is extremely common for a new foundation to have some kind of crack. The big question is: Is the crack a concern?.

You’re walking through your home with the builder. Maybe you point out a small crack (or they do) and their first response is “this is a typical crack, it’s nothing to worry about”. Well let’s take a look at foundation cracks I typically see on new construction homes and see if they are something you should worry about or not.

Where to look for cracks

First we need to find the cracks. They are there I assure you. I would say 99/100 new construction homes have some sort of foundation crack somewhere. Here are some of the common places to look for cracks:

• Exterior garage side where the garage and house foundation meet
• At any basement window corner, typically the bottom left or right corner of the windows
• At any basement corner. Right where a 90 degree corner of the foundation is you can typically see a hairline foundation crack

Now of these 3 spots I just listed, only one of them is an area of concern and that is at the window corners. This is the spot where I see signs of moisture coming through the cracks.

Here is an example of a crack at the exterior garage side where the garage and house foundation meet. This crack is not a concern unless it becomes 1/4 inch or more wide, has staining around it (white or dark stains to indicate moisture), or the crack has displacement (one side of the crack sticks out further than the opposite side of the crack. This indicates movement).

 

Next up is an example of a crack at a foundation corner where two walls meet. Again this crack is not a concern unless it is 1/4 inch wide or larger, has staining around it, or has displacement.

 

This next couple of cracks are ones you need to keep an eye out for. These will need repaired by your builder if you see them. These are cracks with moisture staining around them (darker color or white stains to either side of the crack). The staining is an indication of moisture leaking through the foundation wall. You will commonly see these at the corners of windows in the foundation (but occasionally they can pop up somewhere else).

 

The below picture is also another area of my personal home where you can see the builder repaired it using a carbon fiber strap and epoxy (common repair method). The carbon fiber strap helps prevent displacement/movement while the epoxy prevents moisture from coming through the crack.

 

Hopefully this write up will help you in navigating whether a crack in your new construction foundation is an issue or not. If you have any questions regarding cracks in your foundation please reach out via text or email with photos and I will gladly help as best as I can.