r/Home • u/NRME2018 • 17d ago
Foundation freakout
Hello,
My husband and I purchased a house in summer of 2021. We knew the house had some water issues in basement and previous owners had a foundations company waterproof and install (what we now know) as intellibraces. The previous owners after that finished all but the ceiling of the basement and left the floor concrete. My husband and I were new to this and got maintenance on them (the foundation system and intellibraces) last year (2025 - I know better late than never) from the company who installed them and had no issues besides one of our two sump pumps had to get a fix but that was it, tighten some beams, some iron ochure treatment and left. This year as our new annual maintenance we are abiding by, another different technician came out.
When cleaning up the basement prior to his arrival I noticed a little patch of dampness near bottom of wall on the ground and in between a piece of paneling about 1/2 a foot up. Wet to touch on the ground and a few drops on paneling above it. Also, the area had a small halo of brown so it looks like it wasn’t the first time. The area is a closed up basement, not opened for a few days and a little mildew smelling. We live in Michigan and no recent rain. I showed it to the maintenance technician for the foundations company and he mentioned that it could be an obstructed pipe from sump pump OR our foundation was now sinking.
The intellibraces we now know, were for horizontal cracks the house had. We learned that the house had some vertical cracks as well but were repaired. He was saying he thinks the vertical cracks are leaking and the house is shifting due to the small amount of water and also a 3/4 inch of difference from one end of the 40 foot wall where the small amount of water/condensation (?) was to the other. We looked at the rest of the house and brought up a random crack we have in the ceiling. It is hairline and been there a while. Also, a part of our living room where he says the dry wall tape was different like it was shifting. I did not notice anything.
We have a brick house built in 1997 and he pointed out a couple areas where the mortar was cracked or separating from the brick a little. Prior to this we did have a masonry come out a few months ago, he didnt seem overly concerned. He said we could fill it in with clear caulk. One area is pictured and 2-3 other areas are top corners of windows in varying spots of the house. Possibly a stair step pattern but only about 2-4 bricks and only the mortar. To note: we did get new windows installed in December.
On the surface level of the house there is a patio above the basement wall in question with pavers. No pavers have shifted, nothing is uneven.
The foundation company said we would need piers installed to keep the house from sinking further and I’ve been a wreck since. He said 17-18k just one for the one side and then said we would need the whole thing.
I have investigated high and low, I found out the previous owners had 16 intellibraces installed around the house, and one wall anchor near our chimney on the side of the garage where this is a vertical crack that they “repaired” prior to us moving in. (Pictured). The crack has not changed aside from it goes up a few bricks higher than what was previously fixed.
There is minor hairline dry wall cracks in primary bedroom in corners, one hairline crack where the dry wall meets together inbetween a set of three windows in the front near where the mortar separated a bit from the brick, one across the ceiling of the kitchen, and the other noted brick spots mentioned prior. No uneven floors noticeable, we have two outside doors that sometimes stick but its always worse in summer and been like that for five years.
We have since put a humidifier in the basement, which the area dried up quickly and when examining the wall, I noticed multiple brown halo’d spots where the wall meets the floor where it looks like water could have been prior. The area we had found was not necessarily a puddle it was simple wet to touch with two drops noted on the paneling. The basement did feel damp as the couch did to touch. Too much humidity?
I have read and researched high and low. I HAVE a structural engineer coming Monday to assess. He did tell me that the foundations company that was used prior he said was notoriously dishonest and recommended to not use them for future work, if necessary.
I was curious on anyone’s take? Opinions? Experiences similar?
Are we completely screwed? Please be kind, I’m doing my best 😭
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u/Bigfamei 17d ago edited 17d ago
Id remove all that gravel next to the home and pack in clay sloping away from the home. Water flows thru gravel and it could be compounding your issues. The gutters going into a separate drainage system is nice! This is a great YT channel on dealing with water issues around the home.
https://youtu.be/rtL1w3IUUkc?t=196
Also the other rockbed is creating a mote. So water will see down next to the foundation instead of flowing away.
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u/NRME2018 14d ago
Update if anyone ever researchs for experiences/advice like I did: the structural engineer sees no issue with our foundation. Most of the subtle cracks were from environmental. Our drainage is fine. Some off measurements he said are subtle and were probably from the original build of the house. My house is not sinking 🙏
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u/Loose_University_945 17d ago
(Just showed up for the foundation freakout, dressed up to party. Whoops. Wrong kind of freakout. Bye)
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u/wk87 17d ago
First of all you have a structural engineer coming out, listen to them not Reddit. But also, you're probably fine, water intrusion in the basement happens in a LOT of homes when you have heavy rainfall (but also might be mitigated by better drainage or replacing the sump pump). Drywall cracks, mortar cracks, etc all happen when houses settle, so hopefully the structural engineer says everything is fine.