Question about foundation cracks: patch them or let them be?

I'm seeing these hairline cracks in my basement wall in Edmonton and my contractor says they're normal settling, but my neighbor insists I need to seal them before they get worse. Who's actually right here, anyone have experience with this call?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_gonzalez1mo ago

Yeah totally, my basement has the same hairline cracks in Calgary and my guy said exactly what yours did. I stressed about it for months reading forums until I realized his crew had been doing foundations here for 20 years so I just let them be. They haven't changed at all in three winters so honestly I'd trust your contractor over a neighbor who probably saw one horror story online lol.

xena_bailey181mo ago

Just left mine alone after a structural engineer said the same thing and they haven't changed in 5 years. Trust the pro who sees this everyday, not the guy next door.

mark_ward1mo ago

Yeah, I'm going to push back on this a little. You're saying trust the pro and I get that, but I've seen too many contractors brush off hairline cracks just to keep the job moving fast. I had a buddy in Saskatoon whose guy said the exact same thing about "normal settling" and five years later he had water weeping through during a wet spring. That fix cost a lot more than some sealer would have up front. I'm not saying panic and call a structural engineer for every little line, but a tube of polyurethane caulk is like 15 bucks and takes twenty minutes. I'd rather spend that and be wrong than gamble on a contractor who might not care about my basement in five years.