The viscosity you choose will depend on the width of the crack. Low viscosity is similar to water, medium is like honey, high is like a thick motor oil, and extra high could be likened to peanut butter. An analogy Kaminski uses is that Emecole’s products are medical grade as opposed to food grade, and the company offers four viscosities - low, medium, high, and extra high - per epoxy, with two different types of epoxies specifically for injection. “The chemicals will do the work, but if the contractor doesn’t have the patience and tries to overcome gravity too quickly, no one’s products will be able to fill that gap,” Kaminski says.Įmecole’s products are very high grade. Some of the success of epoxy injection depends on the skill of the contractor because epoxies typically take 15 to 20 minutes to gel up, so they can flow out the back of a crack during that time period. Carbon fiber (addressed below) is used if there is still movement. You can address the crack, but not the movement or the cause of the problem. If there is still movement, something Kaminski calls a sister crack can develop a couple of inches away from the original crack. They are like a “super glue” that does not allow for any movement. The foam allows a little bit of flexural movement in the concrete which is a normal occurrence from temperature changes and the soil pressure that can change due to the wet/dry cycles of the seasons.Įpoxies, on the other hand, are used for structural reinforcements. “This fills it, basically, front to back from basement to dirt with the foam,” she says.
By injecting with polyurethane as opposed to just sealing the surface, you’re preventing minerals and soil gases from penetrating the concrete.
Non-structural cracks can be sealed with either a polyurethane foam, with the intent to keep moisture out, not to reinforce the concrete, or an epoxy resin that will bond the crack back together. “So when you pour the concrete, 30% of the weight of that mass is going to disappear. “Concrete is at least 30% water by volume,” he says. As Jay Schmid, general manager of Polygem, Inc., a manufacturer of epoxy and polyurethane crack injection systems, explains shrinkage with a sponge analogy - a dried out kitchen sponge shrinks. These cracks will form during the curing phase when the foundation is poured. Crack RepairĪbout 90% of the cracks in basements are simply shrinkage cracks. He then went on to develop his own line of epoxies and polyurethanes specifically for crack repairs. This used a smaller volume of injection material, injected at low pressure, with less material needed, and less time on the job. Cole was the first to develop an efficient two-component crack repair system based on the convenience of the standard caulking gun.
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