Dear Tim,
We are having a house build and they put the foundation last week. The
tempurature was -5 c. We went to look at it and there were some cracks. I
happened to read a letter that someone wrote to you about there cracks on
the foundation wall, it looks like the same ones that you said are cold
seam cracks. Is this a big problem and what should we do?
Cold Seam Crack
Summary:
Cold seams in a poured concrete foundation can occur if the flow of
concrete is interrupted. The foundation seam is where part of the
concrete dries while waiting for more concrete to be poured.
I got very worried and called the builder. He said these are not cracks and nothing to worry about. I asked a neighbor and he also said not to worry. Still, I am not convinced because I didn't see these lines when I look at basement walls of other new construction in town. Should I worry about structural damage and/or water leakage? To prevent later, I did ask the builder to spray the waterproofing UTC foam on top of the tar. Any advice on what else I can do? Thank you very much! Liang F., Westport, CT
DEAR LIANG: Looking at your photograph, these lines look like cold seams. Poured foundation walls can have cold seams where one batch of concrete gets hard while the next concrete truck is making its way into the job site. Or if the flow of concrete was stopped in one area while being poured in another. There may not have been enough workers to keep the concrete flowing properly.
These are potential weak spots in your foundation. They may be okay if there is enough reinforcing steel, or rebar, in the concrete.
 Cold seams can be caused by delays in pouring the foundation. PHOTO CREDIT: Liang Feng
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 Close-up of concrete cold seam. PHOTO CREDIT: Liang Feng
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Comments:Welcome! I, Tim
Carter, don't answer questions
here. If you post a question here in the Comments Area,
perhaps another visitor will help you. You need to go to the Ask
Tim page if you want a question answered. Once there, look
closely at how many weeks behind we are. Please be patient as you use
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there is an option there for you.
Bruno 04 Dec 2007, 18:47
AsktheBuilder 04 Dec 2007, 18:56
Bruno,
The best advice always is to call in a residential structural engineer.
R.Hill 20 Oct 2008, 13:55
My home is six years old, we now see water coming in along the edge of the
basement floor. Our home is built into a hill and the water that comes down
the front of the house is where the leak is occurring (where the wall meets
the floor). What would be the best way to seal this area?
abdallah 18 Feb 2009, 12:51
hello.
im a civile engineer my self and some times during a raft pour the batching plant faces a problem so the flow of concree is a affect, the raft had enough reinforcement, but the cold joints truly scares me View all comments |
