Hello,
I have found a crack in our basement wall. It is a 50 year old house and I’m not sure how long it has been here. I don’t remember seeing it 5 years ago when we moved in but that doesn’t meant it wasn’t always there. Can anyone tell me if this looks like an issue? There is no water leaking into our basement.
Can you provide additional pictures that show what’s inside and outside in that area? Overview pictures rather than closeups.
appears to be bearing girder adjacent to window…openings in walls/foundations are common weakest link and where cracks generally appear 1st
glue one side of two popsicle stick or similar to either side of the crack atop one another…duct tape or similar should hold in place until glue dries
then draw a single continuous vertical line across both
any further movement will be evidenced by the line(s) moving
or get 'em here
or hire a competent foundation firm that uses a structural engineer to design repair
Are you SELLING the house?
Or just wondering about the crack and why some poured wall cracks may not leak or leak much?
If selling, i bet some buyers would make it some kind of issue/worry and rightly so.
If your just wondering why it doesn’t, hasn’t leaked or leaked yet, sometimes it’s because ‘some’ poured wall cracks do NOT extend through the wall to the outside or, some are wider on the inside of basement and thinner on the outside, see photos here please…
Click any photo to enlarge that photo
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/FoundationCrackLeakyBasement
First few photos are inside a basement, poured wall, crack, leaky rod holes etc.
Photos 3,4 see the crack? Also look behind the sump pump discharge pipe, there is a vertical seam, NO crack is visible there/on inside wall.
Ok now eyeball outside photos 5, 6, 7, 8, 10
5,6 screwdriver in one of the deteriorated leaky rod holes… see the diagonal teenie ‘bleeding’ to the left and up from the screwdriver? That’s how the crack is/appears on exterior wall, pretty much NOT open and not as wide as it appears INSIDE (not that the inside is wide)
Photos 7, 8, 10 that’s the seam outside, behind the sump discharge inside
If you go outside, can you SEE this crack in wall above ground level or no?
On the inside, the crack seems to get thinner, going down, least in this area shown.
Was the LOWER part of this crack ‘patched’ over, then painted?
Some poured wall cracks are on a garage side wall or under a driveway, porch, so sometimes these may not leak for years, just depends.
Here’s another poured wall crack, water was coming through…
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/BasementWaterproofing84
Photo’s 4–7 crack on inside basement wall
Photo’s 9–13 crack on the outside
Poured wall crack, someone previously ‘played’ with it on the inside… it looks/appears as though it was wider on the inside…versus what you’ll see on the outside
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/April28201302
Photo’s 1, 2 inside
Photo’s 13, 18, 19 outside… crack is barely visible. Most of the water was entering through those ‘other’ exterior openings (in other photos), so, let me ask… would ANY interior injection seal/repair those OTHER exterior openings? No, not, nope, sowy.
Also note, for those who incorrectly think/assume the exterior drain tiles are often or always clogged or, why most basements leak, NONSENSE!!!
See photo’s 20, 21… some of the exterior drain tiles.
Say this dumb shtt again too, loool, those drain tiles were laid/placed along the footing.
Those drain tiles have NOTHING to do with what is going on… ABOVE those tiles such as, duhhh, there is a crack and other exterior openings in the basement wall and above the dumb wall.
The water/rain takes quite some TIME to go through all that clay, got dat?
The drain tiles waaaaay down there have no effect on water that is trying to go through the soil waaaay UP dare!!!
Some of the water will eventually get down there while some water just soaks into the bank, soil in surrounding area.
If those STUPID exterior drain tiles were clogged, broken etc it still would NOT be ‘why’ the basement leaked!!!
The basement leaked beccccccause, there were exterior openings in the foundation wall and above the wall, period, END of this stuuuuupid bs story about drain tiles, god almighty!!!
-Typical foundation cracks, Sark & Assoc.
http://www.sarkassoc.com/engineers-blog/typical-foundation-cracks.html
Where they talk about shrinkage cracks… 3rd paragraph,
‘Generally this type of crack will not pose any risk to the structural integrity of the foundation…however, these cracks must still be viewed with some caution. They can still LEAD TO other problems that may already have occurred or may happen in the FUTURE. These would include water intrusion into the crack or, PROGRESSION of the crack by EXTERNAL FORCES applied to the wall…’
Hmmm, yes indeedy, EXTERNAL forces applied to the basement wall such as lateral soil pressure, underground tree roots, porch footings, concrete slabs, underground vibrations from nearby traffic or vibrations from nearby construction etc.
From the photo…
A shrinkage crack
not a structural concern
Also above grade, so leaks shouldn’t be much of a problem 
Is that a beam above the crack?
It is hard to say what is going on in a picture.
If you want to see if the crack is getting bigger, glue a flat ruler, paint stirrer or etc. on one side of the crack, across it, marking on the wood both sides of the masonry crack. Later, if it moves, you will be able to tell from the marks on the wood that no longer line up with the masonry crack edges. Then you can call a masonry contractor that uses the services of a structural engineer. The reason I say it like that is because, typically, a contractor will come out to give a bid gratis whereas an engineer will charge.