Indigo Construction repairs basement foundation walls in Sioux Falls and eastern South Dakota: cracked and leaking poured walls, seepage at the floor joint, spalled and crumbling concrete, and the grading and downspout problems that put water against the wall in the first place. The first visit tells you whether you're looking at a crack we repair or a structural problem that calls for an engineer, and we say which plainly.
What we repair
- Wall cracks. Sealed from inside, or from outside when the wall is dug out, so water stops coming through.
- Seepage at cracks, form-tie holes and the cove joint where the wall meets the floor.
- Spalled and crumbling concrete, often around old basement windows and at grade, cut back to sound concrete and patched.
- Exterior waterproofing on the section of wall we have exposed, typically alongside an egress cut-in.
- The water source: grade that slopes toward the house, and downspouts that dump at the wall.
Reading a crack
Where a crack runs and how wide it is says a lot about what caused it. This is the first thing we look at, and it decides whether the fix is ours or an engineer's.
| What you see | Usually means | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Thin vertical crack in a poured wall | Shrinkage as the concrete cured | Common and rarely structural. If it leaks, we seal it. |
| Water at the wall-to-floor joint | Water pressure in the soil outside | Seal the joint, then move water away from the wall outside. |
| Crumbling or flaking concrete | Freeze-thaw damage where water sits | Remove loose concrete, patch, and fix the drainage that caused it. |
| Diagonal crack from a window corner | Stress concentrates at the corners of openings | We check whether it's moving before sealing it. |
| Horizontal crack, bowing or leaning wall | Soil pushing the wall in | Structural. You need a structural engineer's assessment before any repair. |
| Stair-step crack through block | Settlement or lateral pressure | Structural. Get an engineer's assessment first. |
Why walls crack here
Around Sioux Falls, most soils formed in 20 to 40 inches of wind-blown loess over glacial till, according to the USDA's description of the Splitrock series, whose type location is in Minnehaha County. Winters are long: Sioux Falls designs footings for a 42-inch frost line. Wet soil against a wall, freezing and thawing through a long winter, finds every weakness in the concrete, and snowmelt every spring puts water right against it.
How we approach it
A crack is a symptom. We look at where the water or movement is coming from, then fix the crack and the reason for it. Sealing a leak without fixing the grading that feeds it just moves the leak.
- Inspect the wall inside and the grade, gutters and downspouts outside.
- Diagnose: cosmetic, water, or structural. Structural goes to an engineer first.
- Repair the crack or damaged concrete.
- Fix the source: regrade, extend downspouts, and reseal where needed.
Permits
Sioux Falls requires a building permit to construct, enlarge, alter or repair a building, and residential permits there go to licensed contractors. Indigo holds City of Sioux Falls contractor license #{LICENSE}. We'll tell you whether your repair needs one and pull it if it does.
Why it pairs with egress
Cutting an egress opening means we're already excavating against your foundation with the wall exposed. That's the cheapest moment to deal with a crack, waterproof the outside of the wall, or fix the grading on that side of the house. Ask about it when you get an egress estimate.