The Crackman Podcast

A1 Foundation Crack Repair responds to the "Bat signal" on a daily basis. In this case study, we learn that the folks in this Waltham MA home were pretty happy to see our favorite basement crack repair specialists on their doorstep after a botched repair job. It’s great to know that A1’s super heroes are ready, willing, and able to respond to just about any emergency.

The Northeast just received nearly 2 feet of snow from the nor’easter cyclone bomb. With that came arctic-like temperatures. In this episode, Adam Tracy explains how winter weather can wreak havoc on your foundation.

The big box stores do a great job of hyping crack repair products but they don’t really seem to do the job as advertised. Why is that? Adam explains why a DIY crack repair using hydraulic cement doesn’t always work.

On the 14th hole of a local golf course, a house is being built on the side of a hill. The street level is even with the top of the second story, just to give you an idea of the slope. That could be a problem if the builders don’t figure out a way to divert the water run-off. Adam explains the ramifications of poor landscape design when it comes to foundations.

Modern homes are extremely efficient but many people own very old homes. A gaping hole in the foundation can make it costly to heat or cool. The Crack Daddy explains how to make an older home with a fieldstone foundation more energy efficient.

A moldy basement won't pass most home inspections and it certainly won’t pass the smell test. In this episode, Adam shares a case study on how a moldy basement can easily tank a home sale.

When a homeowner thinks about home improvements, they normal consider the aesthetics of the improvement. But that might be putting the cart before the horse if you have topographical issues that can adversely affect the very foundation of your house. The CrackDaddy explains.

The Crackman got a call from a customer who had a typical wall crack–one that is vertical in nature and sort of meanders with no defined pattern, but that’s not where it was leaking. Instead, the water was coming from where the floor and wall meet at the seam. How does that happen?

If you put a jar of turkey stock in the freezer after Thanksgiving and make the mistake of overfilling the jar, the jar will break. So, could the same thing happen to a basement if you have a water leak and a hard freeze?

Well, listeners...today is milestone day as this is our 300th episode of the Crackman podcast. During these 300 episodes, we have covered in great detail how FlexSeal does an exceedingly poor job of stopping basement water leaks for the long term. So how about this...what if you paint the leaking area with waterproofing paint first and THEN apply the FlexSeal? It’s like double the protection, right?