Foundation Repair in Newmarket

Sand in the south, clay in the north and west

The southern edge of town runs to sand and gravel from the Oak Ridges Moraine. It drains fast, so frost has less water to grab, but a poorly graded lot or a washed-out base can still send water at a wall and settle the ground beside it.

The lower north and west of town sit on heavy clay. Clay heaves when frost reaches under it and holds melt water against a foundation wall for weeks, which pushes on the wall and finds its weak point. A crack that appears and widens on clay ground is worth a closer look than one that stays the same width year to year.

Heritage homes near Main Street

The foundations inside the heritage district have stood a long time. After decades the parging lets go, steps settle and basement walls start to weep. We inject the cracks that leak, reinforce a wall that is actually moving, and repair the parging once the wall is sound; see parging.

Low ground toward the Holland River

Toward the Holland River the land drops to old lowland, and the water table stays high after the spring melt. A wall there can leak when a lot on higher ground stays dry, so we look at the grade, the downspouts and the drainage as well as the crack.

If water is not coming through one crack but along the wall, or only after the melt, the job may be basement waterproofing rather than a crack repair. We sort out which job your wall needs at the free visit, before we quote either one.

Newer surveys

In a newer survey, a crack in the basement wall is often shrinkage or early settling, and we measure it and tell you plainly whether it needs work. A crack that leaks can be sealed by injection from the inside, usually without digging. Newmarket is a long haul from our home routes, so we group jobs into planned trips up the 400 and 404 and give you a real date.