# Foundation basement window corner crack



## Jwinston (Jan 6, 2017)

Hello Experts,

I have a two year old home. I hired and inspector to check the house with no significant finding. We noticed a corner window crack from the outside of the house, but he said since there is no leak inside the basement and the crack is not too wide it shouldn't be a concern. I couldn't check the basement inside because of the full insulation. A few weeks ago I decided to open up the insulation and found the the crack is coning from the corner of the window (see pics) and all the way down to the flood in a zig zag pattern (about 2mm wide on top, narrow at bottom). No sign of water damage. This is the house's second snowy winter and no leak so far. The basement has a sump pup.

I spoke to the builder and they are refusing to fix it because there is no signs of water damage, hence they say the crack in not going all the way through the wall (even tough it appears on both sides of the wall).

I attached a few pictures. Did anyone had to deal with this situation, how serious do you think it is? what can I do (crack does not seem structural, all doors and windows lock smoothly, no other crack at the house, only thing a lot of the corners in the rooms have a long fine crack, that is probably because there was no taped placed in the corners before painting).

Looking forward to your response, anything helps,

Thank you


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## inspectorD (Jan 7, 2017)

Monitor it for a while, and see if anything changes. 
This is a typical crack found in many foundations. Probably never going to leak until it does.. thats the honest answer.
I recommend to folks to seal it from the outside if you are really concerned.


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## slownsteady (Jan 7, 2017)

If the house is still under warranty from the builder, I would hesitate to make my own repair as it would give the builder an excuse to write it out. I would monitor, take pictures periodically. See if a strong light will shine through to the other side of the crack...?


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## nealtw (Jan 8, 2017)

The black on the outside looks like it might be dimple board. So there likely will not be a leak, so watch the crack thru a season or two. 
And nobody fills drywall with out tape so if that continues it should be addressed.


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## Jwinston (Jan 14, 2017)

Thanks guys, I will keep on monitoring. Will measure the crack periodically. Hopefully it wont turn into anything serious.


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## Jwinston (Mar 23, 2017)

Hello guys,

I purchase a cheap wire cam so I could monitor my the wall crack. Used it yesterday for the first time and I noticed a efflorescence like stain coming from the crack. When I removed the insulation and look at it directly, I dont see anything. What do you think that is, is this a signs of an old leak?


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