# Basement cracks/crumbling



## averagejoemn (Dec 15, 2011)

One background: the house was built in 1928 and based on what I can feel walking around on the basement floor it is fairly thin. I just bought it and my inspector told me to sledge hammer out the cracks and broken up areas and pour new concrete. Does that sound about right? Any chance I can do more harm than good?
Photos:


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## nealtw (Dec 15, 2011)

That is where you want to start and see if the cause can be figured out. If it sounds hollow the fill below may have settled, but why??. Some one may have skimmed over an old floor that should have been taken out. 
I would take out the broken parts, clean up the edges and post some more photos.


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## JoeD (Dec 15, 2011)

You may find the entire floor is thin and needs replacing not just the bad spots.


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## averagejoemn (Dec 16, 2011)

Let's assume I don't have the money to replace the basement floor, any advice on how to put in a temporary fix?


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## nealtw (Dec 16, 2011)

That's why I said to take out the bad stuff first, so if the rest of the floor is good you could do a repair. You could do the repair anyway but you will know whether the whole thing should be done one day.


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## JoeD (Dec 17, 2011)

Agree. The first step would be to remove some of the bad concrete and see what you are dealing with underneath.


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## averagejoemn (Dec 18, 2011)

Sounds good, I'll probably wait till the holidays when I have more time to pound it out.

Thanks for the replies!


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