Cracked Foundation in South East Michigan

[John P.]

I live north of Detroit in Rochester MI.  With the recent snow melt, I saw water under my refrigerator in the basement.  I moved the refrigerator and have a crack from the top of the foundation to the floor.  It is a very slow leak only when the soil is severely saturated with water.  Luckily this happened in my storage area and not the finished area.

I have had two contractors come out and suggest very different solutions under $2k. 

One was to dig it out and seal it.  I assume the crack would no longer leak, but the water in the soil would just find another hairline crack and I would be in the same situation eventually. 

The other was to mitigate the water pressure by tying the leak into my foundation sump system.  Then seal the crack on the inside.  This would allow the water to continue to come in, but go straight to drainage so I don't have it in the basement.

I am not sure what is the proper way to fix a cracked foundation permanently.  This is my home.  This is not a rental.  I am not going to be selling for 15 years or so.  I do not want to revisit this issue.  I want it fixed permanently with quality.

Can someone give me an idea of what is the proper way to fix a foundation crack/leak?  Does anyone have any recommendations for foundation repair contractors that service Rochester?

Thank You

[David O]

Originally posted by @Joe Semifero:

@John P. - Other key thing (and much cheaper) is to make sure the ground around the house is graded away from the foundation. I had a fairly severe leak in my kitchen in a bi-level in Dearborn Heights, and I put a yard of topsoil starting 6 inches deep at the side of the house and dropping 1 inch per foot away from the house. That alone fixed 99% of the issue. Make sure your downspouts are directing water away from the house at least 6-8 feet. If you combine this with digging down and sealing the outside of the wall as @Account Closed suggested, I would guess that would resolve the issue and prevent additional leaks from starting. 

 ^^^ This. Grading the soil around the foundation is key. I have had crawlspaces with serious water issues and grading the soil away and making sure downspouts are directing water away has fixed them all. 

I would try this and sealing the outside wall to see if that will fix the issue. If not you can try more aggressive fixes.