A1 Foundation Crack Repair has a long history of saving homeowners money on foundation repair jobs simply because they are reputable, experienced, and fair, not to mention the 10-year warranty and long track record of outstanding workmanship. In this episode, Adam shares an interesting case study on how A1 saved homeowners in Leominster Massachusetts bigtime on a block foundation repair job.
Narrator: It’s time once again for the “Crack Man Podcast” hosted by A1 Foundation Crack Repair. I’m Darren Kincaid here with the Crack Daddy himself, Adam Tracy. Adam and The Crack Man Rich have over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry. Rich as over two5 years as the president and founder of A1 Foundation Crack Repair. This podcast provides expert basement waterproofing, concrete repair, and preventative maintenance tips for homeowners and businesses. A1 Foundation’s valuable insight will help avert a disastrous flood within the basement, health problems associated with water infiltration, and protect your biggest investment….your home. The topic of today’s podcast: Self-healing concrete: could this put A1 out of business?
Narrator: So, Adam, have you heard of this self-healing concrete? Is this really a thing? No more concrete repair work for you, if it's true.
Adam: Yeah. It's a scary thought for A1 Foundation Crack Repair. However, the reality is that it's a long way off. There are lots of researchers and developers for all different types of building technologies. And something is as simple as you would think concrete it would be that, oh, we've figured it out. There's really nothing else to do with it. We've been using it for a hundred years and in its current form and for thousands of years, if you want to go all the way back to the Romans using their concrete.
Is self-healing concrete the way of the future? It possibly could be. What they have in there is some microbiological process and it will help kind of weave the cement on the back end on microscopic cracks. So, if you have microscopic hairline cracks that are, you know, not even visible to the naked eye, it's possible that this concrete will kind of mend it and create a longer standing stronger product.
If you're looking around the country and you're seeing all these bridge projects where you have rusty rebar and they're taking them down and redoing the concrete on the exterior edges, that would be a perfect application for something like this where the rebar itself actually enables the process of, you know, micro cracks from forming and then you get spalling, etcetera. But does that mean that we're out of business in 5 years? No. Not even close.
Part of the reason why is that the way these cracks are mended is not going to be exactly how we see cracks developing in residential homes as in the commercial as well. Most of the cracks that we see are going to be as an origin of settling or shrinkage of the concrete, which puts stress on right angles typically of the concrete. And these cracks are going to be far too large to gap with any sort of biologic process for the self-healing concrete. This is more of a kind of, like, microscopic healing of the concrete.
The other thing to think about with this type of product is cost. As a new product, I'm sure there's going to be early adopters for residential homes being built, but it's probably going to drive the cost of concrete between 5-10 times the cost per yard of concrete. So if the pockets are deep and you're a person who's an early adopter of technology, this would be something that you might need. So, if this early adopter will use it, yes, it's going to be more expensive. It might help with the long-term survivability of concrete. But if the soil conditions aren't perfect and you have any sort of drop in a footing, a crack will form, and it won't heal itself. So, you still need somebody like this.
The other thing too is that the reality is that it's a brand-new product and there are millions upon millions and millions of homes that have foundation issues around New England. And those houses aren't going anywhere. So, we still have an opportunity to repair these. So, it may be the wave of the future. It's an exciting new product and development. I'll be interested to see where it goes and its capabilities. But as everyday use of concrete, it's probably a long way off and won't be seen for a very long time as a normal product.
I think we're safe for the time being. Don't get too excited that this is going to be found at your local big box hardware store as a potential solution because the reality is that it's still very early and far away from regular commercial and industrial and residential use.
Narrator: Well, thanks, Adam. We're setting the record straight on self-healing concrete.
Narrator: If you have a basement water problem and think you need a crack repair professional near Leominster Massachusetts, or, if you’d like more information on foundation crack repair and basement waterproofing topics, please visit A1FoundationCrackRepair.com or call (866) 929-3171. Or you can email info@a1foundationcrackrepair.com. Thanks for listening and keep that basement dry.