Scranton & Lackawanna County
Most Scranton basements crack somewhere. The question is which cracks are cosmetic and which mean the wall is moving. We connect you with a licensed local contractor who'll look, tell you plainly, and seal or reinforce the ones that matter.
Concrete and block shrink and settle as they cure and age, so a hairline or two shows up in almost every basement around Scranton. The ones worth attention are the wider gaps, the horizontal lines, and the stair-step cracks that follow the mortar joints in block. Those tend to track soil pressure and movement rather than simple shrinkage.
Our older housing stock adds a twist. A lot of homes in the Hill Section, Green Ridge, and the West Side sit on rubble stone or early block that has taken a century of freeze and thaw. Those walls crack and shift differently than a modern poured wall, and the repair has to respect how they were built.
It starts with a free inspection: the contractor measures the crack, checks whether it's active, looks for water coming through, and figures out what's driving it. Then you get a written recommendation — seal it, reinforce it, or watch it.
Not every crack or damp patch needs a repair tomorrow. Part of a good inspection is telling you when something is cosmetic and can be watched, and when it's the kind of movement that gets worse if you leave it. You get that read in writing, with photos, so you can decide on your own timeline.
Book your free inspectionThe contractor checks whether the crack is stable or still moving before choosing a repair, so you don't pay to seal a wall that needs reinforcing.
For poured walls, they inject the crack full-depth to seal against water and, where needed, restore some structural bond.
Repointing, patching, and reinforcement suited to block and rubble-stone walls, not a one-size poured-wall fix.
Where a crack is tied to a wall that's under pressure, carbon-fiber straps can be added so it doesn't reopen.
If the crack was leaking, the contractor addresses why — grading, gutters, or an interior drain — so it stays dry.
You get the repair scope and any workmanship warranty in writing before work starts.
Sometimes, yes — a stable shrinkage crack in a poured wall can be injected and sealed and that's the end of it. But if the crack is tied to a wall that's moving, filling it alone won't hold. That's why the inspection checks whether it's active first.
Usually not. Thin vertical hairlines are one of the most common and least worrying cracks around here. It's the horizontal, stair-step, and widening cracks that earn a closer look.
If water was coming through the crack, sealing it is part of the fix — but the contractor also looks at where the water is coming from. A crack that leaks often points to a drainage or grading issue worth correcting too.
A straightforward injection is often a same-day job. Structural reinforcement or block work takes longer. You get the timeline with the written quote.
Free · No obligation
Book a free written inspection and we'll tell you what's going on and what it takes to fix it — in Scranton and across Lackawanna County.
