Stone foundation repair in Wilkes-Barre
Many older homes in the valley stand on stone. Those walls can last well over a century, but they need the right kind of care when the mortar starts to go.
Signs a stone foundation needs work
- Sandy, crumbling mortar that you can scrape out with a fingernail or screwdriver.
- Loose or missing stones, or small piles of sand and grit at the base of the wall.
- Damp patches, white crust or water coming through the joints after rain.
- A bulge where a section of wall has pushed inward.
- Daylight or drafts through gaps near the top of the wall.
Why stone walls wear out
Stone foundations were usually laid with lime-based mortar. It is softer than modern cement mortar, and it was meant to be. Water passes through it slowly and it wears away over decades, which protects the stones. When the mortar washes out, stones loosen and the wall can lose its shape.
Patching an old stone wall with hard cement mortar or sealing it with a thick coating can trap water inside the wall and speed up the damage. A good contractor knows the difference.
How contractors usually repair stone foundations
- Repointing. Raking out loose mortar and packing the joints with a mortar that suits the wall.
- Resetting stones in sections that have loosened or bulged.
- Parging, a mortar coat over the inside face, done with a mix that lets the wall breathe.
- Rebuilding a section that has moved too far, sometimes with new block or poured concrete.
- Drainage, inside or outside, so less water reaches the wall in the first place. See basement waterproofing.
Ask the contractor what mortar they will use and why it suits a stone wall.
Request a stone foundation visit
Send a request and choose “Crumbling stone or mortar.” Say roughly when the house was built and where the wall is worst. The service area page shows how many homes in each town were built before 1940.