The Crackman Podcast

One of the most important tenets of selling your home is curb appeal, and if your house's foundation on the exterior looks pitted and cracked, it can kill a sale very quickly. In this episode, The Crackman talks about how to deal with this issue and increase the value of your home.

In this episode, the Crackman explains how basements can become damp and humid, and covers 4 common sense do-it-yourself tips on how to prevent it.

Most people have a bit of the DIY spirit in them and hope to defray maintenance costs by doing as much as they can before hiring a pro. In this episode, the Crackman shares his 4 best tips a homeowner can do to prevent basement water.

Let's say you go downstairs to your basement and find the beginnings of your own personal water park. Obviously, the first thing that comes out of your mouth is a swear word. Then, you're going to have to call a pro to solve the problem, but you need to figure out how all that water got there. What's the first thing you look for?

This is a very interesting case study about how an incorrectly installed lally column woke a homeowner at night and almost totaled his home.

Once again, the Crackman covers a real life case study--this time about a lally column failure in a home with severe foundation issues.

Believe it or not, having a gap where one's sidewalk meets the foundation is a common problem that is certainly an issue but easily fixed. This episode discusses how to remedy the situation.

Some small concrete repair jobs can be done by DIYers, others are best left to the pros. In this podcast, the Crackman discusses both situations and when it's best to bring in the big guns.

This episode discusses what types of lally columns will home inspectors be be looking at, what problems home inspectors will identify with lally columns, and how you fix them.

Some homeowners are sealing up their basement bulkheads, walk-outs, and windows, but they've been running into issues where the do-it-yourselfers have had some pretty serious leaks associated with novice work. In this episode, The Crackman talks about what he's seeing in the field and how he's helping homeowners solve their DIY messes.

So you've got a quote from a crack repair company and it seems a little high so you're thinking about doing it yourself. Listen to this episode before you do.

Imagine walking down to your basement and finding a lake. You've got 2 options: grab a fishing pole or start taking care of the problem. What would you do? Tune in to find out what to do first.

We've been talking about basement cracks for quite a while now on this podcast. In this episode, the Crackman reveals the most common cracks he sees and how he fixes them.

Here again is the Crackman with another real life case study about a DIY disaster involving a customer who thought he'd save a dime by trying to do it himself.

The most common basement cracks come from shrinkage and settling. How do you tell the difference between the two types and how do you fix them? Listen in to find out.

Putting a band-aid fix on a problem is never a really good idea. You're much better off getting it fixed properly as evidenced in this month's DIY disaster.

In this episode, horizontal cracks are explained along with what to do if you have one in your basement.

Let's say you have a large crack in a basement wall but only the bottom part of it is leaking. That's really all you need to fix right? The leaky part? Or do you need to fix the entire crack?

Foundation issues are nothing to mess around with. As they say, a home is only as good as its foundation so catching foundation issues before they get too bad is just plain smart. In this episode the Crackman covers 5 ways to identify a potential foundation problems.

In this episode we discuss how the Crackman fixed a concrete sidewalk tripping hazard with Polyurethane. This technique can also be used to fix driveways that are bucking and heaving.

Are you going to be pouring concrete in the winter? This podcast covers key things you should be discussing with your concrete contractor.

So, you're in your basement and you see a water pipe penetration in your basement and the pipe has roots all over it. Do you rip them all off? Listen to this podcast before you do.

In this episode, the Crackman covers the 5 main considerations one must evaluate when purchasing and installing a sump pump in your basement.

Believe it or not, it's a common problem that occurs where people have always had dusty floors. The Crackman explains why it happens and what to do about it.

Here again is the Crackman with a real life case study about how he solved a terrible water problem caused by an improperly sealed pipe penetration.