How To Repair Stone Foundation Walls

This causes water leaks that lead to further decay of the mortar.

How to repair stone foundation walls.

Eventually you can be left with loose and missing stones or bulging and collapsing foundation walls. To replace large stones that have fallen from the wall lay down a thick bed of mortar and set the stone in place. While concrete is poured in a single batch to create a solid foundation or basement wall you can see that this is not the case with stone. In order to repair your stone foundation you need to tackle the problem from the both inside and the outside of your home.

Modern concrete foundations have helped minimize problems with foundations but if you live in a home that 100 years old or older you could have a stone foundation. Step 2 assess the damage. Stone foundation walls are common on many older homes. In the meantime you are better off leaving it alone.

Your problem is most likely that stones have come loose and shifted out of place. If a space between foundation stones is wider than 3 inches or so fill it with mortar and then press a small rock firmly into the mortar to fill the space. Start with the exterior. Although they can look very attractive the mortar joints are prone to weakening or cracking over time.

In the meantime you are better off leaving it alone. Use your shovel to dig a 1 foot deep trench along the perimeter of the stone foundation.