Foundation Repair | St. Francis, WI

The Crack Injection Process

Most active leaking cracks are repaired using a moisture-cured urethane, two package grout. This material reacts with water causing it to foam.

• Injection holes are drilled 4 inches from the crack at a 45 degree angle (this causes the holes to hit the crack in the center of the 8 inch wall.)
• Holes are drilled every 8 to 10 inches and injection ports are placed in the holes.

The injection process is started from the bottom and wAs the urethane grout meets the water, a chemical reaction takes place, generating carbon dioxide, which causes the material to foam and be forced up the crack. The resin forms a high density, closed cell structure that is resistant to water, most chemicals and insects.The excess material is cleaned off the wall, the injection ports are broken off and the holes are patched with concrete. The leak is now stopped. The urethane injection process is safe and is used in treating concrete water tanks and water lines to prevent ground water contamination. This is also a recognized foundation crack repair method for satisfying building codes and passing home inspections up the wall.

Facts About St. Francis, WI

St. Francis Seminary was established in what is now the city in 1845. The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi established their headquarters there in the mid-19th century.

The city took its name from St. Francis Seminary, founded by Archbishop John Henni, the first Archbishop of Milwaukee, who placed it under the patronage of Francis de Sales, the first Catholic bishop of Switzerland after the Swiss Reformation.

Geography
St. Francis is located at 42°58′11″N 87°52′36″W (42.969615, -87.876745).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.55 square miles (6.60 km2), all of it land.

The city is located directly south and east of the City of Milwaukee, directly west of Lake Michigan, and directly north of Cudahy, Wisconsin. Milwaukee’s primary airport, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, is bordered on one side by St. Francis.

At 2.55 square miles, the City of St. Francis is one of the smallest suburbs by area in Milwaukee County. According to early white settlers, native residents called the area “Nojoshing,” possibly meaning “strip of land extending into the water.” When the territorial government divided Milwaukee County into townships, Nojoshing became part of the Town of Lake. This elevated land, rising above marshy Milwaukee, attracted American and European settlers as farmers beginning around 1834.

Several Roman Catholic institutions founded in the mid-19th century gave the area a strong Catholic identity. In 1849 Archbishop John Martin Henni directed the Covenant of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi to settle just south of Milwaukee. The sisters initially aided orphaned children, but over the next hundred years, they also founded or worked in numerous charitable organizations, including the precursor to Cardinal Stritch University. In 1856, Archbishop Henni’s opened St. Francis de Sales Seminary nearby. Anchored by the seminary, the area attracted a cluster of Roman Catholic institutions, including Holy Family Normal School, St. John’s School for the Deaf, Sacred Heart Church, the Chapel of the Woods, and St. Aemelian’s Orphanage. In 1983, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee moved its headquarters to the Cousins Center in St. Francis.

In the 1920s, residents began seeking incorporation to prevent annexation by the City of Milwaukee. Those outside of St. Francis in the Town of Lake opposed the move because the Lakeside Power Plant within St. Francis, completed in 1921, provided a large amount of the town’s tax revenue. Attempts to incorporate St. Francis in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s failed. When incorporation succeeded in 1951, the city’s population was 6,181. While the newly incorporated St. Francis retained the Lakeside Power Plant, later changes in state laws drastically reduced the amount of tax revenue the City received. Because St. Francis lacked other large businesses to bring in revenue, it had trouble providing adequate municipal services. Some St. Francis residents petitioned for merger with their southern neighbor, Cudahy. After that effort failed, St. Francis eventually provided its own services.