Calling contractors to have your house repaired means footing huge bills -- not to mention the inconvenience of having workmen in your house for days on end. And then there are time overruns, delay in supply of material and other conditions.

People with a little artistic leaning may just take the chisel and the trowel in their own hands and repair minor cracks (and in some cases, even major cracks) in their house foundations themselves. There are a surfeit of TV programs and books on the subject