I live in Maryland after removing drywall after a 18inch flood of water from sump pump malfunction from power outage during heavy rains we noticed we have a severely bowed and cracked wall!
My home is semi detached (connected with neighbor on one side)
It was built in 1986 with 8" block approx. 30ft in length and 20ft in length for my half of the structure.
It is inproperly graded as all water from my .20acre yard rushes like a river towards my house and settles around the house especially in the back
We have noticed lts of erosion in area where driveway is seperated from house by 4ft wide 30ft long area of dirt and mulch. There is a 4inch difference in depth from driveway and ground
There is only 12inches of exposed concrete outside before the siding is attached
From the back corner the wall is badly bowed inward from 1-5inches It has horizontal and stairstep cracks starting from the back of the house going about 6ft towards the front of the house and then feathers off to just a 4ft long (1.5inch wide) horizontal crack approx. 3ft from the floor from the floor.
The biggest horixontal crack stops approx. 13ft down the 30ft wall it is not bowing in like the first 6ft form the back
Their is a smaller horizontal crack higher up
The back wall going towards the shared wall (with neighbor) has a high hairline crack no bowing yet
The front wall has no cracks
One estimate for $24000 was to install anchors rebuild 12ft by 8ft back corner of wall and put in waterproofing system
ANother Estimate was to dig down 4ft pull back wall with anchors and install waterproofing system
I have waterproofing system already installed which appears to be blocked with mud.
As lots of mud is flowing in my house with water
I don't know what to do I am still getting estimates. Please help!!! I don't want my wall to collapse. Is there anyway to tempoary brace back wall until I come up with best option?
Posts: 12 | Location: maryland | Registered: 17 July 2006
If there is more than 5 feet of foundation wall underground, measured from basement floor to grade, then eight-inch block was not adequate for your foundation. This probably isn't the only problem, but it is a big contributor toward the bowing.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2559 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
Originally posted by Richard Hetzel: If there is more than 5 feet of foundation wall underground, measured from basement floor to grade, then eight-inch block was not adequate for your foundation. This probably isn't the only problem, but it is a big contributor toward the bowing.
Yes their is at least 7ft of the wall underground.
I really need to know if I should rebuild or support and try to divert water from settling around the foundation.
I will try to post pictures soon!
Posts: 12 | Location: maryland | Registered: 17 July 2006
You can probably support the bowed wall with block pilasters, but they'll need to have footings, so this won't be a simple job. They will probably extend 16 inches into your basement, and their spacing and number must be calculated according to the maximum ability of an 8-inch block wall to span a distance.
If you're going to all that trouble, you may as well at least re-build the bowed portions of the walls if the bow doesn't extend very deep.
You can temporarily brace the wall with 4x4 wood members extending from the top of the wall at about a 30-degree angle to the floor, anchoring them to both top of wall and to the concrete floor. I'm guessing thay should be spaced no more than 6 feet apart.
One question...which direction does the framing of the floor above run, relative to the bowed wall? Are the joists perpendicular or parallel to this wall? I'm betting they are parallal, which compounds the error of the eight-inch blocks, because there is nothing to brace the top of the block wall, if my guess is right. As I said, the undersize block wall probably isn't the only problem.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2559 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
They are running parallel. A guy came today and said the house is being held up by the back and front wall. The bowed wall is the outer wall which he says could pull the back wall if it collapses. He says the wall is shattered like something hit it. It is not bowing normally like a wall moving under normal pressure would.
Posts: 12 | Location: maryland | Registered: 17 July 2006
Dear Bowedbad, I hope the same sob who back filled my foundation wall with wheelbarrow sized boulders did not do the same to you. It took 40 years but those boulders coupled with heavy downpours bowed and nearly collapsed my wall. I too have a 7ft wall and the contractor told me the block should have been at least 10" instead of 8". They hauled away 2 dump truck loads of boulders and rebuilt my wall in 1994 at a cost of $10k. Good luck.
Posts: 1 | Location: Delaware | Registered: 14 August 2006
That's interesting you said that, a guy just came out and looked at my wall and he said the same thing, that they probably put something in the backfill that has "smashed" my wall!
He said it is really unusual to see a wall shattered like mines on the edge of the house which is usually more resistant too pressure.
He said it looks like a car hit the end of the wall where the daamage is!
Anywasy, thanks, one contractor said he could pull the wall back and then fill the bricks with some kind of conret and rods, or I may just get the badly bowed section rebuilt like you did! Thanks
Posts: 12 | Location: maryland | Registered: 17 July 2006
Hi everyone, I have not been able to follow up and communicate further due to some illness. But now that I am well again, I am ready to face my foundation headache, which has gotten a little worse. There has been more movement in the wall in the area that has the shattered appearance. The bricks are more loose. I did give the companay JES a deposit for them to come fill the blocks with cement, pull back (if possible) the wall and put Griptite anchors on the walls. Plus replace my existing sumppump system. The prive with this sump pump system is 17000 wihtout it it is 10000. I am still worried about whether this will keep sediment from continuing to come in my house. The sediment or sand seems to be coming from all around the walls I am not sure how. Anyway, I am trying to find a reasonable way to finance this project, because I have to do something and I gave JES a 500 deposit, but I am not 100 percent confident in this method, but dont think I can keep putting off addressing the issue as i feel my wall may colapse soon!
If you are in the MD area or read this please give me some advice ASAP. I will also try to take pictures and upload them or send them to anyone who can help.
Posts: 12 | Location: maryland | Registered: 17 July 2006
I’m not a big fan of wall anchors, on concrete block walls. When supporting a concrete block wall you need to make sure you support should go from top to bottom every four feet. There is a lot of info on www.basementanswers.com and the www.nawsrc.org . You may want to check out carbon fiber for the air. If you go to the nawsrc, you can find a nationally certified foundation repair specialist. Good luck.
Nationally Certified Waterproofer by the NAWSRC.com
Posts: 96 | Location: Columbus | Registered: 30 December 2005
I don't know how many times we have to repeat it, but find the CAUSE first, and then select the solution that will remedy the cause!!
Carbon fiber straps, or any other device such as steel posts, or even concrete block pilasters, do not attack a cause. In essence, they are saying "we don't have a clue as to why your wall is bowing, so we'll just do this." Problem is, "this" won't stop water from entering your basement, and won't stop silt from coming in with it, clogging up your expensive new inside water diversion system, which may be unnecessary in the first place.
We know the wall is marginal in thickness, but there's not much we can do about that. We could excavate to the footing, rebuild the wall, cementing steel reinforcing bars in the block cores, and then waterproof the outside of the wall. The excavation might reveal the cause...improper backfill, perhaps heavy equipment too near the wall, maybe tree roots, or maybe hydrostatic pressure. The first three would be easy to correct.
If the cause is hydrostatic pressure, if at all possible, a drainage system should be installed OUTSIDE the wall, at footing depth, running to daylight if possible, or to a city storm sewer if available, or to a drywell located as far from any building as possible.
The idea, which certain people can never grasp, is to KEEP THE WATER OUT OF THE BASEMENT!, not let it continue to come in and cause problems such as mold, clogged inside drainage systems, entry of insects or possibly radon gas.
The system you have contracted for only barely addresses the problems, and I see no mention of waterPROOFing the basement wall after it is rebuilt, nor backfilling it with pea gravel or similar material. I would contact masonry contractors, and ask them to have the wall excavated, repaired and reinforced, and waterPROOFed. If water pours into the excavation, then you have to think about an OUTSIDE drainage system, to relieve hydrostatic pressure. If not, then the gravel backfill will suffice.
Avoid contractors who either guess at a cause, or ignore a cause and propose to install the only system they know how to install. You have problems OUTSIDE your wall. They CANNOT be fixed from inside. Things like carbon fiber straps are not fixes, they are admissions of defeat. The water will still come in, and shortly your inside drainage system will again clog, and you'll be posting here again in a few years. Who need that? Fix it right, and fix it ONCE. Don't patch. FIX.
Determine the cause, THEN choose the solution. It's that simple.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2559 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
well said Richard.....these inside knotheads will never learn,don`t want to learn.
here is a poster from different board, bought house and it was disclosed to poster/buyer that "basement walls had been professionally redone(???)--anchored and steel beams....walls 'supposedly' had a lifetime-guarantee have Cracked and are Buckling inward.
had to move, put house on market and from 2003-2005 had no bids
we see this often, people getting talked into wall anchoring system/beams and often, at the same time,getting talked into inside drain tile or baseboard system....sorry,oops, mistake! They have your money and YOU still have problems.
folks, most often it is expanding and contracting SOIL Pressure-roots and, some other possibilities, that causes basement wall to crack,leak,bow inward....ONLY way to help lessen--relieve--take THAT pressure OFF the OUTSIDE of the wall is...from the Outside. sheeesh!
These wall anchoring systems do NOT take the Outside soil pressure/roots OFF the outside of the wall, and anyone telling you it will is an inexperienced goofball who is trying to sell YOU....what they do, does not at all mean its whats best for....YOU!
another bunch of crap from many inside-salespeople is, when they tell you upon installing their inside system on block wall that by drilling holes in blocks relieves outside pressure, this is complete NONSENSE! Duh, no one on this-planet can relieve pressure thats on the Outside of bsmt wall from the inside....lateral-hydrostatic soil pressure can indeed cause basement walls to crack, leak,bow inward...we`ve been over this about... 3.5 million times throughout other posts.
THANKS SO MUCH! I TOTALLY AGREE and that why I felt so uncomfortable contracting there services. I knew they weren't addressing the cause! But since my wall looks so bad, and I am having a hard time finding masonery company that dig up and replace wall, I just felt pressured by the situation, and the companys to do something!
ANother problem is money! Do to my illness I have not been able to work, and my credit has suffered. I just hope the wall can hold up until I can qualify for a loan somehow.
I was thinking maybe as a temp fix until I get my money together somebody could put up some steel post or something near the ares where it is real bad just so it can keep the wall from being in my basement.
Is this reasonable? Could I do that for 1000-2000 until I get the 20000 to get a new wall?
Thanks so much Richard, and LicensedWaterproofer. If you know anybody in MD who can help please let me know.
Posts: 12 | Location: maryland | Registered: 17 July 2006
I sincerely doubt that reinforcing and rebuilding the wall will cost anything near $20,000. Your whole basement wouldn't cost $20,000 to reproduce. It's hard to say exactly what one wall would cost without seeing everything and doing a detailed estimate, but keep trying masonry contractors until you find one willing to do the job. Ask the building department where you live if they can give you any names.
Yes, it's a labor-intensive project, but the scope is relatively small. Since you have some time, you can keep hunting for a contractor. If it would make you sleep better at night, some simple wood bracing might be a sensible precaution. Something like 3 4x4's maybe 12 feet long, anchored to the basement floor with pieces of 2x4, and maybe 2 2x12's running along the top of the wall for maybe 12 feet in the middle of the bowed area, held there by the 4x4's running at an angle from the top of the wall to the basement floor.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2559 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
Carbon fiber is not in any way a defeat, it is a way of reinforcing a masonry wall that was under designed by some architect. Then their are never around when the problems start. Then it’s never their fault. Make sure you take your advice from professionals that repair foundations everyday. Make sure you research any fixes you try. 4”X4” post will not work for a tepary fix ask any engineer? Don’t do any repair that won’t pass building coeds. Good luck and don’t forget to check out www.nawsrc.org
Nationally Certified Waterproofer by the NAWSRC.com
Posts: 96 | Location: Columbus | Registered: 30 December 2005
Pray tell, oh basementguy, how carbon fiber will remedy any of the possible causes of a bowing basement wall? How will it stop water from entering the basement? How will it eliminate hydrostatic pressure outside the wall? How will it stop radon gas from entering the basement? How will it stop insects and other vermin from marching in unobstructed?
Yes, carbon fiber is a wonderful space-age amterial, having immense strength, but a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and sooner or later the carbon fiber must be anchored to much weaker materials.
Meanwhile, there it sits, like a red flag for prospective buyers, if and when the house may ever be put up for sale. A bowed wall with carbon fiber straps...wow...our dream house, honey, let's make an offer. Riiight. Oh, I forgot, you cover it up so no one can see it, or the water, or the mold, or the insects, and even if the radon gas were bright pink, they might not see that either.
In many states, an architect is not required for one- and two-family homes. Many builders build from stock plans drawn by architects who are many states away and who have no control over where or how their plans are used. It's easy to blame the architect when there may have never been one involved. Builders can easily make changes from original plans, and few building inspectors are competent enough to either perform a thorough plan review or catch improper on-site changes. If there was an architect, he may have shown an eight-inch foundation wall with less than five feet from grade to basement floor, and it's possible the builder made the error and the inspector never caught it. The architect may have specified 75% solid block, and lightweight block may have been used. There are a million ways that construction may go wrong when people choose to eliminate the architect from complete involvement in the process, and in most single-family construction projects, an architect is NEVER involved. So placing blame on an architect who may have never been present simply further demonstrates ignorance, of which there seems to be plenty to go around.
Instead of posting links to web sites, why not demonstrate your OWN knowledge of the field in which you claim expertise, by posting clear, detailed, lucid explanations of exactly what you would propose to those who post questions here, and why. Explain how YOUR solutions will solve ALL their problems. You don't DARE do that, do you?
No, you post links and make sneering remarks, and you run for cover, just like all the rest of your brethren from the National Association Of Snake Oil Salesmen. Your behavior speaks volumes about your approach to your...ahem...profession, and your ethics, and your willingness to help people who have asked for help.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard Hetzel,
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2559 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
