We own a 50 year old home and recently put it on the market. We received a contract on the property, had the home inspection and learned that the left side wall of the foundation has a "noticeable inward bow and cracks in the block joints." The structural engineer suggested we remove the backfill behind the wall so it can be pushed back into a plumb position and then pointed up. Our buyer is concerned about the integrity of the structure after this work is completed. Is there any additional support you would recommend? The contractors who came out to give estimates all gave the same solutions -- reinforce outside and inside with wire mesh and type m mortar. Thanks in advance for your help.

If you cure the symptom without determining the cause, the disease will likely re-occur. The structural engineer should have at least tried to determine the cause.

Possibilities are:

1. The wall thickness is insufficient for the height of the wall. To verify this, one would need to know the total height of the wall, and the depth from the outside grade to the crawl space floor.

2. A surcharge outside the wall, meaning the ground slopes generally down TOWARDS the wall, increasing the earth pressure on the wall.

3. A close approach to the wall by heavy equipment. Example, during construction, a bulldozer ran a little too close to the wall, causing the earth to push the wall in.

4. Hydrostatic pressure behind the wall. Water, pure and simple, but if this were the cause, the wall is likely cracked, and some water would probably have come in.

5. The absence of masonry reinforcing (such as Dur-O-Wal) in the wall. Perhaps this is what the contractors were talking about. It is a steel ladder- or truss-like strip laid in the mortar joints when constructing the wall, typically every second course under normal conditions.

So the cure should address the actual cause of the partial failure of the wall, if it can be determined. Once the reason is known, the remedy can better be determined.

Possible cures are (a) simply rebuilding the wall as suggested, (b) rebuilding the wall placing masonry reinforcing in the mortar joints, (c) bracing the top of the rebuilt wall by connecting to the floor structure above, if the wall is running parallel to the floor joists, and (d) constructing a block pilaster in the center of the failed area, after reconstructing it.

But which cure is chosen depends on why the wall has failed.