i am looking at buying a home which recently had a wall anchor system installed (grip-tite) for 2 out of 4 basement walls that had cracked and bowed (1 long and 1 short). i am wondering if anyone can speak to personal experiences with the anchor system, both positive and negetive. i am very concerned, but it is the only thing that is holding preventing sale of the house. any comments are appreciated. thanks

blake,

here`s my 2+ cents

if `n when a basement wall is bowing in, almost always it due to....lateral/hydrostatic SOIL pressure/and-or roots from trees that are, on the...outside of the wall(s).

hence, any company recommending/doing work that does NOT involve REMOVING what.....more than likey is CAUSING the bowing/wall movement/crack(s) is bs.

so i`d ask, ANY SUPPOSED wall anchor system, that was sold, `n more than likely guaranteed to keep/hold the wall(s) in place costing thousands, if THEY removed the expanding/contracting soil-roots from the...outside. If not, i would NOT buy the home or, very carefully READ the guarantee of the work/system that was done. Is it transferable? Do they actually state in the paperwork they will, fix/remedy ANY future movement/problems, regardless of owner/year etc.

In SE Mich at least....too many people who notice a bsmt wall bowing in/cracked and/or have bricks that have step/vertical cracks are paying $7,000-20,000+ for helical piers and the like which, do NOT stop/prevent/lessen lateral/hydrostatic SOIL pressure `n rrots that are on the Outside of bsmt walls, yeah, scam city

Have a liscensed structural engineer look at the foundation and the remedial measures that were installed. That person will have an understanding of what was going wrong and what the attempted fix was and therefore should be able to give opinion whether it is adequate.

We own a home built in 1915. The basement wall had become cracked, 22 inches out of alignmentand we thought it would take a whole new wall. We had the anchor system done in March of 2005. I cannot say enough about how great a job it was and how well the house is doing now. It cost us $3400. but the contractor did a lot of extra work to make sure we had no other problems and that included installing a sump pump just in case we needed it(and we did). This type of repair is wonderful.
My Dad & Father-in-law were contractors and we both grew up working for them so knew what questions to ask and checked into several repair methods before choosing this one. We couldn't be happier. Just my .02 worth, but to us it's worth $1,000,000.

thank you so much for everyones opinion. it really helps in the decision process. any other opinos are also very welcome. thanks again

ladywildcat3, just wondering where in sd you live.....my wife and i are moving to leola and are buying an old house with bowed walls.....if i could get the name of the guy (if proximity permits) of the guy who did your walls, that would be great as it is a good price. thanks, justin

Can't believe all these good people completely missed the point that one should attack the CAUSE of basement wall problems, and NOT the symptom. Bowed basement walls happen for a reason...it isn't just bad luck or witchcraft, and doing these kinds of fixes (such as helical piers) permit the original reason for the bowing to remain, to cause more problems, perhaps, in the future.

Fix the CAUSE, NOT the symptom!!

Richard Hetzel: Thanks for your input...attack the cause...not the result...I've responded to your posts previously...particularly about insulating...please contact me at majo@netscape.com...I would like to discuss some radio talk about home improvement...Where is Tobyhanna, PA.? I live in Gettysburg, and work at WGET. Thanks for your response...Joe