Foundation Repair Question

[brownout2020]

I have a 48 foot foundation wall in the basement that is bowing. It is cracked approximately 46 feet horizontally. The crack appears to be at ground level, slightly below the windows.

I also have some old moisture in the perpendicular corners of this wall and the other 2 walls. Other than that, no major water coming in.

How should I repair the bowing wall and address the old moisture in the corners?

I have some people telling me I need to replace the entire wall and waterproof.

Others say I need to rebar with cement and water proof.

Others say I need to install support beams from the inside and install sub pumps.

What are your thoughts?
Thanks

 

[RTBS]

There usually are multiple ways to accomplish this, those ways you pointed out. I'm a structural engineer and have used those methods such as bracing the wall and replacing the wall or adding a new wall. The best solution depends on several factors, height of wall and soil, size of footing, if the wall is reinforced, location and size of cracks, etc. My recommendation would be to have a structural engineer come and look at it and work with him based on your input for remediation.

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[TLGriff]

The wall should have been backfilled with sand. Otherwise the expansion and contraction of the fill from season to season will push the wall in. My dad had the same problem in his basement and the solution was to dig out the soil (clay) outside of the wall out and properly backfill it. If you have a similar situation, repairing the wall won't fix the underlying problem.

Tom

 

[brownout2020]

The wall should have been backfilled with sand. Otherwise the expansion and contraction of the fill from season to season will push the wall in. My dad had the same problem in his basement and the solution was to dig out the soil (clay) outside of the wall out and properly backfill it. If you have a similar situation, repairing the wall won't fix the underlying problem.

Tom

Would that fix the bowing action of the wall by digging out and filling in sand? Would the bowing wall fall back into place by doing this? Would I need to rebar and cement if it was dug out and filled with sand?

 

[wrenchguy]

block or cement walls?

 

[brownout2020]

block or cement walls?

Block walls. There is no rebar or coment currently in there since it wasn't code when the house was built in the 70's.

 

[shoeless]

I can't help you, but you might get more views on the General Garage Discussion forum.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3

 

[s14kev]

If you want the best repair. Excavate a trench down to the footer. Push wall straight to correct bowing. Drill every other cell in the block wall at top to feed rebar down to the footer. Fill drilled cells with cement grout. Apply drainboard to the exterior block wall with drain tile next to the footer. Backfill with gravel. Grade soil to drain away from the foundation. You will never deal with any other problem with the block wall again.

 

[wrenchguy]

U don't have a sump pump!!??

 

[BassProCamaro97]

There usually are multiple ways to accomplish this, those ways you pointed out. I'm a structural engineer and have used those methods such as bracing the wall and replacing the wall or adding a new wall. The best solution depends on several factors, height of wall and soil, size of footing, if the wall is reinforced, location and size of cracks, etc. My recommendation would be to have a structural engineer come and look at it and work with him based on your input for remediation.

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There is the correct answer.Period.

As a registered Civil Engineer I'll tell you this right now, consult a professional in your area that has a SE on staff to look at the issue. The fact that you have a horizontal crack in the foundation is a bad sign. My initial guess from what you have provided is that there is improper reinforcement in the wall for the load conditions.

Best of luck

~Jim~

 

[Milton Shaw]

My sister had a wall doing that and it caved in after a heavy rain. Luckily her best friends husband was a house mover and had the know how and equipment to quickly shore the house up and lift house off foundation and rebuild wall on old footing. The existing wall didn't even have anything but sand between some of the block, no grouting or filling of any of the rows or blocks, no zigzag wire either. Now wall has grout, rebar and zigzag wire like it should have in the first place. She ended up lucky on that one as no contents of the basement were ruined from the mess, they just had to be all moved and stored for some time.

 

[Bert_]

Depends how bad it is. A small bow can be corrected by running threaded rod through the wall into an anchor set underground in the yard.

If it's too bad I would think it would need to be dug up on the outside.

Long unsupported block walls like they often built in the 50's and 60's are a common failure around here. There are people that make a living by fixing them. My opinion is they should have had an intersecting wall or filled columns to keep it from moving.