Garage wall is bowing outward

[preconnect]

I have a brick attached two car garage. The rear wall of my garage is bowing out significantly. I have about a 1 1/2 to 2 inch gap between the cement garage floor and rear wall. Just recently I had 6 Helical Piers installed, the company claimed my wall was tilting outward. After 8500 dollars the bow is still there, but the company said it shouldn't bow anymore. I am still very concerned as I feel this wall is going to continue to bow outward. In one corner where there is a access door the bottom four courses of brick are all loose. Any suggestions on this?

 

[kd3pc]

pictures please.

what compelled you to do the piers?? and where were they installed?

with this one can help..

 

[6768rogues]

I have seen quite a few bowed garage rear walls from people pulling in and bumping into the wall with a car. Often wood framed walls are knocked completely off the foundation.

 

[Jeepster04]

Wow! $8500 to address the issue? I assume they placed concrete piles under this section? So they must have thought the foundation was settling? Cracking in the brick?

Do you have truss' or is this a rafter/ceiling joint design? Ive seen a wall bow out do to lack of ceiling joints keeping the rafters from pushing the wall out.

 

[ford33]

Difficult to help without pictures.

 

[rburke65]

Wow....that looks terrible!

 

[preconnect]

The first picture is from inside the garage, showing the gap between my garage floor and the wall. This gap runs from one end of the floor to the other, I can stick a rod down the gap about 5 feet.

The second picture is the corner of the garage where the brick is seperating, the wall on the back right corner is the house wall.

The third picture is where the garage meets the house. I have the piece of wood and block there because there is a large gap between the garage foundation and house foundation. Mice seem to love that space.
Again I had the piers installed because I was told my wall was rolling or tilting outward. There were six piers installed, 3 along the garage wall, and then 3 going down about 12 feet on the house wall. I was told they couldn't just lift the garage because this would cause the brick to separate where it meets the house. The company attempted to push the wall back into place with a bobcat with no success. Hence I still have the open gap in my garage along the back wall, which I have have now filled with backer rod and caulked. I was told by the company that my wall shouldnt bow out anymore than it is.
On top of this, the company piled clay about three feet high against my foundation saying that they couldnt get it all back in, and that over time it will settle.

 

[preconnect]

This is my finished product.....My question is....will the jacks take care of future pushing out of my wall, or should I consider further remedies? Thanks in advance!!
The piers were installed as follows.....3 spaced on the wall from the gas meter to where the garage wall comes out. 3 spaces from under the door down to the about the middle of the garage wall.

 

[Toomanytools?]

That's not good, did you have a structural Engineer look at that? Seems obvious your foundation/footings are settling. If done right the helical screw piers can help keep things moving any further, they need to go pretty deep in some cases. Pushing things back with a skid steer isn't the answer with a brick house. Not sure what part of the world you are in. You should get that dirt minimum 6" below the last brick and slope it away from the house so you don't have issues with water.

 

[garage rookie]

My humble opinion, you have problems under the slab going on. Settling of the ground(may not have been compacted enough or the right way). I believe this would cause your wall bowing, nothing to support it. The piers deal is just a band-aid in my opinion. You probably are gonna have to excavate the garage floor as you stated you could push a rod 5ft down that separation between the wall and floor. As for the dirt piled up against the house, you're gonna have to move it. When it rains, water will most likely hit the side of the house and not be able to drain away causing more problems. I'm just observing what I see. Good luck. Oops, look like someone can type faster than I can. I agree with Toomanytools.

 

[Jeepster04]

Dang, it hurts to look at that. There is no way for us to say for certain that the wall will continue to rotate or not. If they did their job correctly then it will not rotate anymore. Was that their exact wording? "It shouldnt bow out anymore?" Thats a little scary that they said 'shouldnt.'

You need to get all of those cracks sealed up to keep water from getting to the wall. More so along that door.

Sounds like you may have settlement under your garage slab? A company can drill holes in the slab and fill the void under the slab. 5' is a lot.....

Good luck

 

[66cj225]

Install a new bigger garage on the 6 piers!!

 

[preconnect]

This is in southeast Michigan, hard clay soil. I apologize in advance for all the photos, just trying to let you know what it going on. I certainly appreciate all the input.

In these picture I excavated where the garage meets the house. As you can see they filled the void between the two foundations with spray in foam. As far as the garage slab , there is no settlement in that.
Anyways the input has been appreciated.

 

[PAToyota]

Was the garage added to the house? Or were they built together? Do you have the construction drawings for the house/garage?

Trying to assess the situation over the internet isn't going to do much good. You need someone with experience to assess it in person.

Did the helical pier people have a structural engineer look at it? What are the piers attached to?

Just guessing, I'd say that it started as a settlement issue - or a sinkhole forming - along with lack of adequate reinforcing in the foundation.

 

[garagelogician]

How deep were the piers installed? Have you had a structural or geotechnical engineer take a look? The problem with clay soils is that they will often continue to compress over time, even with adequate compaction. Without knowing how deep the piers were installed, it is hard to say if it will continue to rotate or not.

I would get that soil spread out and away from the building as soon as possible. The fact that they left it that way (not to mention trying to push the wall back with a skid steer) makes me question their workmanship and knowledge.

 

[preconnect]

They used a 10/12 7’ lead and one 7’ extension to meet pressures, drilled to 1400psi with a 1300psi differential. used pier tech helical piers.

As far as the dirt I am in the process of moving it away from the house. I too question their workmanship, hence the reason I am asking questions here. I am currently in the process of trying to find a Structural Engineer in S.E Michigan.

The garage was built at the same time as the house. Built in 1996 I bought about 5 years ago.
The Piers were attached to the base of the foundation

 

[garagelogician]

They used a 10/12 7’ lead and one 7’ extension to meet pressures, drilled to 1400psi with a 1300psi differential. used pier tech helical piers.

As far as the dirt I am in the process of moving it away from the house. I too question their workmanship, hence the reason I am asking questions here. I am currently in the process of trying to find a Structural Engineer in S.E Michigan.

The garage was built at the same time as the house. Built in 1996 I bought about 5 years ago.
The Piers were attached to the base of the foundation

Try to find a consulting company that does geotechnical work as well. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[ard]

IMO the time to consult with a structural engineer is BEFORE you hired a firm to 'fix' it.

1. Identify the problem, not symptoms- but the CAUSE of the problem

2. Engineer a fix. Not "we can drill 6 helicoil piers to help stabilize the wall for $8500". That contractor may have done precisely what you contracted him to do- and you still have issues. Dont know, just saying.

3. Once the engineer has provides a written documnent, identifyin the issues and the proposed (engineered) fix, THEN you get that bid- and do it. If it doesnt fix it, the engineer is responsible.

I know paying someone to 'push paper' seems a waste. $5k for services that doesnt fix anything, seems a lot. (Just spitballing numbers)

Im hoping member ssdave stops by, will have some good input.

You might also ask for recommendations, put your location ("SE Michigan") in yourprofile, BTW

 

[kbs2244]

IMHO, The Helical Piers have reinforced the fault.
They have a good history behind them in bad ground new built homes around here.

But the will not "fix" an existing problem by them selves.
At the most, they will provide for continuing procedures.
They should have been used prior to the original construction.

 

[preconnect]

Obviously in retrospect I wish I would have hired a Engineer in the first place. I suppose I didn't realize the depth of the situation....With that being said I appreciate all the input. Many thanks