leaking, bowing concrete block wall

[greg jablonski]

My home is a tri-level, so the basement is just about four feet below grade. The basement door opens to an exterior 6' x 6' poured slab with a 9" floor drain. The slab is surrounded by cinder block wall on two sides and a poured concrete stair with seven steps on the third side. The basement wall of the house is cinder block. The area outside the cinder block walls was paved iwth concrete which cracked and settled, directing drainage from rain and snowmelt between the stairway and the walls, to that floor drain. This problem was intensified since my neighbor, just before selling and moving away, added 4" of soil to his backyard and then re-sodded, flooding my yard. The 10' long by 5' high cinder block wall opposite the door has cracked and bowed, and chunks of the lowest blocks have fallen out. I removed all the old concrete, re-graded the clay soil away from the house 1" per 6 feet, and installed brick pavers over 4 inches of stone dust and 6 inches of limestone 'gravel'. But the cinder block drainage continues to flow to the floor drain, and the wall continues to deteriorate. What are the possible/likely solutions? Thanks!

[TJ1962]

Cinder blocks were banned from use for below grade applications over 20 years ago. The blocks of crushed cinder were a by-product of coal and soaked up water like a sponge.

To solve the deterioration situation is not an easy solution. Grouting of wall could add to the life of blocks. A new foundation wall could be built in front of existing wall or you could have foundation wall removed and replaced.

The most economical solution would be installing and interior waterproofing system and grouting of wall with cutting in steel rods. You can also use carbon fiber reinforcement.