Basement Questions and Answers  

Go Back   Basement Questions and Answers > For Her: Ask Rhonda Some Basement Questions > Repairing Bowed Walls

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1   IP: 216.135.43.73
Old 04-30-2006, 11:22 AM
judyludwig
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
bowing basement walls

My home was built in 1958 and the basement walls are bowing. I had a water system installed to take care of the water coming in the crack between the wall and the floor. I have asked a lot of questions and one person told me that the heavy stone on the exterior, is what is causing it to bow since at that time they did not add rods to the inside of the block wall for strength. Those peices of stone are heavy as teher are a few left over. The house has sunk about I/2 inch on front and back.
any ideas about the best way to fix it?
Reply With Quote
  #2   IP: 207.69.139.158
Old 05-01-2006, 01:47 PM
TJ1962 TJ1962 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 269
bowing basement walls

The important part of your description is that the house has sunk 1/2 inch.

When a house sinks the walls break and then the lateral load takes over. Therefore if you provide a fix for a bowing wall a failure could occur. Settlement/sinking and lateral load/bowing is a different scenario. I have seen entire foundations replaced and five years later bowing started again. Why? Because continued settlement allowed it to break again.

Heavy stone on exterior would not contribute to sinking, necessarily. A soils engineer could do soil borings to confirm settlement. Piers would then be required to correct settlement, then you could deal with bowing walls. Options for bowing walls include: tie backs, steel beams and carbon fiber reinforcement.

Search membership list for your area to find a contractor that handles structural repairs and foundation piering.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Water through the walls in basement Guest Foundation Waterproofing 1 11-17-2006 12:05 PM
Bowing Foundation Walls DJA Repairing Bowed Walls 1 06-13-2006 12:58 PM
bowing basement walls judyludwig Piering Foundation Repair 1 05-01-2006 01:47 PM
cracked and bowing walls stephrad Repairing Bowed Walls 1 02-20-2006 04:51 PM
bowing basement wall brandytu Repairing Bowed Walls 1 02-20-2006 04:45 PM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.