Foundation Repair Case Studies: Joe V. in Dover, DE - Bowing basement wall
Challenge
This Kent County home had several large cracks in the basement wall. The wall was bowing pretty severely and the homeowner was afraid that it might collapse. The biggest challenge is this job was the time of year. Foundation jobs typically involve some some of digging into the ground. This means that doing a lot of digging in January is a difficult task since the ground is frozen. The inspector knew it would be difficult to fix this wall, but the homeowner was thrilled to know that it would cost a fraction of totally replacing the wall.
Solution
The solution to a bowing wall can consist of few different products. For this case, the right solution was GeoLock Wall Anchors. Based on the length of the wall and severity of the problem, five wall anchors were needed. The crew dug five holes several feet from the basement wall in the hard and frozen ground. The GeoLock Wall Anchors are essentially made up of three elements, the wall plate, the earth plate, and the rod to connect both plates. The five holes that were dug in the yard correspond to five small holes drilled in the basement wall. A long rod is pushed from the interior of the basement to the hole outside, no ground in between the home and the hole is disturbed. This most common question people have concerns the "trench" from home to earth plate. There is no trench, we want to use the undisturbed earth to hold the weight of that wall. Once the connecting rod pokes out of the hole in the yard, the crew places an earth plate on and tightens that end. The crew member inside then places the inside wall plate on the other end and begins to tighten the entire system. The process of installing a wall anchor system is a lot like fixing a child's teeth with braces. DryZone only recommends adjusting them at a slow and steady pace. It is important not to over tighten the anchors and possibly do more damage than good.
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