Saving Crumbling Walls - New Pour vs. Shotcrete

It’s easy to stabilize a cracked or bowing wall, but what do you do when your basement walls start crumbling around you? Maybe you live in an old farmhouse with a beautiful but problematic fieldstone basement, or maybe what started as a tiny crack escaped attention until the concrete around it was falling apart. No matter the circumstance, walls falling apart is one of the biggest, scariest, most difficult problems you can encounter and you absolutely can’t fix it alone. Luckily, we’re here to help.

 

When walls have reached the point of falling apart, you used to have one option - re-pour new concrete walls. But with Ayers, you can avoid the logistical and financial stress of a new pour and use Shotcrete to spray new walls right in place. Let’s go over the differences.

 

Convenience

 

New Pour: In order to pour new walls, you need open access to the foundation and to remove the old walls. This is exactly as complicated as it sounds. You can have your home lifted off the foundation entirely or one section at a time, but either way you have to move out for the entirety of the project. 

 

You also risk the safety of your home itself, as the stress of lifting it can compromise walls and internal structures.

 

Shotcrete: You’re welcome to stay in your home. It will be a little loud on the day(s) we spray the new walls, sorry.

 

Due to the thickness of the new walls, you’ll also lose a little bit of space in the basement - about 35 square feet for every 1000 square feet of basement.

 

Time

 

New Pour: A lift/new pour can take anywhere from a few weeks to a month or more, depending on the size of your home, weather conditions, and the thousand other factors that rear their heads in any major construction project. Remember, you aren’t living there during this - hope you like your in-laws!

 

Shotcrete: Depending on the size of your basement, framing and spraying curing will each take 1-2 days. If your basement is thousands of square feet, add a day or two to each phase.

 

Expense

 

New Pour: Estimates for a lift and replacement foundation pour range from $20,000 to $100,000. That’s quite a range. It’s all based on the size of your home and difficulty of the lift and assumes no issues encountered - this is the minimum you’ll pay, and doesn’t include the cost of alternative living arrangements and all of the little things - like relying on takeout or having a longer commute to work - that add up.

 

Shotcrete: Shotcrete is priced by the square foot - easy at that. Nothing hidden, no contingencies for the lift damaging your house, no paying for a hotel. 

 

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Do you want to move out of your home for an unknown amount of time while it hangs from a crane and risk damage and immense cost, or do you want to put up with a few days of moderate noise? The choice is yours. Call us to ask about shotcrete and schedule your free inspection.