Bowing Basement Walls Are Anchored with Geo-Lock in Cedar Springs, MI

Monday, October 31st, 2016 by Elena Behrman

Challenge

The walls in this cinderblock basement had been slanting slightly over the years, and since this didn’t seem to cause any major problems in the home, the owners didn’t pay much attention to them. They carried on with their lives, passing daily through a doorway in the basement adjacent to one of the slanting walls. One day, the walls were brought back to their attention when Kevin and Jane could no longer shut the door in the basement that they frequently walked through.

This wall was no longer just slightly leaning, but was starting to severely bow. Gone unfixed, bowed walls can be a serious problem—these homeowners were lucky the wall hadn’t failed completely, making this repair a full-blown foundation overhaul.

Solution

Before seeking a solution, anyone with bowed walls will ask, “but what’s causing these walls to move?” It’s beneficial to understand the cause of this in order to understand the solution to fix the walls. In most cases, bowed walls are the result of hydrostatic pressure from the soil surrounding the foundation. As water saturates the soil, it expands, exerting pressure on the walls, and eventually they just can’t take it anymore. The walls then crack, bow, or crumble completely, causing leaks or total damage to the structure of the home they support.

Luckily for Kevin and Jane, and anyone else in a similar situation, Ayers has a solution that can help stabilize these walls over time. Since there was adequate space surrounding this home, allowing us to excavate, Geo-Lock wall anchors were best plan of action. These galvanized steel anchors are fixed into the soil away from the foundation wall, and connect to steel wall plates with a steel rod, providing an anchor for the walls. Once installed, the backfill soil is put back in its placed, hiding the rods below the ground.

These anchors are able to combat problem soils with their bearing surface of 480 square inches. Compared to many helical wall anchors that only have a surface of 43 square inches, Geo-Lock anchors provide 10 times more contact with the soil. Their ability to be tightened over time during dry periods not only allows for stabilization, but straightening of the walls as well.

With a trusted wall anchor system installed by experienced installation contractors, these homeowners can have peace of mind from now on, knowing that their basement walls will never be a concern.