Foundation Repair Photo Album: Wall Anchors Save Collapsing Workshop in Traverse City, MI

Our customer called with an out-building - a workshop, to be exact - that was collapsing. The block walls had shifted an estimated 6 inches over the years he'd owned the home, with visible cracks inside and out. He had plans to sell the home within the next year and struggled with the cost of the repair vs. the cost of getting a lower asking price due to the condition of the workshop. He eventually decided to get the work done, and we installed ten GeoLock wall anchors with extensions to make sure the walls were stabilized and secure. Now the workshop is usable while he lives there, and the sale process will be much smoother without the headache of explaining the collapsing building to prospective buyers.

Stairstep Crack Indicates Bowing Wall

We could ask someone to draw us a wall with a stairstep crack and not get a better picture than this. Block walls that are leaning tend to get cracks in this stairstep pattern, where poured walls get horizontal cracks.

Level Shows Severity of Bowing Wall Problem

To measure the bow and also to give our customers a better visual on what's happening, we use levels and laser measure tapes to measure the lean of a wall.

Block Wall Falling Apart

One of the scariest things about bowing block walls is that they can just...fall apart. Where a poured wall is one large piece, block walls are made of multiple blocks mortared together. Enough pressure will break the bonds between them.

Cracked Blocks in Bowing Wall

Not only can blocks separate from each other, they can completely break apart. The further reduces the stability of the wall.

Multiple Stairstep Cracks in Wall

Doesn't that middle section look like it's just going to pop out like a Jenga piece?

Wall Anchor Installation in Progress

Cables attached to the wall anchors are secured in the soil to pull the walls straight and prevent further bowing.

Wall Anchor Brace Extensions Ensure Security

Extended brackets were used here due to the widespread nature of the bowing.

Wall Anchors Secured Away From House

The fact that the walls are bowing in the first place means the soil around the home is shifting somewhere. That would make it silly to secure the wall anchors in that same shifting soil. We take the system all the way out to stable soil and secure the anchors there.