Foundation Repair Photo Album: Repairing a Bowing Block Wall in Cedar Springs, MI

Our customer called with bowed block walls in his basement. One of the walls was so bad, he said, that he actually couldn't shut the basement door anymore. Bowed walls aren't just inconvenient, they're dangerous. A wall can only take so much pressure from the soil outside and the weight of the house above it before it collapses entirely. We used wall anchors to stabilize the bowing walls and, over time, hopefully straighten them to their original position.

Bowing Wall Threatens Pipes in Basement

In addition to making the home unstable, a bowing wall can break pipes and other fixtures in the basement. As shown here, the wall is already pushing on this pipe - how much longer before it breaks completely?

Horizontal Crack in Bowing Wall

Bowing block walls are particularly easy to spot, because the mortar between the blocks simply dislodges, showing the bow point.

DIY Attempts Show Longevity of Problem

The orange substance you can see at a crack in the wall is some sort of DIY crack filler - likely either because of the bowing causing a crack, or because water was leaking in. This kind of solution isn't a solution at all, as these problems only get worse.

Wall Anchors Provide a Permanent Solution

Instead of gluing together a cracked wall, wall anchors will provide a permanent solution to not only stabilizing the wall, but straightening it.

Wall Anchors Secured in Soil

We secure the wall anchors a distance from the house in undisturbed soil, which gives more stability and allows for tightening and straightening.

Closeup of Wall Anchor

The bolt in the middle of the plate is connected to the anchor line, which is secured outside.

Wall Anchors Stabilize Bowing Wall in Cedar Springs, MI

This wall is probably close to caving in completely, given how severely the entire wall is bowing.

Wall Anchors Straighten Bowing Wall

The first order of business in wall anchor installation is stabilizing the wall and preventing further bowing. After that, we can use a tightening kit to gradually tighten the anchor line and hopefully straighten the wall.