block basement wall bowed
my basement wall is bowed in approx 3 inches due to poor abutting driveway install
i have removed the abutting section of cement but i need ideas to stabilize this wall
thanks
block basement wall bowed
my basement wall is bowed in approx 3 inches due to poor abutting driveway install
i have removed the abutting section of cement but i need ideas to stabilize this wall
thanks
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Replies
not too much you can do about it now, I would suggest starting by monitoring. If it's out that much, there should be cracks. If the cracks are growing you still have an issue, otherwise, unless it starts leaking ...
wall seems to be stable but am worried about freeze thaw this winter also im installing a french drain to carry water away
Which way do the joists above go? Parallel or perpendicular to bowed wall?
If perpendicular, You could install a steel beam, pinned to the floor and anchored to the side of the joist above. This would transfer the horizontal load on the wall to the floors above and below. Space between block wall and vertical beam would have to be grouted.
If parallel, similar condition except solid blocking has to be installed at line of beam.
You can install beams parallel to the joist. You just need to add some cross bracing to transfer the load to several joists.Here is an article in JLC about installing support beams.http://tinyurl.com/4k35df.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
thanks for the article. the bow is only about 1 to 2 inches and the abuttingdriveway slab has moved that much also .the bow is centered at this intersection. with this issue remideed how do you think a 2x6 p.t. wall on 16 inch centers tied to the floor slab and the above floor joists be sufficient to stabilize things?
Edited 6/30/2008 2:23 pm ET by padrich43
I really don't have any idea of what is needed to hold such a wall..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I know that foundation repair guys would excavate the outside of the wall and pull it into place. I think they use the excavator to pull with. Then they knock holes in a row of blocks, and fish rebar in and pump the cores full of grout.
I've got the same thing going in one place in my 90 year old house. My hillbilly plan is to take a posthole digger and excavate a narrow trench next to the wall. Then I am going to go inside with some timbers and push it into place. I'm thinking of holding it there with some vertical pilasters--maybe 8x8's anchored to the floor and the floor joists. Course the bottom of the wall isn't particularily deep--maybe 4 feet. That's next summers project.
Typically the wall is being pushed in by expansive clay.
Dig down and remove the clay. Push the wall back with push braces from inside. Waterproof the wall. Backfill with sand. Put a clay cap. Drain water away from the house.
What kind of soil are you in?
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
heavy clay soil in south western ontario canada
also the abutting driveway is graded towards house at present but is being
corrected this weekend
You need relief from the hydrostatic pressure of the clay and water. The long term solution is adding that sand buffer. Proper grading might be enough to slow it down but it's hard to say. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
The first house I built for myself in Ontario almost 35 years ago also had a basement wall bowing in. I had laid the blocks and on the long wall at the back of the house I think I should have put in a pilaster but didn't. After a couple of years the wall was just slightly bowed in towards the inside and I was definitely not going to dig out along the entire basement wall. I put in a couple of knee walls at one third intervals, made of block and the house is still standing.
I don't know whether the bowing would have got worse but I wasn't going to take the chance and the block walls were easy to do in an empty basement.
roger