Bowed Basement Walls-Kevlar fix?

[timb]

I believe I've mentioned our wet basement before. We are still working on the upper stories but I'm also starting to look at addressing some of the water problems.

A 65-pint dehumidifier is making a dent but is running 24x7 to do it. All of the walls were skim-coated a long time ago with some type of cement. Of course that's now cracked and flaking off the glazed terracotta block walls. I thought my next step would be some judicious replacement of cracked morter with hydraulic plug. (Project-wise I can't do anything about the outside and adding french drains for a while yet)

One long wall has a fairly noticable bow to it. A little more 'helping' to pop the cement skimcoat off - and I discover I don't have cracked morter on the bowed wall - the morter is just plain missing in many areas! [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img] I'm looking at damp dirt coming straight thru from the outside. (This wall has a long upsloap outside - most of the water pressure is coming at this wall.)

I wasn't going to worry too much about the bow before - but now that I see the true condition of the wall it will need to be corrected eventually (and probably sooner than later).

I've not heard too much positive about the long-term reliability of traditional anchors. Doing a little research I've found some companies that apply kevlar/carbor fiber skins to the bowed (convex) side of walls. Since the skin band does not stretch (great tensile strength) - it is supposed to pretty much freeze any additional wall movement. Water control is a separate issue to deal with once the wall is stable. Anyone have any experience with this type of bowed-wall correction - or any other type of stressed-skin corrective action?

Tim

[BrianP]

This sounds like a scary situation. I would have an engineer look at it. I wouldn't trust a band aid solution without objective, expert advice.

If this is a block wall it could suffer catastrophic failure without much warning, which could seriously damage your house and maybe even kill somebody. I've seen a house where the block wall 'just caved in'. Its an amazing sight. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

You are going to have to fix it eventually anyway - I would put top priority on this. Good luck.

[Stoneheartfarm]

Haven't run across that one yet. My suggestion would be to get to a professional cement place that manufactures and sells concrete blocks, tubes, cement, etc. Ask them who they consider to be the best cement contractors in the area. (Not just the busiest). And have someone who does it all the time take a look. A crumbing foundation is a project so far beyond my skill level that I wouldn't even think to attempt it alone.

Steve

[beenthere]

timb
Just play the music soft and slow. Your wall is caving in, slowly but surely. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Had the same problem with my father-in-laws house. He messed with a lot of 'fixes' that were only temporary, and the wall finally fell into the basement. Had the wall replaced, but didn't do anything about the water pressure on the outside, and the same thing started to cave in the new wall. Each spring he would fill in the cracks. He passed away and the house was sold (given away), and the new owners had a plan to fix the outside problem.

Nothing short of removing the pressure from the outside will help (IMO). Kevlar fix is a good place to spend your money, but can't imagine it holding that wall in a 'permanent' position. Good drainage of surface water and drainage of the water from the hill before it gets to your foundation wall is necessary. No point in delaying the inevitable. Sorry for the bad news (but I think you know what needs or has to be done) [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] .

[egon]

Best be listenin to Beenthere. And act quickly. And make sure to get proffesional advice.

Egon

[timb]

Wellll... I do need to get this 'addressed' - whether that means frozen as is, repaired, or replaced. Not sure how close the doomsday clock is - far as anyone can remember this wall has been bowed some (at least 20-30 years without much if any visible change). You can get a feel for the movement based on how damaged the concrete skin coat is - and it's been there for over 20 years. Maybe well over.

My 'engineering' career shifted to software early on so I'm just seat-of-the-pants here but the principle of a stressed skin is sound. The web sites example cases show walls that make mine look brand new. Whether that or a similar approach will work with the terracotta block is another question. But this isn't likely something I'm going to be able to walk down to a neighbor and see it in action.

One of the big obsticles is this is the 'old' farmhouse on the property and we're only planning to be in it for at most five years while we build. However, I don't plan on tearing down this structure and I do want to stabilize it. I'm taking care of a lot of issues upstairs (where I'm far more comfortable with the needed carpentry, electrical, and hvac work) for the same reason. Wife just won't let her grandparents place deteriorate. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Tim

[Pat]

Timb, Of course snake oil adds point to miraculous cures. Working on the outside is a better bet than inside except for adding an internal wall at right angles to caving one to prop it.

You don't have to dig out the wall to the foundation with the attendant risks of working with HD equipment next to the caving wall. If you have enough slope available you can dig an intercepting trench a few feet from the wall. Place a French drain in the bottom of the trench and drain it to daylight. Next best is to use a sump pump to pump out the water collected by the intercepting trench. This will remove the static "head" of pressure against the wall. You will still need to ensure the structural integrity of the wall.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]