Bowing Basement Walls Permanently Fixed in Evansville IN

Challenge

Seth, a homeowner in Evansville, had noticed that his block foundation wall along the back of his home was shifting out of plumb.  Previously, he had needed to correct the grade on that side to direct water away from his foundation and he was concerned that the prior water intrusion had compromised his foundation.  "It's a 26 apart. foot long foundation wall--it's not like I could leave it like it was and I certainly couldn't tear it down and start again, so I knew I needed to have someone with experience come in and tell me what needed to be done to fix it," Seth said.

There were two major challenges that Damon Cheatham faced in designing a repair for Seth's home:

1. The entire backyard had recently been regraded and re-landscaped, Seth was adament that his substantial investment there be left alone

2. There was more bowing at the bottom of the wall than the top, so wall needed stabilization and straightening

Solution

Damon designed a Geolock Wall Anchor system for the back wall of Seth's home.  He placed 4 wall anchors--two wall anchors would be installed 3 feet from the corners of the wall and then two more anchors just over 6 and a half feet apart.  The installation took 3 days and the installation team was able to dig small "potholes" in the backyard to install the earth anchors, which meant that Seth's landscaping was practically untouched by the construction.

Seth was shown how to use the tightening kit to gradually increase the tension on the foundation and straighten the wall over time.  When the soil around his foundation is more dry, he will tighten the wall anchor system. 

Project Summary

Project Manager: Damon Cheatham

Installation Foreman: Steven Joseph, Jr