Madisonville, KY Bowing Foundation Wall Repaired

Challenge

Madisonville, KY, like most areas in Hopkins County, is generally a temperate and beautiful place to live.  Lovely landscaping, humidity, and mild winters are all part of living here.  The homeowners for this Madisonville home love their neighborhood and their home.  "We don't ever want to move, I love the winters here--especially after living through winters in college with lots of cold and snow that just stuck forever.  I'm happy we live here," said Mrs. J.

The only problem that they have experienced with the home is a foundation wall that was bowing inward after the last summer.  "The wall is definitely wavy and sort of bulgey in the middle.  I just thought that it can't be okay to leave it that way," she said.

They decided to have the problem repaired, but were concerned about the existing sidewalk on the exterior of the home on that side.  The sidewalk is perfect for their daughter to ride her tricycle around and they wanted to keep it intact.

Solution

Damon Cheatham with Healthy Spaces came out to provide a full evaluation of the home and determine the best course of action for these Madisonville homeowners.  After hearing about the sidewalk, they agreed that the best course of action would be to install 7 Geolock wall anchors along the wall and gradually straighten the bowing with seasonal tightening, rather than a disruptive trenching and immediate straightening.

The installation crew arrived bright and early and began augering out holes for the wall anchors.  One anchor needed to be placed closer to the sidewalk, so the team dug that hole using a handheld auger to insure that the concrete sidewalk would not be disrupted.  After installing the wall anchor faceplates on the interior of the basement, the wall anchor rods were hydraulically driven into the wall and through it out into the side yard.  The earth anchors were then placed in the holes and tightened to the anchor rods to provide resistance.  The resistance will help straighten the wall as temperatures and groundwater fluctuate seasonally.

Project Summary

Owner: Tim Runyon

Project Manager: Damon Cheatham

Project Foreman: Daniel Steele