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basement walls leaning in

bearcatdgo | Posted in Construction Techniques on December 28, 2006 06:54am

what is the best way to fix a concrete exterior basement wall that is leaning in?

or what is the best way to prevent them from leaning in more?

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Replies

  1. DougU | Dec 28, 2006 07:37am | #1

    I'm probably not the guy to answer this but until some one with more knowledge comes along.........

    How old of a place you have?

    Any other info you can provide would  be helpful.

    Doug

     

  2. alwaysoverbudget | Dec 28, 2006 07:48am | #2

    around here in ks ,you go in and bore a 6" hole in the floor right up against the wall that is leaning.then they insert a 6" beam 8' long.the top of beam is  then hydraulicly push to level taking the wall with it. the a 2x12 is nailed to the floor joist to hold the shoring in place. this is done about every 6' along the wall. looks bad ,but will keep wall from coming in. larry

    hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.

  3. dovetail97128 | Dec 28, 2006 09:04am | #3

    First find out what is causing the lean, then work on a solution. As a child our house's basement wall literally blew in one summer during a heavy rain storm. Neighbors up the street (two different homes) had the same problem, one house neded up in it's basement.
    It turned out that prior to the homes being built (1912) the area had been a vineyard and been drain tiled with collection boxes were outside each of our homes basement walls. Tiles still collected water after 50 yrs. and the collected water had no where to go so the hydrostatic pressure blew the walls of the basements in.
    Solution was to dig down to footing level outside the house and install drain lines to the city sewer, add rock up to within 18" of finish grade and then dirt. I still can feel the buckets of wet clay being passed up the ladder from the dig for me to carry away.
    I saw the same thing here where I now live in Or. not more than 10 yrs. ago.

  4. User avater
    BillHartmann | Dec 28, 2006 09:13am | #4

    What is the foundation made of? Are the walls cracked horizontally?

    Often caused by improper control of ground water. But could have been caused by soil problems. Or by improper backfilling.

    There are two common methods to stablize the walls.

    One is to install vertical beams that are trapped at the bottom by grouting into the floor and at the top by crossmembers attached to the floor joist.

    The other method is to drill through the walls and install a screw anchors out in the yard.

    About 3 to 5 years ago JLC had an article on each of those methods.

    .
    .
    Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
  5. Piffin | Dec 28, 2006 01:04pm | #5

    There are lots of ways but they all depend on what conditions are.

    So, how old is this? Did you pour yesterday or is there a house built on it? Has it always been leaning? How much? Is it getting worse?
    Is it leaning in at top or bottom?
    Is it cracked?
    Is it fastened at the sill at top with anchor bolts?
    What are the exterior soil and water conditions?

    See, I am really ignorant of what you have. It could be this was pou5red with a lean and you would do serious damage trying to fix a problem that ain't, or trying to use the wrong method or putting on a band-aid instead of fixing the real problem.

    So say something that describes the problem and scenario. Shooting blindly will get somebody hurt.

     

     

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    1. bearcatdgo | Dec 29, 2006 02:07am | #6

      its in central missouri. house is 100 years old with crawlspace that is fine. addition has basement that is leaning, approx. 50 years old. it appears to me every house in the area has this problem in various stages. no significant cracking. i think its all just ground pressure and water pressure. thanks

      1. Piffin | Dec 29, 2006 03:16pm | #7

        It sounds likethe only problem is cosmetic, unless it is getting worse since there is no cracking - how much lean in what distance?I would probably regrade to be sure ground water is shedding away from the foundation and call it good.but re-read my fist list. seems you've answer only about a third of the questions so I'm still blind in one eye. 

         

        Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

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