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I’ve got a detached garage where one wall is bowed in severely – 4+”. The wall is concrete block and is pushed in by the dirt – that side of the garage is set into the ground a depth of about 3-4’. Digging it out & rebuilding the wall I’m guessing would cost $1000 or more. I’m looking for a less expensive fix. This is investment property, so it’s not worth too much effort – although the garage is otherwise fairly sound, if a fix is cost prohibitive, I’ll likely have the whole thing demolished.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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j... that force is substantial.. so digging it out and rebuilding it will be the best & cheapest...
but $1K is cheap compared to the cost of a new garage.. what can you get by renting the garage out?
*If I had a garage wall bowed a measly 4" in rental property, I wouldn't do squat.If I wanted to fix it I'd go rent a mini excavator for under $200 a day and play with it. So, plan to spend a good part of the day picking up the machine and digging the earth out. Return the machine. then make your repairs, and decide on a way to keep it from happening again, and if you had to pour something, wait a few weeks before you backfill, which you could do by hand or with a small bobcat at $150/day.how long has this problem been developing?
*If you tear it down you might lose "grandfather rights" to have a garage in that location. On the other hand by just hoping the wall stays upright could prove more expensive than 1K. If it falls and hurts your tennant...then this thread would be a slam-dunk win for their lawyer. I vote for repair since it is not my money.
*I've repaired a number of 8' high concrete block basement walls that were bowed inward by expansive soils by pulling them back into position, of course a trench must still be dug. Hand dig narrow trench alongside wall down to footing if bowed that deep.Dig another narrow trench perpendicular to wall and as deep as center of bow. Weld 8"x8" steel plate to one end of 3/4" diameter x 8' steel rod. To other end of rod weld 2' of 3/4" threaded rod. Drill hole in block wall at center of bow if small bow (on 20' long wall I put in 4 wall pulls). From exterior shove threaded portion of rod through hole in wall so just enough thread inside building to put on 6"x6" plate steel "washer" and a nut. Lay this rod assembly in the perpendicular trench and backfill and tamp. Do not fill trench next to basement wall as it must be able to move. Go inside and start tightening nut on rod assembly. Is surprising how easy block wall will straighten and as long as there is weight on wall from building. The blocks pull back in one section and without displacing. Leave rod assembly and washers and nut in place. Backfill with material that will drain thoroughly. Is labor intensive. Took me two days to straighten one 8'x20' wall - obviously digging is roughest. Certainly was much much less expensive than raising and supporting home,removing bowed wall and replacing. Just some thoughts. Randy
*Thanks for suggestions - I'm still weighing out the options. I agree w/ the liability issue - I'm either tearing it down or fixing it.Randy, I like your idea, the only catch is I'm not sure the wall will hold itself together enough. If I pull one spot in, I'm afraid the one block will stay put and others around it will start to slide past. I may have to spread out the load w/ a bigger plate or something like that. I think the mortar joints are sufficiently cracked that the blocks may start to behave more like a stack w/o mortar at all.I think a drain along that footer before backfilling would also help to make it last a lot longer.