Expert Basement Repair

Take a good look and click on the picture for this article. This is a red clay downspout pipe. This is the type of pipe which was used for downspout and foundation drainage around a home foundation up until the mid 70's or so. Plastic pipe was phased in afterwards. This type of clay pipe once used for outside drainage generally had a lifespan of around 40 years. After 40 years this type of material has a tendency to crack and become brittle, clog with dirt, crush or even come apart. This is the main reason why so many homes older than 35-40 years start to experience wet basements and wall cracking. This drainage system fails and water begins to accumulate around the foundation. This water saturates the soil, the soil expands and creates enough hydrostatic pressure on your basement walls to start moving them inward...thus creating cracking, bowing, and water infiltration. As long as the downspout pipe lines above ground are still connected there are hundreds of gallons of water directed into the ground, alongside the foundation! To slow the water related damage often a homeowner will disconnect the downspout line from the gutter and direct the roof water out onto the lawn or driveway. This tends to slow the deterioration somewhat but is only a temporary solution. At this point you have two separate problems...structural damage/ movement and water infiltration.

If you address the water problem realize you have not addressed the structural issue. Once broken and cracked the wall has been weakened and often will continue to move inward...even if you dig up the outside and waterproof! Many waterproofing companies don't realize this.

The movement of the bowing walls caused by this issue can be stopped and stabilized without having to do any waterproofing at the same time. Of course the best case scenario is to dig up the perimeter, waterproof, straighten the wall and the stabilize the wall. Because most of us are not made out of money this option is really expensive and not always viable choice. Simply realize you can do these home foundation repairs in separate steps... but the cracked and bowing wall stabilization should be done first to prevent further wall movement deterioration.

1 First check out the outside corners of the home foundation. Look for a vertical crack about 1' from the corner. Look for the crack to be tuckpointed all the waydown. Even if the tuckpointing mortar is the same color of the rest of the wallthere should be no crack here. A crack in this location indicates the wall has snapped and has moved inward.

2 Inside the basement look for signs that new tuckpointing has been done on thewalls. New tuckpointing always means the walls have cracked and been patched. Look for extra wide mortar joints ...which mean the wall had come in a lot and have been tuckpointed to hide the movement. Fresh paint can't hide an extra widemortar joint.

3 Look for signs that the floor tiles were or are loose. Leaking walls and waterproblems will pop the tiles loose and destroy them over time. Sometimes the perimeter tiles are replace to make a decorative band around the room. Be suspicious when you see this.

4 If the walls are covered try to look at the wall through the electric service box or gas service shut off line area or look in the utility room. Look for horizontal cracks or water stains at the bottom of the wall. Also look for white discoloration of wall paneling at the bottom or along the board seams. Broken and cracked basement walls are bad news, generally requiring a lot of money to fix them properly. Sometimes unscrupulous homesellers will hide foundation problems and not disclose any problems. They are hoping you won't discover any problems until they are long gone. It's in your best interest to learn all you can about some of these hidden basement problems. If in doubt bring in a basement expert! If you are in the greater Cleveland, Ohio region...bring us in!

Expert Basement Repair now has 15 YEARS of carbon fiber installation experience. Over the years we've installed every brand of carbon fiber on the market. Here's some helpful information regarding this fantastic product:

Carbon fiber is strands of fiber made originally from Nylon fiber, then baked to 3000 degrees to change its chemical form to become a much stronger compound...carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is exceptionally strong for its size and weight. When the strands of carbon are woven or placed parallel with each other, they become exponentially stronger than many other materials. Fortress carbon fiber, with a cross weave of Kevlar, has been tested to be 10 times stronger than steel in a tension application, meaning being pushed, not compressed. The picture on the right shows Fortress carbon fiber being installed.

Carbon fiber will not stretch and when it is bonded to a bare or properly prepared concrete surface and it will not delaminate or stretch once bonded to the wall or surface. When tested to failure Fortress carbon fiber endured a force ten times normally generated on a basement wall. See this video of the actual testing.  http://expertbasementrepair.com/carbon-fiber-structural-integrity-video

Carbon fiber composites are as high-tech as you can get today. The new Dreamliner aircraft, space shuttles, boat masts, racing bicycles, racing cars, bullet-proof vests are all made from this modern day miracle composite. Carbon fiber is frequently used for repairs to concrete bridges and commercial and industrial concrete structures. Carbon fiber has been used for more than 15 years by industry and recently has moved into residential repair and stabilization as the production costs have diminished.

Fortress carbon fiber products now routinely replace Steel I beams, wall anchors, and grip-tite anchors for most cement block basement wall repairs. The advantages of carbon fiber over these older technologies is well documented...just ask any structural engineer.

A cracked and bowing basement wall is a real potential problem most of the time. This is an indication of a poor drainage issue with soil conditions outside the wall. If the condition is not corrected the wall will usually continue to crack and bow and move inward over time. The amount of time will vary greatly depending upon a variety of site conditions.

The following is additional information on most of the methods available to stabilize your wall and the average costs associated with them. Fortress carbon fiber stabilization does not require outside excavation to releive wall pressure:

To be clear, we are talking about cement block walls. You must be sure the wall is being pushed inward and not settling. This inward movement generally results in a horizontal crack along the entire wall with stairstep cracking at the corners, and sometimes stair steeping on the adjacent walls. Vertical cracking from floor to ceiling, especially on two adjacent walls is usually settlement...where the foundation is allowing the wall to sink and settle. Carbon fiber is not designed to stabilize wall and foundation settlement. Proper failure analysis is critical for any successful long term repair.

Traditional wall stabilization almost always involved the installation of STEEL BEAMS. These beams were often bolted to the floor or set into the floor and cemented in place. They were then attached at the the top of the wall and then attachted to the floor joists with framing. Be aware that not all size steel beams are strong enough to withstand hydrostatic soil pressure loads and sometimes undersized beams are installed to save the contractor money.  With steel beams installed in your home you can expect to have a much harder time selling your home later.

Rod and grout was the next method to come along. Steel rebar is inserted into the wall and then cemented into place along the length of the rods.

There are many skill and knowledge factors required for this work. The rods must be tied into the sill plate and extend below the floor. The grout has to be a specific mix. Rod positioning along the entire wall length is crucial. Simply sticking rebar in the wall and pumping in concrete does little for structural integrity if guidelines are not followed or understood.

Standard steel wall anchors are a steel rod which passes through your block wall and is anchored into the soil outside in the yard. The hole in your wall is then patched, a 20" steel plate is bolted to the rod and tightened with a torque wrench. ( required monthly for warranty )

Full wall anchors do the same thing as the anchors above but have a 6' wall length wall plate mounted on the wall with a nut which requires monthly tightening. Spacing is usually 6" apart but should be closer. You can't finish the walls when you have to tighten the anchor bolts monthly! The appearance of these anchors is almost as daunting as steel beams.

Carbon fiber fabric is the latest entry into the wall stabilization race. Tried, tested and proven to be 10 times stronger than steel beams. ( in tension )
Carbon fiber comes in three versions for basement walls. One version is a fabric mesh which is put on the walls as a large patch. Usually the patch is 2'-4' long and covers the center of the wall. Often these units DO NOT address the higher hydrostatic pressures developed at the bottom two blocks of the wall because they are not long enough. Spacing seems to vary on these. Long term adhesion to the wall has seen to be a problem in the Cleveland Ohio area with some companies. These patches also usually miss the top several rows of block, which is subject to frost breakage.

Carbon fiber plate is very strong, manufactured to withstand standard hydrostatic pressure but not differential movement / pressure as it is woven in one direction only. This product requires cleaning with Methyl Ethyl Keytone before installation. 4'spacing is standard. This extra heavy design often doesn't conform well to the bow and displacement of a bowed wall because it is so thick. It is also difficult to confirm 100% wall adheasion because you can't see if all the air voids have been removed after it is installed.  

Fortress carbon fiber strength far exceeds any ground / hydrostatic pressure that could ever be developed and is the most versatile of all the carbon products as it is woven with carbon and kevlar and is designed to address differential pressure movement as well as standard hydrostatic pressure. 4' spacing is standard. Structural adhesive epoxy bonds it too the wall and passes through its woven grid pattern to surround and encapsulate the entire strap. Any trapped air or voids can easily be visually identified and removed. There are no VOCs emmited with this product installation.

Because your concrete walls must be fully prepared by grinding before carbon fiber installtion EBR has chosen to utilize a Bosch HEPA VACUUM FILTRATION grinding system. This system will contain dust much better than an inexpensive shop vacuum. This is important if you have asthma, are concrened with dust being spread all over or need to keep your furnace running during the basement work.  

*  From an engineering design, performance and warranty point of view you must stabilize the entire wall length. Should you choose to have EBR perform your wall stabilization with Fortress carbon fiber you will always receive a double lifetime and transferable warranty! Contact us for more information. By the way...the owner is always on site for these installations!

    There are a few companies out there now promoting DIY carbon fiber installation kits. They make the process look really easy. I'm suggesting you give this a bit more thought before diving in.

   One example video for  DYI carbon fiber installation on the internet shows only a best possible case senario. The wall is barely cracked, any bowing is not apparent, and the wall has no paint to deal with! Gee that looks so easy!  

What will you do if you run into problems not addressed in the video...such as walls bowed more than an 1/2"? What if these are settlement cracks instead of hydrostatic pressure cracks? ( carbon fiber will not stabilize settlement problems ) How would you know? What if the walls are wet? What is the correct spacing for the block thickness, or is there any adjustment for backfill dirt height? What about reinforcing window openings?  What about shearing at the bottom?...or the top? What about top wall anchoring if the wall is slipping at the top? What if the walls are painted? Carbon fiber will not bond well to paint! How do you get the paint off the walls? What if it's lead paint? What about corner shearing ? Tuckpointing methods and materials? The epoxies used for this material set up quickly. You will not have a lot of time to waste installing it before it sets up. You must get it right the first time!

What kind of support are these people going to provide with their kit? What kind of warranty are you really getting...especially if you don't get it exactly right? What will they do for you if the wall fails later or you have delamination?

  The list goes on and on!   Do you think you have all the correct tools, know how and ability to install your own carbon fiber, and get it right so there won't be problems in the future? If so you are in the minority and I wish you the best of luck!  Sometimes trying to save some money can end up costing you a lot more than just money! Think about it. 20 years experience...or try it yourself? Carbon fiber, even at DYI pricing is really expensive...if you don't get it right.