Walls – Basement foundation wall repair

foundationwalls

After we poured some concrete outside of our east wall, we noticed some cracks along the foundation wall. I guess due to the weight of the new foundation, the foundation wall crumbled. One of the cracks made its way to a window well. The horizontal crack is about 4 ft above the concrete.

I talked to a couple of contractors. One of them recommended carbon fiber fabric, which looks like band aids, and another one recommended steel beam foundation reinforcement. I read some negatives about steel beam foundation reinforcement. Due to the cost of anchors or piering, I have to rule them out.

The house is located in Denver, CO. which has a dry climate. It can get extremely cold. I also had some issues with rain water making its way to my basement. I hired a company to install a french drain inside to address the water problem. I also want to address this wall issue before it is too late. enter image description here

I am leaning towards band aids, but I am not 100% sure. Does anybody have any experience with this application? If so, what was the end result? We have quotes from a couple of contractors.

Edit: This picture shows the outside on the other side of the foundation wall.
Notice the window well on the lower left, which is on the other side of this crack.enter image description here

Best Answer

You may want to consider a third repair on how to repair block walls. It involves drilling an opening through the wall at a pre-determined angle and sinking a large all-thread rod with an expanding head (like a toggle bolt) into the soil. The expanded end anchors the rod making it rigid and un-moveable. The other end projects from the basement wall. It now has large heavy-duty washers installed followed by a hex nut. The nut is tightened until it forces the wall back to plum. The rods are spaced accordingly along the length of the damaged wall.

I can't attest to how well this option works (although it looks feasible), but it is another choice that may work for you.