Many homes are in need of basement waterproofing and foundation repair. The amount of rainfall most areas receive puts a major amount of water around the foundation of basements and crawl spaces. Mix lots of rain and expansive soils and your home could experience cracked, tipping, sheering, or bowing foundation walls.
Wet basements and wet crawl spaces can cause problems like mold, wood rot and are a major attraction for termites. Another problem wet basements and crawl spaces face are bowing walls. Fixing a bowing wall in a basement or crawl space is a great investment to ensure further foundation problems won’t occur.
What Causes Bowing Walls?
There can be many causes to a bowing wall. Hydro-static pressure from the surrounding soil and water intrusion seem to be the most common causes of bowing walls. Many areas are full of clay and and other types of expansive soils. Water cannot move through clay soil easily and expands to create pressure on your home’s foundation.
When it rains gutters and downspouts along with improper sloping of areas around the foundation will pool water. All that pooled water is trying to leach into the soil. Over time the foundation drains become clogged so they won’t move water away as intended. All this leads to the path of least resistance, your basement wall.
Many homes are built with block walls. It is much easier for water to travel through block and into your basement or crawl space than travel through clay soil. Water will always take the path or least resistance.
Hydrostatic Pressure
Hydro-static pressure is worse in a tall basement or crawl space wall. The taller the stem wall the more water pressure in the soil. The water will push into your basement. Outside footer drains are many times placed on top of the footer. But they should be installed beside the footer.
Since the footer is made of concrete a properly installed footer drain uses the concrete footer to keep water around the pipe. If the footer drain is placed on a footer. The surrounding cinder block allows water into the open air cavities of the block. Water will make its way into your basement or crawl space.
French Drains
French drains divert water around the home. Installing them correctly is a great way to keep your basement and crawl space dry. Poor installation of a french drain can magnify the problem and waste money. French drains are also placed inside basements and crawl spaces. If you are looking at a french drain system always make sure it is flowing down hill. I know that seems like a dumb thing to say but I’ve seen them flowing uphill.
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Waterproofing Your Basement
Installing an interior waterproofing system may help prevent bowing walls. The Hydraway Basement Waterproofing System moves water from the foundation. Hydro-static pressure is a contributor to bowing walls and other foundation problems. Eliminating the water pressure eliminates the risk of a flooded basement or crawl space.
How to Stop Bowing Basement Walls
There are many products available that can help you correct a bowing basement wall. One of the products we use for a bowing wall is Carbon Guard Carbon Wall Repair. The Carbon Guard Carbon Wall Repair is an economical way to address bowing walls that are not in need of more extreme measures of correction. Carbon Guard Carbon Wall Repair is carbon fibers with top and bottom anchors. It in an epoxy resin matrix specifically designed for strengthening and repairing concrete, masonry walls and foundations.
How Does the Carbon Guard Carbon Wall Repair?
When Carbon Guard Carbon Wall Repair is applied to foundation walls it counteracts further wall buckling from outside pressure on the wall. Taking the tension force (or tensile load) that the basement wall cannot.
For every increase in pressure on the foundation wall, the carbon fiber supplies an equal and opposite resistant force. This makes the wall stronger. It helps repair expanding, buckling, bowing, and cracking walls. Carbon fiber is great to strengthen walls.
Why Carbon Fiber for Bowing Walls?
- Originally developed for NASA and the U.S. Military for applications demanding extreme strength, carbon fiber is stronger than steel but not as stiff. However, carbon fiber is lightweight and easy-to-manage making it a simple to use, quickly installed solution for basement and foundation repair applications.
Do Carbon Fiber Straps Work?
- Yes. Carbon fibers are incredibly effective for structural foundation repairs. Our product can repair cracked, bowed, or buckling walls before the foundational damage worsens. With our products, you can prevent further damage to your foundation.
- Carbon fiber is very strong (e.g., 3000 MPa ultimate tensile strength, more than 10 times mild steel) but not too stiff (150 to 250 GPa, less than steel). Therefore, only a reasonable application of carbon fiber straps are needed to strengthen your home’s foundation.
Benefit of Carbon Fiber Straps
- Quick installation
- Incredible strength
- No maintenance
- Low visibility
- Low cost
Install Carbon Fiber Straps On:
- Basement Walls
- Crawl Space Walls
- Pools
- Warehouse Walls
- Garage Walls
What Next?
Do you need help with mold removal, crawl space encapsulation, crawl space insulation, vapor barrier, waterproofing, foundation repair, or controlling humidity in your crawl space and you live in Georgia, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, or Kentucky? If so, please contact us to schedule your assessment. Also, let us know in the comments below if you have an idea for a new blog topic.
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