If you have a basement wall caving into your home, it could be caused from a variety of things. The most common cause, however, is from the build-up of hydrostatic pressure in the soil surrounding a home. When certain types of soil get wet, they will swell up and put a significant amount of pressure on the wall. When the force exceeds the strength of the wall, the earth will push the wall into the home, or even cause it to break or crack in certain spots. Other factors that could cause this structural problem include: heavy rains, other structures putting a lot of pressure on the foundation (garages, driveways, and porches), tree roots, expansion of the earth due to frost, and poor lawn grading.
Often times, this problem is known as a bowed wall, but it could also be called a leaning wall, tilting wall, wall that is caving in, and so on. Regardless of what you call it, it all refers to the same type of structural problem. This really isn’t something that you are going to want to put off getting repaired – even if you don’t have a finished basement underneath your home. In fact, the longer you wait, the more likely it becomes that the wall will actually collapse in on itself. Needless to say, this is going to cause a lot of serious and expensive damage that you could have easily avoided.
The solution to the problem would be the use of wall anchors, carbon fiber straps, foundation neck ties, and foundation staples. The type of product used will depend on the severity of the leaning wall and other structural issues that your home may be facing.
Wall Anchors
These anchors are installed deep within the earth in stable soil surrounding your home. A plate is attached on the damaged wall inside of the home. The two are connected with a strong, steel rod which can be tightened over time to add the necessary lateral pressure needed to push the wall back into place. Installation can be finished quickly and without a lot of excavation.
Carbon Fiber Staps and Neck Ties
The straps are designed to stabilize the wall and prevent any additional movement into the home. They are installed without any excavation, and once in place, they can be painted over to match the rest of the basement environment.
Neck ties are used when the entire wall is leaning into your home. They are bolted to the bottom of floor joists together with the carbon straps.
Foundation Staples
This product can be installed to take care of large cracks that may have formed on the wall due to the leaning movement. The staples are attached on both sides of the crack to make sure that the surface doesn’t separate any further.