By the time you first notice bowing or buckling in your foundation walls, it's likely that the problem has been present for a long time. Bowing foundations are often caused by a force called hydrostatic pressure. Hydrostatic pressure occurs when water presses against your basement walls with more force than the walls can withstand, causing them to move inwards. Other forces, such as expansive clays and frost, are also common causes for soil expansion that can lead to foundation wall fatigue and damage.
"The condition will not stabilize. It's a question of how much time remains."
- Chief Appraiser, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Horizontal cracks, wall shear, buckling, and bowing of a foundation wall with severe structural damage will only get worse as time progresses. In unusual cases, the only way to repair this problem is to completely remove and rebuild a home foundation.
The process begins with your yard. Before replacing the foundation, the former foundation must be dug out and removed. All landscaping around the foundation, such as walkways, steps, gardens, foliage, and other landscaping along the foundation will need to be taken up, and the soil will be heaped in mounds around the house. Temporary supports will keep your house raised while the foundation walls are rebuilt. When the work is finally completed, the landscaping and dirt can be returned, and a year later, the soil will need to be regraded.
Rebuilding a foundation wall is expensive, invasive, time-consuming, and disruptive to your home. Additionally, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa & South Dakota foundation replacement merely replaces the damaged foundation with another one- which can fail in turn over time. Replacing a foundation wall with a new one should only be done when it's deemed that repair is not a good option.
Foundation wall anchors are slightly more effective for bowing foundations. These helical wall anchors include a long rod, and a corkscrew-like helical shaft that mounts to the wall plate on the inside of the foundation walls. When installed, large holes must be drilled in the wall- in the case of block walls, a block or half-block is removed. The helical anchors are installed your home and anchored into the soil. Once the helical anchor is in place, the hole is refilled with concrete, and a wall plate is installed over the top.
