Bowing & Buckling Foundation Walls

Identifying & Repairing Issues Related To Foundation Wall Failure

Foundation wall anchors can repair many bowing wall problems. Soil anchors are placed in the ground outside.

Steel rods attached to soil anchors extend through the foundation wall and wall plates. Wall plates distribute clamping pressure. Tightening nuts on the threaded ends of the rods stabilizes the wall for a permanent solution.

The Problem:

Your foundation walls are bowing, buckling or are showing signs of inward movement.

Telltale Signs:

• Horizontal or stair-step cracking along the foundation walls
• Diagonal cracking at corners of poured concrete foundation walls
• Inward bowing or bulging along the walls
• Walls sliding inwards on the bottom
• Walls leaning in at the top
• Wet, clay soils around the home coupled with damaged walls

How to Fix It:

Install Foundation Supportworks' Geo-Lock™ Wall Anchors along the bowing walls, and use the system's clamping pressure to stabilize and restore the wall.

When space issues prohibit wall anchor installation, we recommend installing the PowerBrace™ Wall System.

We can straighten your bowing, buckling foundation walls! Our solutions are warranted, and most can be done in a day!

Call us for a free foundation wall repair quote today! We serve Red Deer, Calgary, Medicine Hat, and many nearby areas in Alberta.

Signs Of Bowing Foundation Walls

Foundation walls move inward primarily due to expansive soils and hydrostatic pressure on the walls from outside. However, foundation walls may also crack from foundation settlement, as well as from several other issues. A professional consultation is necessary to accurately identify what kind of foundation issue is causing the problem in your home

Below are images of several foundations that are showing damage from hydrostatic pressure and expansive soils outside the structure.

(Click each photo to enlarge.)

What Causes Cracked & Bowing Foundation Walls?

How Much Does Moisture Affect Clay Soils?

These two clay samples started out exactly the same in size, weight, and composition. The sample on the right was allowed to dry out, while the one on the left we kept moist.

If a small sample of clay can gain this much volume when it gets wet, just imagine how dramatic the changes are in the soil around your home!

The soils around your home can put enormous pressure on foundation walls. The amount of pressure they exert depends on four factors:

1. The type of soil around the foundation
2. The amount of moisture in the soil
3. How far underground the foundation is
4. The temperature conditions

While there's constant pressure on your foundation walls from the outside, there's nothing on the inside pushing back!

When the pressure from outside is more than the foundation walls can handle, the walls will begin to fail.

Hydrostatic pressure, expansive clay soil and frost can create sufficient stress on walls to push them inwards -- and even collapse.

Gutters and downspouts can also contribute significantly to foundation problems.

If roof runoff is not directed away from your foundation, the soil around the foundation will become heavier and more expansive as it's saturated with water.

If you would like a free foundation wall repair quote for your home, call or e-mail us today!

Installing Foundation Wall Anchors

At Basement Systems Calgary, we recommend the Geo-Lock™ Wall Anchor System, when possible, to stabilize failing foundation walls. Our contractors follow these six steps when installing our warranted wall anchor system:

Digging Holes For the Earth Anchors

Before the installation, earth anchor locations will be determined to maximize system effectiveness. When the foundation contractors arrive, their proposal will show the location of each earth anchor in the yard outside your house.

At the beginning of each earth anchor installation, sod is carefully removed from your lawn and placed aside for later. A sheet is laid down to help protect your lawn and landscaping, and an earth anchor hole is made using a power auger.

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Preparing The Foundation Wall

Once the hole has been excavated, we will core a small hole through your basement wall. Then, a steel anchor rod will be driven through the wall and soil, extending through a hole in the center of the earth anchor.

One way our wall anchor system is superior to other methods is that the hole created in the foundation wall is very small - 1" in diameter. Other methods may require a large hole or section of concrete block to be removed during installation.

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Attaching The Earth Anchor

After securing the end of each anchor rod to its earth anchor, these assemblies are buried in the ground, using soil removed earlier. To resist corrosion damage, each of our earth anchor systems is designed with galvanized steel.

Each of the Geo-Lock™ Earth Anchors we install includes a 25-year warranty against manufacturing defects, as well as our own in-house quality and performance warranty.

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Mounting The Wall Plate

Once the earth anchors have been installed, our foundation repair experts will mount a wall plate over each anchor rod end that protrudes from the basement wall. Screwing a large nut to the threaded end of the anchor rod secures each wall plate and stabilizes the wall as the nut is tightened.

If your wall anchors are being installed in a finished basement, be sure to ask us about our Hide-A-Way™ Wall Anchor Covers, which will help you conveniently conceal your wall anchor access points.

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Restoring The Landscaping

At Basement Systems Calgary, we take pride in leaving each job clean, neat, and free of damage to existing landscaping. As part of our cleanup process, we fill holes completely with dirt saved earlier and tamp filled areas to ensure that depressed areas will not be created as the soils settle over time..

We will also replace all sod, carefully grooming it with a rake to help it to blend in with surrounding grass for a seamless landscaping restoration.

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Tightening Wall Anchors

Geo-Lock™ Wall Anchors do more than just stop the inward movement of your foundation walls -- they also provide the opportunity to straighten your walls over time.

Eventually, your walls can be significantly repaired, or even returned completely to their original position. This is a powerful way to restore value to your home and return your home to looking solid, stable, and attractive -- both for you and for prospective home buyers.

When Foundation Wall Anchors Won't Work

In some cases, a wall anchor system can't be used to repair a bowing wall because the yard outside the house isn't accessible.

When we at Basement Systems Calgary encounter this kind of problem, we suggest that you install our PowerBrace™ Foundation Wall System.

Saving a wall with the PowerBrace™ system. This innovative system stabilizes bowing walls and can even straighten walls over time.

The PowerBrace™ System

The PowerBrace™ is a patented foundation wall repair system designed to stabilize failing basement walls and also allow for potential straightening over time.

This product is a great option when access to the yard outside of the home is not possible and bowing, buckling wall problems need to be solved.

The PowerBrace™ is an I-beam system that has several advantages over traditional "old school" systems.

This includes its rust-resistant zinc-coating and a design that makes it possible not only to stabilize bowing walls, but also to straighten these walls over a period of time.

More about The Powerbrace™ System.

What NOT To Do

A foundation repair is a big job -- something you definitely only want to do once! When you're repairing your foundation, beware of expensive options that will not actually fix your problem -- and watch out for quick solutions that just don't work. Here are two "fixes" that we at Basement Systems Calgary will NOT recommend:

Wasting time and money with total foundation replacement.

This extreme repair option damages the yard and requires the house to be placed on temporary supports. It's also expensive and time-consuming.

Total Foundation Replacement:

To undertake a job like this, you have to excavate the entire perimeter of your foundation -- including gardens, shrubbery, sidewalks, and other landscaping.

Next, the house is jacked up, and the floor slab and foundation walls are removed. Finally, the foundation is rebuilt, the house is repositioned and the soil is replaced.

This solution is extremely disruptive, expensive, and time consuming. What's worse, it's not really addressing the issue.

Your foundation isn't the problem -- the soil is! When you're done building that brand new foundation, you can count on the soil to cause damage just like it did before.

If you're going to invest money in repairing your foundation, choose the solution that is not disruptive and will be warranted for 25 years.

Installing carbon fiber straps is a solution with significant limitations.

Unlike foundation anchors, carbon fiber straps cannot straighten a wall.

Carbon Fiber Straps:

Carbon fiber is a very high-tensile-strength material that's nearly impossible to stretch. It can be "glued" to concrete walls (or concrete block walls) to prevent inward movement.

This is a reasonable repair option if the wall is bowing in the middle -- but not sliding in at the bottom, or leaning in at the top. Because carbon fiber installs entirely inside the home, it's also a viable option when there's limited access inside the basement or on the exterior of the home.

Carbon fiber is NOT a good option if your walls are sliding in at the bottom or leaning in at the top. Since the strips are glued to the wall and are not anchored to the ceiling, floor, or anything else, they cannot stop this kind of inward movement.

In cases where the carbon fiber strap is attached to the top of the wall, it can lead to potential damage to the upper floor framing.

Looking For Foundation Wall Repair Experts In Alberta?

At Basement Systems Calgary, we're proud to provide warranted solutions that will permanently solve issues with bowing, buckling foundation walls.

We provide free, no-obligation foundation wall repair estimates to homeowners throughout our Alberta service area. Each estimate is made in person, on site, and is presented in writing.

Our service area includes Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary, and nearby areas such as Airdrie, Canmore, Brooks, Okotoks, Cochrane, Chestermere, Lacombe. Call or e-mail us today!

Related Pages

• Geo-Lock™ Wall Anchor System
• Geo-Lock™ Channel Anchor System