The blocks sjould have had two bond beams pored in them if done like the few I have helped on. Excavating it will be required to fix it correctly but as mentioned before, you also need to remedy the cause. Maybe a downspout that dumps too close to the foundation or some drainage issue.

 

It's the gutters and the downspouts, no question about it.
The gutters are falling off and the downspouts dump right against the foundation.
The people in there are 80 years old and have done NOTHING to keep the house in order for many years.

 

go for it, sounds like the price is great and even after the money you spend on fixing the foundation and whatever else you will prolly still have less into it then if you were to buy another place.

 

Thanks Jason!
It really is that nice and at 120k I figure I'll have to put another 40k into it to make it a real palace.
However....
That's 160k total surrounded by houses selling for 250k plus!

Thanks again!

 

Definately my kind of place. I would fix it myself. I can rent one of those small 325 Bobcat excavators for about $150 I think. They are very easy to run and will get right in there. Also the 4 inch floor should hold things up if you put a beam across the floor to set the supports on. That will spread out the load. Now comes the part where you may need help. If you just straighten up the existing wall then I would Put another wall out side it. Concrete would be best but pouring a wall requires some precautions. Without a form on both sides and wall ties the bottom of your form will blow out from the pressure. so you would have to use dort to hold it in place and then dig the dirt back out it get the forms out. Iguess you could just leave it in there to rot away. I would also knock holes in several of the blocks for the concrete to get in and bond the new wall to the old one.
He maybe you should just have a big party and invite all your FTE buddys over for the weekend and we will help you set the whole place straight.

 

Once all the repairing is done make sure the soil on the outside is good. A heavy clay type of soil does not drain and when the soil gets saturated with water it swells. Thus creates the pressure against the wall. Backfill with stone at least half way up. Make sure you run some drain tile around the footings with bleeders coming into the drain tile in the basement. With out this your basement wall will undoubtedly look the same in just a few years. Good luck.

 

Say!
Now that's the best idea I've heard so far!

 

Ive been working with a mason for the past 3 summers and we did a job like that this summer...north facing wall was pushed in. It was a house located right on Lake Winnebago, which means theres alot of clay in that area. Anyways, what we had to do was dig it out, took ALL of the block out and put the wall back up. Man was that a hard, dont want to ever have to do that again. The walled bowed in because the clay freezes, expands and pushes on the wall, causing a lot of pressure on that wall, which in turn forces the wall to move inward. You definitely need to backfill with pea gravel or sand so the water can drain away, although sand may not be good if drain tile is on the outside of the basement slab like it should be. Do that and its got to work.

-Wording edited for content, see guidelines:-

 

i will come provided there is free beer and food and a place to park my truck and hey since all the other fte people are coming lets have a fix it party. where everyone jumps in and fixes thigs on trucks, i need my new tranny installed my rear main is still leaking a bit, might as well pull the engine too and replace all the seals and gaskets since were pulling the tranny anyway. my rear end could use some attention, my cab mount needs replaced, still chasing a wire problem for my brake light, could use a good tune up anyone got a carb , mine still leaks, maybe someone can figure out why my timing is all messed up then we could sand her down and get it ready for paint, while were at it why not do the seat and remove the in cab tank and figure out how to mount it in the bed, and after all that maybe we can dig out that wall well unless someone else has something that needs to be done on there truck. lol

 

Uhm..it might be cheaper to get the contracter.lol

I don't drink much beer anymore but I do require a good import and I can pack away a bunch of barbeque.

 

I guess in that case I might just beam it and put a wall in front of it.
They will never be the wiser...
MUHAHAhahahahahaha......

 

Um..I guess that means the party is out. I already had Brookes and Dunn sceduled to play, oh well

 

ahh man i like them too, any chance we can still have the party i will just let the paint job go til someone elses turn to host the party, oh and i hope you got a big garage too. lol

 

From what I hear it probably would be cheaper to get Brooks and Dunn to play at your house than to pay a contractor to fix a foundation.:-staun

 

I wonder if anyone has ever tried this, or know if it will work.

Problem: I have a shelf basement and the west wall has bowed. It is currently being held up by wood braced against the opposite wall.

I have had many contractors come out and look at it. Most say I really should remove the old wall and pour a new wall. This is in the ball park of $20,000. I am a poor college student who is in no position to be able to afford anything in this amount.

one contractor said he could anchor the wall but there would be no guarentee it would fix the problem. this would still be in the neighborhood of $8,000

My dad had an idea and I want to run it by you.

What if I were to shore the existing wall up bow and all, add a sump pump for drainage in front of that wall and then pour a concrete wall w/ rebar on the inside of the house in front of the existing wall. This would eliminate the cost of jacking the house up and eliminate the cost of removing the old wall.

Would this be safe?

The reason it bowed was poor water drainage and a hurricane like storm dropping 2 inches of rain in 30 minutes. My insurance will not cover any of this and I just bought the house in December. If I cannot fix it with reasonable cost I will end up in bankruptcy.

Please Help!