Bowed Walls indicate a major structural problem.  Bowed walls will not fix themselves.  A simple $800 repair can turn into a wall replacement over time. The sooner you address the problem, the less expensive the repair.

Horizontal basement wall cracking and stair step or zipzag cracking indicate hydrostatic pressure damage. This pressure is usually a result of poor water drainage outside the wall…swelling the soil and pushing in the wall. It can also be from poor framing,  as the wrong width seal plate can load the outs edge of the blocks, causing them to bow inward.

Most horizontal cracking and bowing block walls can be stabilized with the installation of properly sized steel beams,  re-bar and reinforced cement or  installed carbon fiber straps.  All can be installed be installed on the inside wall without exterior excavation.  Mobile Waterproofing does not offer wall tie-back anchors for block walls.   It is very hard to sell a home with a steel plate with a nut sticking out of your basement wall.

If  you choose to straighten the wall instead of just stabilizing it,  Mobile Waterproofing will need to excavate the exterior wall, push the wall out with hydraulic jacks and then choose a repair method from above.  You cannot straighten a wall without excavating the exterior dirt first.  Some photos on the Internet make it look  like a wall was straightened by adding carbon fiber straps, or steel beams.  It cannot be done.  The pressure needed to push the wall back with the soil in place will crush the blocks, before you can move the wall.

Don’t let an $800 repair turn into a much bigger financial nightmare.

Call Us! (989) 839-9593