Photo Album: Straightening bowing wall in Hamilton, on

Mike & Nicole M. in Hamilton, on have a house with a block foundation. The North wall which is the driveway side of the house is severely bowing from the soil, weight of vehicles on the driveway or frost expansion. Omni Basement systems along with a P.Engineer recommended galvanized "I"-beams called PowerBrace by Supportworks to hold and possibly straighten the wall. Because the concrete floor was very thin at the perimeter, the P. Eng wanted to see footings for the PowerBrace.This took approx. two days to install.

Driveway side wall is bowing

From weight of cars or frost, the driveway side of the house is bowing.

Horizontal cracking

Horizontal cracking in a block wall is sure signs that your wall bowing.

Bad corner

Quite often the corners show the most damage from a bowing wall.

Preparing for footings.

The floor is opened up to expose the footings and to create a solid base for the PowerBrace

Footings

Because the concrete floor is thin, this style of footing was ordered by the engineer.

Powerbrace spacing

PowerBraces are spaced approx 5 feet apart and also installed in the corners.

Deflection

This shows the amount that the wall has moved over time.

Bridge bracket

At the top of the PowerBRace, a bridge bracket is used to secure and adjust the I-beam over time. THe bracket bridges between 2 floor joists to give more strength