Basement repair for new homeowner

I’ve been reading tons of forum posts regarding basement and foundation cracking and I am starting to wonder if the companies I have estimates from will be able to solve my problem. Could you guys point me in the right direction?

60 year old trilevel house. Block basement under half of it. Rear wall is bowed 1 1/4” and shearing horizontally at the bottom.

Front wall is showing signs of step cracks. No visible water anywhere yet.

2 companies have suggested carbon fiber straps and 1 said wall anchors (each company uses a different brand). And all 3 said interior perimeter drains (all different brands). But that doesn’t prevent water from eventually coming in, so it’s just a band aid, right?

What kind of company should I be getting to look at my basement? (full disclosure: the slab half of the house is also sinking and piers have been suggested too). Should I hire a private structural engineer to look at it first?

You should be looking for someone to dig it up from the outside and actually fix the problem.

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A qualified engineer…bowed in 1 1/4" in horizontally?

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A structural engineer in my opinion is needed here. Interior repairs will not fix this problem.

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You need to get Mark Anderson’s opinion… :wink:

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Yep, Marcel, exactly! :smile:

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it looks to be a shallow dig, a good foundation contractor is the way to go, fix it once and for all from the exterior…

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Mr Sheldon, imo not all S engineers know what the hlll they are talking about on this subject, just saying, have witnessed a few who told homeowners with bowed in block walls n leaky basement that they ONLY needed some I beams, total nonsense of course, why? lol Because bowed in walls have multiple exterior cracks and cracked parging (if parging was even applied when built) and so only popping in some I beams doesn’t do squat to seal the exterior cracks in wall etc and just putting them in doesn’t, hasn’t removed, lessened any exterior soil pressure, underground roots etc acting upon the wall which causes many of these problems.

That’s like having a tree branch fall on your roof which caused damage to roof and then, NOT removing the branch and not repairing the exterior damage/openings in the stupid roof so imo incompetence.

How many linear feet, footage are you looking to get done… you need it that’s for sure.
And what city, state are you in? I’ll post a 2 or 3 videos in a few in case you haven’t seen 'em, bowed in walls and the true CONDITION of the exterior of the bowed in wall n how/where water is actually first-entering

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:sweat_smile: i have a good idea what he would say already! his posts have been very helpful!

I was hoping you’d weigh in! I’ve been reading your posts and watching your videos (and John Bubber’s). The question is who to call. Every company I look up starts their spiel with interior waterproofing and I don’t think that’s the right direction. I’m in Indianapolis.

Yes. all the way down the rear wall. Bow into the basement. The wall is about 25’ long. Can’t fir a dime in the crack . . . yet.

Mr S, any trees in the backyard… you said wall in back wall… and any concrete, patio etc against, along any part of the back? I see, front wall step crack… any trees, concrete opposite step cracks?

How do we know the slab part is sinking? Somebody just say that, cuz sometimes they do just to try n enlarge the job. Slabs, if trees around sometimes roots can get underneath some-parts of slab n cause problem sometimes if part of slab was backfilled with 1’ + sand shtt can happen as well, just wondering

Wanna hear a good one? My house looks the same as it did when I bought two years ago, save for some repaired wall cracks becoming visible again. The guy who checked out the foundation for my home inspection 2 years ago didn’t recommend any repairs at the time. Then the EXACT same guy came out last week and 4 wall anchors, interior perimeter drain, 4 push piers, and 1 intellijack.

okay, bowed in wall is approx 25’ long, following video is of bowed in wall, see the multiple exterior cracks, that is where the water was first getting into the hollow blocks n would only appear in basement on floor, where bottom of wall and floor meet

Bowed in walls, 3 walls bowed in at this house… seller hired a lying scamming INT system knothead who BS’d them into installing an INT system and sump pump and wall anchors, lots of walls anchors lol, buyers move in… still leaking, see the HOLES caused by these morons when they forced the rods through the block wall

Let’s see, the cost of the 3 walls was approx $8,700 , that did not include moving the central air unit which was too close to wall so that was another $300 ish

In the back yard against the house basement are two shrubs and a faucet that leaks when its turned on. About ten feet away is a large tree stump, and evidence of two more ground out stumps. In the front is a row of yew shrubs.

On the slab half of the house, the backyard has a slab patio thats severely cracked. The front has a slab porch that has sunk about two inches from where it was against the brick wall (evidence of patching). The slab garage floor is cracked. One crack extends to the farthest wall and goes up the brick to the window. It had a tuck point repair when I bought it.

Mr Sheldon, do i have this correct… your house, walls are pretty much in same condition as they were 2 years ago… yes? Did previous owners PATCH any parts of the inside of your walls with mortar or paint 'em? Nothing like hiding existing defects when selling a house = total morons

And lol, WHO, which guy… was it a home inspector or was it some supposed foundation or waterproofing guy who checked foundation 2 years ago n didn’t recommend squat?

i’d have to see the slab part to try n help ya better on that.

so apparently there were at least 3 TREES (equals underground roots = possible foundation wall damage, cracks AND leaky basement), YEP! lol

if you rather you can call my old azz 586 777 7973, just give this oldtimer a 5 minute heads up, i gotta run estimate in about 1 hour, am free for next 30 or so minutes

You’ve got it right Mark! There are fracks appearing in the ceilings and walls That have clearly been patched before (Of course I can’t prove it was the previous owner, or their previous owner who hid them). And then the guy who checked out the foundation (works for a “foundation repair” company). But come on! No rec’s two years but tons now means they didn’t do their job right then!