Foundation Problems Photo Album: Settlement Under Chimney, Arlington, MA

A homeowner in Arlington, Massachusetts, had concerns with the chimney and wall of their 100+-year-old home. The homeowners have lived in their home for 20+ years and over the past five years, they noticed chimney movement and water entering from their garage foundation wall. They decided to call EFS for a free inspection. Our design specialist recommended installing Helical Piers to add stability to the chimney and the wall and then installing an Auxiliary Wall to the wall that the chimney was leaning on to add support to that wall.  Our team began by installing 4 Helical piers to the foundation wall. The piers will add stability to the wall that has settled because of the chimney. The team also installed Helical Piers at the front of the chimney to stop it from settling. After the piers were installed the team then moved on to installing the Auxiliary Wall along the foundation wall. The team first installed 3 PowerBraces to the bottom of the foundation wall and into the floor joists to give something for the auxiliary wall to brace itself against. After the PowerBraces were installed the team began to set up the forms for the Auxiliary Wall. The team had to work around an obstacle when setting up the Auxiliary Wall. The cleanout for the chimney was installed on the wall where the team was installing the Aux Wall so they had to create a form that would avoid covering the cleanout. Once the forms have been installed the team then called a concrete truck to come to the home and fill the forms with concrete. The team helped the concrete truck fill the forms and then the team had to wait a couple of days for the concrete to fully cure. Once cured the team then removed the forms and trimmed off any imperfections.