Stabilizing Cinder Block Wall, Newton, NH

Challenge

This home in Newton, NH was having some concerns with a bowing, cinder block wall in the garage area on the lower level. As a ranch style house, the garage was beneath the living space on one side of the home. The foundation wall towards the back of the house from within the garage was the wall facing some structural issues. The soil on the other side of this cinder block wall (the backyard of the property) had been gradually pushing and pushing against this wall, and over the years it bowed and buckled under this extreme pressure. In cases like this, if the wall is not fixed, it will eventually fail and completely lean inwards. As this wall was load bearing and supporting the home above, wall failure was not something the homeowner wanted to worry about.

Although the home was built in the 1970's, the family living there had just purchased the property, and wanted to ensure it was safe and stable for many years to come. They knew they had to take action to stabilize this cinder block wall, and so hired our Erickson team to install GeoLock Wall Anchors.

Some of the challenges facing this project;

• Excavation on the exterior of the wall (in the backyard)
• Access to the backyard with machinery
• Homeowner would need to remove some fencing and bushes 
• Stabilizing the cinder block wall
• Only 5' of the wall was below grade, the top 2'10" were above grade

Solution

When it comes to GeoLock wall anchors, the first step is to identify the exact location for installation of each of the anchors. For this project, this was completed on the interior of the garage. The production team took measurements and marked the 7 locations with tape. Each location was then drilled with a heavy duty, masonry/concrete rated drill bit. These drilled holes would allow the team to insert the steel rods at a later stage in the project.

The next step involved excavation on the exterior of the wall, in the backyard. Using careful measurements to match the exact location of the holes identified on the interior of the wall, the team excavated 7 holes at roughly 10 feet from the structure. The holes were 3' 6" in depth, ensuring the anchors would be deep enough to be fully secured.

Back on the interior, the team then inserted steel rods into the drilled holes, and using a rod pusher on a jack hammer, the rods were pushed through the wall and into the soil. Eventually, these rods extended all the way to the holes previously dug. With the steel rods visible on both sides of the wall now, the team then installed the steel plates. As the plates were tightened using large galvanized bolts and heavy duty wrenches, the anchor system was engaged and the wall was then stabilized. 

In some cases, walls can be straightened using this system. However, in this scenario there were limitations due to soil conditions and the integrity of the wall, and so the crew stabilized the wall, but did not apply excess pressure in order to fully straighten it.  

Once the anchor system was in place, the holes were back filled and the soil was brought back to existing levels. While the anchor plates were visible on the interior of the garage cinder block wall, in the backyard the wall anchor system was completely concealed. The wall was permanently stabilized with a system holding a 25 year warranty. 

Project Summary

Installing Contractor: Erickson Foundation Solutions

Products Installed: GeoLock Wall Anchors