Significant Crack Found in Foundation Wall, Bedford, NH
Challenge
A new homeowner in Bedford, New Hampshire, recently purchased a home that was built in 1979. The homeowners moved into the home a couple of months ago and almost immediately noticed a large crack in the garage. A few weeks after that, they noticed a section of floor on the main level of their home appeared to be sagging. Since they just moved into their home they were looking to address all of these concerns quickly to preserve their home.
The homeowners reached out to EFS for a free inspection. Our Design Specialist Victor arrived at the home and walked through the home with the homeowner and inspected all of their concerns. He found that the crack in the garage foundation wall was caused by the pressure of the soil at the front of the home. This was most likely caused by runoff from the home not being channeled away from the foundation effectively. Then Victor looked at the supports under the section of floor that the homeowners were concerned with. He noticed that the cause of the floor issues was because a beam was slightly warped due to improper placement of the lallys. Victor then created a drawing of the home and talked about which product we could use to solve their concerns. Victor proposed using PowerBraces to support the foundation wall in the garage, crack injection to seal the crack in the foundation wall, and SmartJacks to stabilize the floor system.
Before our team came out to the home the homeowner asked to have the foreman or project manager explain the solution to them for reassurance. Our Project Manager Nate arrived at the home to discuss the project. While talking through the project Nate recommended changing a part of the project that would make a better solution in the long run. Nate recommended changing the PowerBraces to Geolocks.
Solution
Our production team arrived at the home a couple of weeks after Nate reviewed the project with the homeowners. They first took measurements of the foundation wall to find the location and spacing of where each Geolock will be installed. The team measured out the locations of the 5 Geolocks on the foundation wall. Meanwhile, Foreman Neal was excavating a trench in the front yard that was approximately 10' away from the foundation wall. This will allow our Geolocks to grab onto the soil in the front yard to stabilize the foundation wall in the garage. After the trench was excavated and the team marked where each of the Geolocks will be located, the team drilled holes in the foundation wall where they marked and then sent our Geolock rods through the holes until they reached the trench in the front yard. Once all 5 rods were sent through to the trench the team then attached Geolock plates to both sides of each rod. After all of the plates were secured on the rods the team then tightened all of the rods until all of the Geolocks were tight enough to support the entire wall. After the Geolock were secured and the trench in the front yard was backfilled the team then focused their attention on repairing the crack in the foundation wall. The team used our 2 part crack injection system to seal the crack. The team first lined the crack with tape to create straight edges. They then set up injection ports in the crack before covering the crack with the crack sealant. After the sealant sets the team then used the injection ports to inject the foam into the crack that was now under the sealant. This injection process with seal the crack quickly and effectively. After the crack was sealed the team moved on to replacing the old lally columns. The team set up temporary posts next to the existing lally columns that were to be replaced. They then removed the lally columns and chipped our small sections of concrete under where each lally was located. The team then installed our SmartJack footing where our team chipped out the concrete. Then we installed the rest of the SmartJacks and secured them to the main beam above. After the SJs were installed the team mixed up concrete and poured it over the footings to lock them in place.
The homeowners were very pleased with the results of the project. All of their concerns were addressed by EFS and their crew. They no longer have to worry about the large crack in their garage or floors feeling like they are settling.
