Our team got a call from Kansas City, MO, to inspect a property with a damaged southern wall and come up with a quote for repair. The property manager found us through our TV ad and wanted to come up with the best solution for the owner.
Meeting the Customers and Our Initial Inspection
The inspection started with our basement repair specialist measuring for settlement. They could not find anything significant. They then moved to figuring out how the foundation settlement damaged the wall. Our expert found a rotational crack on the southern side that was slowly starting to damage the window as well. Our expert recommended the repairs be done in two steps. The first step would be to drain the basement of water and apply a vapor barrier. After that, we would treat the wall with braces to protect this Kansas City, MO, property from any further damage.
Repairing the Damage
This Kansas City, MO, property was built in 1950 and has a concrete block foundation. That was common at a time and so were problems with water damaging the foundation. The best way to deal with them is to discharge the water away from the property and install a vapor barrier so that humidity doesn’t affect the rest of the property.
Our installation crew started with installing a WallSeal™ basement vapor barrier on the inside, as well as the BasementGutter ™ interior drainage system. A sump pump was installed as well to discharge the water away from the basement and keep it dry and secure.
The exterior portion of the drainage system consists of a buried discharge line, two FreezeGuard™ attachments, and a Yard Well™. The FreezeGuard attachments are there to protect the line from freezing in the cold Kansas City weather.
WallSeal™ is a plastic vapor barrier that’s used to cover basement walls. It’s waterproof and quite durable with a longtime warranty. It’s used to cover uneven surfaces and improve the overall aesthetic of an unfinished basement wall.
The vapor barrier is thick enough to prevent water from going through it, which is the main reason our crew installed it here. The installation process was simple, it only took a day.
Once we installed a vapor barrier and other waterproofing solutions, we started with the process of installing the beams.
Our inspector found that the wall was about 1.25 inches in and that seven IntelliBrace™ beams were needed to stabilize and straighten it.
As the water heater in the basement was in the way and would get in the way of the sump pump once it was installed, it needed to be removed. The homeowner was aware of this and the property manager arranged for a crew to come in and remove the water heater. The IntelliBrace™ system is an I-beam system that’s used to stabilize crooked walls without having to do exterior work on them. It works with the walls that are bowling, leaning, or are cracking due to foundation problems.
The system is made to straighten the wall over time by applying pressure to the wall in the direction opposite from the lean. It’s a long-term fix for problems with hydrostatic pressure and once the repairs are done, there’s nothing more for a homeowner to worry about in regards to their walls.
The braces are measured to suit the needs of this particular property and anchored to the wall via brackets that are secured to the floor and a joist on the top of the wall. That top bolt is used to tighten the wall over time and straighten it out.
A general contractor did a final walk-through with our team and he was pleased with how the job was done.
Cracking and bowing walls could be a symptom of a bigger foundation or drainage problem, so make sure to call us and get a free inspection. That way you can fix both the wall and the problems causing the cracks in it, as was the case with this Kansas City property manager.
