Reinforcing concrete block wall?

I have a concrete block wall (foundation for a rear single-story enclosed porch, 10 feet long, 6 blocks high... maybe 3.5-4 feet high?) that has buckled inward (as much as 6" in center) due to moisture freezing/expanding in the ground outside. The top course-and-a-half is above the exterior grade, and the inside of the wall (under the porch floor) has dirt up about a third of the height.

We have done the following already:

- installed gutters above to route water away from foundation

- dug down to bottom (unmoved) course on both inside and out

- jacked up porch floor to take weight off wall, and shifted blocks back to plumb

- made plans to fill the 1-foot space immediately outside wall with stone gravel to improve water drainage

- made plans to grade dirt away from house to improve water drainage

My question: What steps can/should I take to keep the blocks where I have (re)placed them?

Obviously, the cement seams between the blocks are long-since compromised. My thoughts include:

- metal mesh bolted to inside of wall (attached to every block) to take tensile loads of future pressure on outside

- parging cement on inside/outside surfaces to keep moisture from between blocks

- building buttresses of blocks inside (think steps of blocks, perpendicular to wall, at say three points along length)

- piling/packing the dirt back aalong the inside wall surface

- pour a concrete/cement buttress along inside length (not easy, since porch floor is in the way)

Which (combination) of these options would you employ, or what other suggestions might you have?

Additional info: This house in in upstate NY (Ithaca). We are fixing up to sell - already have new residence in NJ.

Thanks for any advice,

Teo

Reply to
mkeary
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There are companies that somehow miraclously fix walls like these but havent used them

I would install a interior french drain so mo water can ever build up there again/

We need water to live but uits a homes enemy.

Whatever you do fix it RIGHT so at home resale time its not a big issue.

probably best to execavate top footer level outside and rebuild wall completely.

i would stil;l install french drain so it doesnt reoccur. since the wall moved a lot get a structural engineers opinion

Reply to
hallerb

All of your proposed fixes would -probably- work but...as others have said, you might as well rebuild the wall. It won't cost much more than your fixes and will be done right. Of course do the french drain and rock fill thing to.

When rebuilding the wall use "Z-bar" between every other course and rebar plus concrete fill of the cavities in about every 4 blocks.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

. . .

Metal mesh won't really keep the blocks from shifting around, it will just keep individual blocks from popping out. The problem with internal buttresses is that they need a footing sufficient to carry the load of themselves AND the redirected thrust of the soil/water on the walls. And 4" of poured slab may not be enough, so you risk having the buttresses punch right through your cellar floor as the whole wall tries to roll.

In any case, I think what you want is horizontal steel beams every 24" to 32" up the wall, held in place by one or more of:

(A)Concrete buttresses/Pillasters. (B)Vertical steel beams anchored in the slab at the bottom and by wood or steel overhead beams braced against the far wall. (C)Stainless steel cables and turnbuckles attached to deadmen outside the wall.

If you were going to continue living there, I'd say dig a wide trench around the house, and build another foundation wall about 4' out, with arched buttresses between the two walls, which would give you a really cool perimeter tunnel, but that's not worth it if you're just going to sell the house.

Reply to
Goedjn

I would fix all of the motar joints in the wall, then knock out the top block of the wall, shove rebar in there and pour those cells solid with concrete, then replace the top block. I would work the whole wall using this process, and pour the whole wall solid.. or at least every other cell with rebar and concrete.

This sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't, and its sure easier and cheaper than ripping down the wall and rebuilding.. I poured my 8" block walls every 16" for my addition in two weeks, mixing the concrete myself. I'd buy or rent a concrete mixer.

8" block - 40 cells is 1 yard of concrete. I think...
Reply to
jaymay75

I think this is the solution I will attempt. There is a vendor in town who will do small loads of cement. The wall is only there to hold up the back porch, which could be done with footings and posts, except that the crawlspace underneath is the only access to the plumbing running to the kitchen & bath (part of the cobbed-on addition on this

200-year-old house). This sounds like a reasonable way to make it stable and provide the weather-barrier needed to protect access to that plumbing.

Thanks for the suggestions and the advice.

Regards, Teo

Reply to
mkeary

The house across the street recently changed hands, with $10K taken off the price to cover the cost of foundation repair.

They fixed the foundation, and straightened out the house with a fancy hydraulic unit. Excavated all around the foundation and all. Once that was done, it got a new roof, new siding, and the rest of a total remodel.

You'll have to pay the price to have it done right eventually.

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Reply to
John Hines

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