Replacing a Hopeless Wall in Lansing, MI

We got a call from this Lansing, MI homeowner when he noticed that the basement walls in his rental property were starting to crumble. Horizontal cracks running down the middle of a wall, like the one in the before picture, are one of the biggest hints to a bowing foundation. The foundation had been bowing inward for some time, and when it wasn’t addressed, things only became worse. With no sign of the walls improving on their own, the owner sought out help from the foundation experts here at Ayers.

The crew was able to save several of the walls with our Geo-Lock Wall anchors. However, the one pictured was beyond repair. To keep the foundation from completely giving in on itself, the crew excavated next to the wall and replaced the crumbling stone blocks with new ones. But before the crew could take away part of the structural integrity of the home, they had to stabilize the floor above. To do so, they used our PowerBrace system in a slightly different way than usual. PowerBrace is typically set up against bowing walls and spans from the floor to the ceiling to take pressure off of the foundation walls. In this case, it was set a few feet away from the crumbling wall, so that the floor joists remained supported while the old blocks were replaced. With all the walls stable again, the owner can go back to enjoying this property worry free.