Foundation Repair Before & After Photos

These Tustin, MI customers noticed several different cracks running along on their basement walls, like the large horizontal one in the before picture. After examining it closer, they came to the conclusion that the wall was actually caving in. Our system design specialist went out for a visit and came to the same conclusion. The inward movement of walls like this is called bowing. It’s caused by expanding soil putting added pressure on the foundation and can mean disaster for the structure of homes.

The after photo shows our solution to the problem, the PowerBrace System. PowerBrace beams halt the inward motion by transferring the support of the above floor joists above from the foundation walls to the beams. The beams span the height of the wall, so the wall can no longer bend inwards. As you can see, the beams are placed into portions of excavated foundation floor and attached to the floor joists above with a special tightening bolt for stabilization (Note: before the job was completed, concrete was poured back into the excavated parts of the floor). Not only will this wall stop bowing inwards, given enough time, it may even return to its original position. 

Lynn's foundation wall in her basement was starting to bow and she wanted a permanent solution. She tried to create a temporary solution but was afraid it would not hold up and the wall would collapse. We used PowerBraces to keep the wall from moving any further. The best part about this system is that it is adjustable so that it could potentially straighten the wall.

The corner of this Traverse City, MI home was sinking. There were cracks in the slab foundation in the basement and the foundation walls had stairstep cracks making the problem quite clear. To lift and permanently support the failing foundation, we installed a series of helical piers along the affected walls. Helical piers are drilled down deep into the ground to competent. The heavy-duty foundation bracket is then put on top of the piers to prevent further settling of the foundation. Because the bottom of the foundation was only a short depth, the excavation required for this job was only about 2 square feet causing minimal disruption to the yard. Once the brackets were in place, the dirt can be filled back in so that the piers are not seen or even noticed.

We received a call about this Traverse City home from one of the owners. The house is in a trust, but as the decision maker, he had been thinking about putting it up for sale. Before he could do that, he wanted to address some concerns about the basement.

The owner noticed that there were several horizontal cracks running along the walls. The Ayers team saw the same thing and noted that the foundation outside was also cracked and leaning slightly. They came to the conclusion that the basement walls were bowing inward. To fix this problem, the team used our PowerBrace system. The PowerBrace system features steel beams that reach from the ceiling, where they attached to the floor joists, all the way to the ground - where they are installed into the foundation. For this home, the team installed 14 different beams against the bowing walls. The system will relieve the wall of added pressure without hurting the foundation.  PowerBrace has the unique ability to be tightened, so the walls will continue to improve over time until they return to their original position. Whenever this homeowner decides he’s ready to sell, the basement walls will already be on their way to straight and upright.

Allen had some cracks outside of his basement walls and uneven floors in his home. He was nervous the walls would crumble and the home would fall. We used SmartJacks to support the floors and lift them back to the original level. These support posts are secured to the floors joists, cemented into the foundation, and can be adjusted anytime to keep the floors level!