Foundation Repair & Replacement

In cases of severely deteriorated foundation walls, replacement may be the only viable option for repair. In most situations where foundation replacement is required, it involves only a partial replacement of 1 or 2 foundation walls. 

Typically foundation wall replacement is accomplished by setting shoring to hold the building in position while the existing foundation walls are removed and replaced. Some minimal lifting can be done to level the building off of the shoring. This is the least disruptive to the utilities of the building as the shoring can be placed as required around utility interference's to provide support for the building above. Also since the building elevation is not being changed (lifted), services such as gas, electric, sewer, and water do not have to be disconnected.

In cases where the foundation walls will be replaced with full height concrete, or if the objective is to gain additional basement height, then the building may have to be lifted. In these situations the shoring must consist of straight continuous steel beams which are lifted by hydraulic jacks. Placing these shoring beams is usually very disruptive to utilities as they must be straight and continuous (no jogging or working around utilities). Both the lifting of the building, and the relocation of utilities, adds considerable expense to the project over what would be required to simply shore the home in position.

Typically with older stone foundation walls, and sometimes with red brick foundation walls, there will not be a footing to construct a new foundation wall on and so one will have to be installed. This is usually not the case with concrete block or concrete foundation walls.

The idea of tearing down a basement wall and building a new one in its place certainly sounds scary. But when you have Quality Block Foundation Replacement specialists doing the work, this job can go smoothly and quickly. After clearing the basement work area, workers will build a strong temporary framework to support the beams and floor joists that rest on the wall that's going to be replaced.

Then the crew will remove soil from the exterior of the foundation so that the ailing wall can be dismantled. In addition to removing the old wall, we usually remove the old footing, or excavate enough soil so that a new poured-concrete footing can be installed. Many historic houses were built without footings or with footings made from loose stone.

Replacement foundation walls are typically constructed from concrete block. A new poured-concrete footing provides a solid base for the block wall. As the new wall is erected, workers carefully tie each course of concrete blocks into existing adjacent walls. Once the new wall is complete, the temporary supports can be dismantled. Replacement of foundation walls is typically done with concrete, concrete block, or a combination of the two materials along with reinforcing steel. drain tile can be installed along the interior perimeter if desired, but generally new foundation walls that are properly built and waterproofed on the outside would be sufficient.