Before & After Photos

Buckling walls are never a good thing. "Staircase" cracks are a general indicator of buckling, and if you see these in your foundation walls, you should give Ayers a call like this Grand Rapids family did. Our professional team decided to use our patented PowerBrace foundation wall repair system. Steel I-beams that are secured to the joists above the wall support buckling, bowing, and tilting walls. This support allows for a safe environment for this Grand Rapids residence, as it could yours.

A crumbling wall is always cause for alarm. That fear only becomes worse when you realize that the problem threatens the rest of your foundation, as well. The support beams in this Grand Rapids, MI basement had started to sink, mostly due to the crumbling brick wall where the beams rested. The result was an unleveled first floor, windows that wouldn’t open, and cracks in the basement walls.  In the before photo, you can see the wood support beams before they were replaced by the crew for the more trustworthy SmartJack system. Because the beams weren’t the only problem in this basement, the concrete ledge where the beams sat was also replaced. After removing the wooden beams and replacing them with 8 different SmartJacks, the crew poured in the new concrete foundation to hold the jacks in place. Jacks, unlike typical support beams, can be adjusted in height. So the crew raised the floor until it reached a leveled height and then began their clean-up process. Not only will the SmartJacks even out the floor, they’ll take care of the sticking windows and the other problems associated with a sinking foundation. 

After deciding to hold off when we first visited years ago, our customer called because his leaking walls were getting worse. Upon inspection, we discovered that the walls were also bowing and needed to be stabilized.

We installed WaterGuard in the entire basement and covered the leaking walls with Brightwall panels, which are waterproof and inorganic and have the added benefit of a clean, bright appearance. They can also be tied into the WaterGuard system for extra waterproofing power.

After the Brightwall panels were installed, we used PowerBraces to stabilize the walls, and over time we will hopefully be able to straighten the walls by tightening the braces.

Judy P. called because she was concerned about the multiple cracks in her basement walls that had been forming over time. Our team of experts visited her home and found two signs of wall failure in her block foundation walls. The first problem we found was horizontal cracking, which is one of the first signs of wall failure and is likely caused by pressure being exerted on the wall from the surrounding soil. The second problem area we found was stair-step cracking which is usually a sign that the problem is getting worse and needs attention.

In order to save Judy’s failing wall we decided to install the PowerBrace system, which supports your foundation wall. This system consists of steel beams that are fastened to the joists above the wall, which can easily be tightened to straighten the wall over time. The beams are coated with zinc, which is a non-toxic substance that will protect them from corroding. This brace system was a perfect fix for her failing foundation wall because it uses a “joist reinforcement method” that transfers the weight evenly across the basement ceiling and ensures the beams do not disturb the floor above.

The basement foundation was clearly leaning and unstable in the before photo. The homeowners were advised to completely rebuild the wall, but we provided them with a much less drastic, but equally as effective solution: Shotcrete. This concrete is sprayed through a high pressure hose, and reconstructs the wall. Less invasive than completely replacing the foundation, Shotcrete does a great job at supporting and restructuring this basement wall.