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After we poured some concrete outside of our east wall, we noticed some cracks along the foundation wall. I guess due to the weight of the new foundation, the foundation wall crumbled. One of the cracks made its way to a window well. The horizontal crack is about 4 ft above the concrete.

I talked to a couple of contractors. One of them recommended carbon fiber fabric, which looks like band aids, and another one recommended steel beam foundation reinforcement. I read some negatives about steel beam foundation reinforcement. Due to the cost of anchors or piering, I have to rule them out.

The house is located in Denver, CO. which has a dry climate. It can get extremely cold. I also had some issues with rain water making its way to my basement. I hired a company to install a french drain inside to address the water problem. I also want to address this wall issue before it is too late. enter image description here

I am leaning towards band aids, but I am not 100% sure. Does anybody have any experience with this application? If so, what was the end result? We have quotes from a couple of contractors.

Edit: This picture shows the outside on the other side of the foundation wall. Notice the window well on the lower left, which is on the other side of this crack.enter image description here

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  • How thick is the foundation wall, how tall is it overall and how far is the backfill dirt up against it (how high)? Do you have the new floor system bearing on it yet?
    – Jack
    Jan 10, 2016 at 17:22
  • I forgot to ask, how much rebar is in it? Spacing and diameter of bars?
    – Jack
    Jan 10, 2016 at 17:28
  • The foundation wall is probably 7-8 feet tall. I believe it is one ft thick. The I think the rebars where every 3ft or so on the outside. When they were pouring the new concrete, I saw that they weren't that thick at all. There was an existing slab there, which the concrete company removed before pouring the new concrete. There is dirt underneath the concrete.
    – CFNinja
    Jan 10, 2016 at 17:42
  • If it is a foundation wall, it should have dirt on one side, creating pressure to crack the wall, that is the dirt I am referring to. The rebar does not have to be big, 1/2" or 5/8" will work if there is enough of it, depending how high the dirt is on the outside pushing against the wall. Is there an engineer or architect involved, there should be a spec on the rebar to follow.
    – Jack
    Jan 10, 2016 at 17:51
  • @isherwood this photo shows the crack inside the basement. Concrete slab is on the other side of the wall on this picture. I will update the post as soon as I get a better picture.
    – CFNinja
    Jan 10, 2016 at 18:49

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You may want to consider a third repair on how to repair block walls. It involves drilling an opening through the wall at a pre-determined angle and sinking a large all-thread rod with an expanding head (like a toggle bolt) into the soil. The expanded end anchors the rod making it rigid and un-moveable. The other end projects from the basement wall. It now has large heavy-duty washers installed followed by a hex nut. The nut is tightened until it forces the wall back to plum. The rods are spaced accordingly along the length of the damaged wall.

I can't attest to how well this option works (although it looks feasible), but it is another choice that may work for you.

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  • @ojait, i don't have enough clearance for an anchor solution. If you look at the second picture, you will notice that there is new concrete slab and a garage on the other side.
    – CFNinja
    Jan 10, 2016 at 19:31

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