Saving A Failing Wall with EverBrace
Challenge
This homeowner originally reached out to our company because of some leaking they had discovered around the walls of their basement. They were using this area as storage, hosting some valuables that they wanted to make sure would stay safe from any form of moisture damage. The only form of protection they had was a couple of towels, so they knew they needed to seek help. After speaking with and discussing their concerns with one of our customer care representatives, Isaiah, they went ahead and scheduled a date to have one of our system design specialists go out to their home in Hazlehurst, MS, and take a thorough look at the problem. This design specialist, Scottie, is highly knowledgeable in all things waterproofing, but as he was creating his plan to take care of the leaks, he used his foundation repair knowledge to spot something the homeowner had not mentioned. The back wall of this basement was starting to bow inward, a sign of much larger, imminent issue - foundation wall failure. The holes that are dug to create basements are filled back in with loose soil upon completion, which creates an area that is much easier for water to flow through. All this water forces inward pressure, or hydrostatic pressure, onto foundation walls. Overtime, all this extra stress can cause the wall to buckle, as seen with this basement wall, but if left unattended to, could lead to complete wall failure or collapse. Allowing this to happen would create a much higher risks than the leaks were posing, the entire stability of the home's foundation would be compromised and in a very dangerous state. Fortunately, Scottie came prepared with solutions for both of these problems!
Solution
To prevent further damage to the basement wall, we introduced our EverBrace Wall Restoration System. EverBrace allows us to offer the support of a completely new foundation to at-risk or even extremely compromised walls, without having to go through the lengthy or costly process of having to actually replace anything. The homeowner appreciated being made aware of this potential risk and the detailed explanation and plan that Scottie had prepared for them, after having all their questions answered, they decided it would be best for the safety of their home. To get everything started, we sent out of one our in-house crews led by our foreman, David, to handle the process. Installing the EverBrace is actually very non-disruptive, everything takes place inside the basement, and no excavation is needed. Our crew anchors heavy duty steel I-beams where they're needed at the top and bottoms of the wall, and installs corrugated steel panels between them and across the wall. These I-beams help transfer the the load of the home away from the failing wall, and onto more stable parts of the structure, while the panels are used as sort of a new, stronger wall, now handling all the pressure from the soil and water. Injected behind the panels is a special, rigid foam that will fill any left over voids and help transfer that load over to our EverBrace System. With all this in place, the damaged wall, the basement, and everything inside has now been protected from the risk of wall collapse, but don't think we forgot about what the homeowner originally came to us for! Alongside the EverBrace System, David and his crew also installed several of our water-proofing products to handle those leaks, and future-proof against any other forms of water intrusion. This included our powerful, battery backed-up TripleSafe Sump Pump System, and our WaterGuard System, which work in tandem to collect water and send it outside the basement. Our team was able to walk away from this home knowing that we not only took care of what they asked us, but also went above and beyond to potentially save their entire foundation, bringing them many more years of safety and security inside their home. We're proud of everyone here who played a part in making this happen!
Project Summary
Customer Care Rep: Isaiah Yates
System Design Specialist: Scottie Stanford
Crew Foreman: David Crocker
