BILLS BASEMENT BLOG - Wood Foundations

Grinnel Iowa, May 7, 2012. Midwest Basement Systems recently did some foundation repairs on a house built on a wood foundation and built on the side of a hill. A perfect storm of potential foundation problems. The ground in the front of the house (the uphill side) began to put force on the foundation cuasing the entire house to shift as the foundation walls were forced out of place diagonaly. Our proposed solution consisted of a combination of Helical Wall Tiebacks, Powerbraces, and PowerBrace Cinch Plates, all available from Foundation Supportworks in Omaha, NE.

We excavated the front of the house and installed helical tiebacks into the hill side, then attached the tieback ends to a set of Powerbraces with a newly designed plate to pull evenly on the on the Powerbraces and Powerbrace Cinch Plates. The foundation had shifted diagonaly approx. 4 inches in some areas, more in other areas and less closer to the end walls and the wall seperating the basement under the house from the basement under the garage. Using this designed configuration of Powerbraces, Powerbrace Cinch Plates and Helical Tiebacks, Midwest Basement Systems was able to recover over half of the diagonal deviation and assure the home owner the house was now stable.

Wood foundations do present more challenges than block walls or poured concrete walls when it comes to structural repair. But, hiring an experienced contractor like Midwest Basement Systems is the first step to getting your wood foundation permanently and professionaly fixed.