Due to unbalanced soil pressure, this home in Northern Kentucky was having issues along the garage wall/porch foundation and the retaining wall for the driveway. The interior wall was previously reinforced with steel, but the pressure was still too much. The walls had stair-stepping cracks and were bowing inwards. The retaining wall just beyond was slowly creeping out onto the driveway, and the walkway on top had begun to rotate, see below:
A retaining wall/ foundation wall like this one must be carefully designed to withstand the pressure of the soil with varying levels of moisture behind it. The drainage and construction of this wall was inadequate to prevent failure like this so they reached out to Cole Engineering Solutions for help. Cole designed them a new retaining wall, two new foundation walls, and a new walkway.
Safer than it looks
After shoring up the porch above the garage, a trench was excavated around the outer perimeter of the garage. As precarious as this looks below, I promise all trenching was done according to industry safety standards.
Waterproofing and drainage is key to the long-term health of a foundation
This trench and the shoring enabled us to remove and replace the outer foundation walls. We left the wall to cure while removal and the replacement of the retaining wall was underway. Once in place, we added waterproofing material to the outside, new drainage, and replaced the soil. This will keep water away and help prevent the soil from putting too much pressure on the foundation.
Yes, you can pour concrete in winter.
Once that was complete, it was time to replace the concrete walkway and the driveway. Given that it was mid-December we needed additives to speed up the curing time. The only time of year we cannot pour concrete is when soil temperatures reach freezing. Concrete tends to cure slowly at low temperatures, and sometimes blankets are required as well. The concrete driveway and sidewalk were each poured a minimum of 5″ thick and all concrete used for the project was fiber reinforced class C concrete.
Is there an issue with any of your foundation walls or retaining walls? Are they crumbling under the pressure? We are happy to get you pointed in the right direction, just contact us.
