Foundation Wall Problems in Lewes and nearby in Delaware & Maryland

Bowing walls are being pushed inward, usually by expansive soils or hydrostatic pressure. Expansive soils push against the wall due to water or frost effects. Hydrostatic pressure is when underground water applies inward force against your wall. Common symptoms of this problem include horizontal or stair step cracking along the foundation wall, diagonal cracks in the corners, inward bulges, and walls leaning in at the top or bottom. Any of these issues can severely impact the structural integrity of your foundation.

Over time, bowing walls can lead to serious damage to the home and impact property value. We solve bowing walls by using wall repair products such as GeoLock® Wall Anchors, which secure the wall to stable soils further away from the home. With these products, we can prevent further inward movement and potentially return your wall to its original position.

Wall cracks come in a variety of types, including horizontal or vertical cracks running the length of the wall, stair step cracks, and diagonal cracks in corners around doors and windows. Foundation wall cracks are generally caused by the natural shrinkage of concrete as it cures, foundation settlement, and expansive soils. Though a small crack may not be cause for concern, any significant crack could be an indicator of structural problems with your foundation.

We use different solutions to repair different types of wall cracks. Foundation piers are a good solution for settling foundations in weaker soils, as they provide an extra level of support for the home. Cracks in walls on living levels are sometimes caused by sagging crawl spaces, which we fix with our crawl space support jacks. Our experts will identify the cause of your wall cracks and provide you with the right solution.

If you have windows or doors that are difficult to open and close, misaligned locks, or cracks at the top corners of the openings, the problem may actually be with your foundation! While cracks above the window or door are an obvious warning sign, sticking windows and doors often indicate foundation settlement as well. Windows and doors are considered structural weak points and therefore are more susceptible to damage. When sections of your foundation sink into the soils around your home, the walls shift and change your house's alignment. This creates skewed openings that cause inflexible drywall to crack and leads to windows and doors getting stuck. Similar problems can result from sinking crawl space joists that cause your walls and floors to be unlevel.

No matter which problem you have, the solutions are very similar. For settling foundations, we install foundation piers to provide additional support to the walls and raise them to their original position. This will prevent further deterioration and ensure that your doors and windows function correctly. If the problem lies in the crawl space, we use crawl space support jacks to secure the joists and maintain the stability of your home.

Retaining walls are designed to resist the lateral pressure of the soil, but they are still susceptible to tilting, cracking, and buckling. The easiest ways to tell if your retaining wall is damaged is to look for tilting at the top of the wall or separation between the retaining wall and the adjacent structure. These issues can be caused by poor construction, poor drainage around the wall, and expanding soils. All of these factors create additional pressure on the wall and cause it to deteriorate. When you see these problems, your retaining wall needs repair or it will eventually fail completely.

We use two different methods to restore failing retaining walls: wall anchors and helical tiebacks. With both methods, support shafts are attached to the wall and installed in competent soils further away from the wall. This process stabilizes the wall to prevent additional movement and can also restore your wall to its original condition. Our experts will help you decide on the right product depending on the location of your wall and the makeup of the soils around it.