How Wall Anchors Work To Prevent Foundation Issues

Foundation walls that are under pressure and buckling inwards can severely impact the rest of your home. Floors can slope, windows and doors will lean, and cracks can form around seals and on the upper floors. Even a slight lean can cause major problems!

When you notice a foundation wall showing the signs of cracking, leaning inward, and bending under pressure, a wall anchor may be necessary to solve the problem before it gets worse. It stabilizes the wall to straighten the foundation without a lot of disruption or costly, more invasive repairs.

What Is A Wall Anchor And How Can It Prevent Foundation Problems?

A wall anchor works by establishing an anchor point in the soil outside the foundation and pulling the wall towards a flat position. It uses three main components: a long rod, a wall plate, and an earth anchor in the soil outside the foundation. We embed the heavy-duty earth anchor into the soil surrounding the foundation that is compact and undisturbed. If the earth isn’t firm, as if it’s too sandy or has too much clay, we might need to find another area to anchor – or another solution

Each anchor is connected by a steel rod to a wall plate. This puts pressure on the inside of the foundation wall and makes it possible to stop any inward movement and further damage to walls and the rest of your home. It also allows us to tighten the wall anchors, and over time, this process can move bowed foundation walls back to their original position.

How We Install Wall Anchors

The first step in installing a wall anchor is to dig holes outside the foundation and set an anchor plate in each of them. Next, our team drills a hole through the damaged wall for every anchor plate needed. We insert an anchor rod made of steel through the hole and drive it into the soil until it reaches the anchor plate. We then attach it and fill the holes around the anchor plate with soil

On the inside of the foundation, we place a large rectangular clamping plate over the end of the rod that protrudes from the wall. We then tighten a nut on the rod’s threaded end to exert extra pressure on the wall. This tightening process helps force the wall back to where it should be.

 

What Are The Benefits Of Wall Anchors? 

Wall anchors are cost-effective ways to relieve pressure, keep basement walls from cracking, and even straighten them out. We can install anchors at any time of the year no matter what the weather and most installations take no longer than one day. The process is unobtrusive and has little impact on the lawn, walls, and interior flooring of your home. It doesn’t even hurt your basement space if it’s finished!