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[email protected] empress2454@wowway.com is offline
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Default Reinforcing concrete block wall?

at this point, hire a pro or rebuild the wall compleately

Empressess #124457


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wrote:
I have a concrete block wall (foundation for a rear single-story
enclosed porch, 10 feet long, 6 blocks high... maybe 3.5-4 feet high?)
that has buckled inward (as much as 6" in center) due to moisture
freezing/expanding in the ground outside. The top course-and-a-half is
above the exterior grade, and the inside of the wall (under the porch
floor) has dirt up about a third of the height.

We have done the following already:
- installed gutters above to route water away from foundation
- dug down to bottom (unmoved) course on both inside and out
- jacked up porch floor to take weight off wall, and shifted blocks
back to plumb
- made plans to fill the 1-foot space immediately outside wall with
stone gravel to improve water drainage
- made plans to grade dirt away from house to improve water drainage

My question: What steps can/should I take to keep the blocks where I
have (re)placed them?

Obviously, the cement seams between the blocks are long-since
compromised. My thoughts include:
- metal mesh bolted to inside of wall (attached to every block) to take
tensile loads of future pressure on outside
- parging cement on inside/outside surfaces to keep moisture from
between blocks
- building buttresses of blocks inside (think steps of blocks,
perpendicular to wall, at say three points along length)
- piling/packing the dirt back aalong the inside wall surface
- pour a concrete/cement buttress along inside length (not easy, since
porch floor is in the way)

Which (combination) of these options would you employ, or what other
suggestions might you have?

Additional info: This house in in upstate NY (Ithaca). We are fixing
up to sell - already have new residence in NJ.

Thanks for any advice,

Teo