Before & After Photos

We received a call about this Traverse City home from one of the owners. The house is in a trust, but as the decision maker, he had been thinking about putting it up for sale. Before he could do that, he wanted to address some concerns about the basement.

The owner noticed that there were several horizontal cracks running along the walls. The Ayers team saw the same thing and noted that the foundation outside was also cracked and leaning slightly. They came to the conclusion that the basement walls were bowing inward. To fix this problem, the team used our PowerBrace system. The PowerBrace system features steel beams that reach from the ceiling, where they attached to the floor joists, all the way to the ground - where they are installed into the foundation. For this home, the team installed 14 different beams against the bowing walls. The system will relieve the wall of added pressure without hurting the foundation.  PowerBrace has the unique ability to be tightened, so the walls will continue to improve over time until they return to their original position. Whenever this homeowner decides he’s ready to sell, the basement walls will already be on their way to straight and upright.

The corner of this Traverse City, MI home was sinking. There were cracks in the slab foundation in the basement and the foundation walls had stairstep cracks making the problem quite clear. To lift and permanently support the failing foundation, we installed a series of helical piers along the affected walls. Helical piers are drilled down deep into the ground to competent. The heavy-duty foundation bracket is then put on top of the piers to prevent further settling of the foundation. Because the bottom of the foundation was only a short depth, the excavation required for this job was only about 2 square feet causing minimal disruption to the yard. Once the brackets were in place, the dirt can be filled back in so that the piers are not seen or even noticed.

Allen had some cracks outside of his basement walls and uneven floors in his home. He was nervous the walls would crumble and the home would fall. We used SmartJacks to support the floors and lift them back to the original level. These support posts are secured to the floors joists, cemented into the foundation, and can be adjusted anytime to keep the floors level! 

Allen had some floors that were sloping in his home. The support posts he had in the basement already did not all have a sturdy base and some were not supporting the floors above. He wanted the floors leveled and the foundation safe so we used SmartJacks. These support posts are made of steel and secured to the floor joists and have a sturdy base at the floor, secured with concrete in the ground. The SmartJacks stabilize the floors and raise it back up to a level position! 

Bowing walls can be hard to spot early in their transition. A slightly bent wall doesn’t look that different from a normal wall to the untrained eye. That was what happened to this homeowner. After purchasing his home one year ago, he began to notice horizontal cracks running along the walls. These sort of cracks, especially multiple ones, are a sign that there is added pressure on basement walls and they have started to bow as a result.

On the positive side, the bowing hadn’t affected any of the other walls - which is a common problem when foundation settles. Almost just as lucky for the homeowner, PowerBrace exists! PowerBraces are a unique support system used by Ayers Basement Systems, that are perfect for repairing bowing and cracked walls. PowerBrace steel beams are attached to the floor joists in the basement ceiling and buried into the foundation floor.  Repairing this severely bowed wall required 8 different PowerBrace beams. The beams are zinc coated steel and can be tightened, so they will continue to straighten the walls over time without the possibility of rust or mold. Let us know when you get tired of fighting your bowing walls and we’ll tag in the PowerBrace system!