How The Dwyer Company Stabilized a Rotating Basement Subwall at a Cincinnati Home
- Project Type: Residential
- Project Services: Foundation Repair, Helical Tiebacks/Anchors
The Problem
Cracks and other signs of structural distress showed up at the back of a Cincinnati home. Civil Solutions worked with The Dwyer Company to trace them, and the cause turned out to be the basement subwall, the lower section of foundation wall holding back the ground behind the house. The top of that wall was rotating out, pushed by soil pressure building behind it.
Soil pressure does not let up on its own. A wall that has started to rotate keeps moving as long as the load behind it stays, and the cracking at the back of the house tracks that movement. Holding the wall in place had to come before any cosmetic repair.
Our Solution
The Dwyer Company installed a micropile tieback system through the subwall. Tiebacks are anchors drilled back into the soil behind a wall and tensioned against it, so the wall is held by the same ground it retains. Twelve anchors went in, each designed to support 10 kips in tension.
Civil Solutions engineered the repair and Model Group ran the project at the property. Dwyer’s crew installed each anchor through the existing wall, which stabilized the subwall in place and left the hillside behind it undisturbed.
The Results
- Twelve tieback anchors now hold the subwall against the soil pressure that started the rotation.
- Each anchor carries a design capacity of 10 kips in tension.
- The wall was stabilized where it stands, so no section of it had to be rebuilt.
- Every anchor point was reached with the existing deck left in place.
The Challenge We Worked Through
Why This Matters
- Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
- Completed: January 31, 2024
Seeing cracks where a hillside meets your foundation?
Deep History • Solid Choice
The Dwyer Company installs tieback anchors and other stabilization systems for basement walls under pressure from the soil behind them. Send us what you are seeing at the wall and we will tell you what is moving.