What is a Foundation Wall Stabilization System?

A foundation wall stabilization system is used to stabilize foundation walls that are experiencing inward movement and distress due to excessive lateral earth or hydrostatic pressures generated by unbalanced load conditions. Foundation Supportworks offers four different solutions for these issues:

• GeoLock® Wall Anchors
• PowerBrace™ Wall Repair System
• CarbonArmor® Wall Reinforcing System
• EverBrace® Wall Restoration System

These systems are more commonly used for residential projects but are occasionally considered for commercial applications as well.

Selecting the Right Wall Stabilization System

Selecting the best wall repair system is sometimes about preference. However, it can also depend on other site-specific factors.

GeoLock Wall Anchor System®

Many often choose GeoLock anchors as the first choice because they are a highly active system. However, some situations that could limit their applicability include:

• Since the earth plates are typically located about 12 feet away from the foundation wall, the potential locations may be affected by trees, pavement, decks, or other obstacles located on the surface. Property lines or other setback limitations could also be a consideration.
• Gravel, cobble, tree roots, utilities, or other subsurface obstructions could make it difficult to advance the steel rod through the soil and out to the earth plate.
• Steep grades near the foundation may require the earth plates to be located further below grade than normal.

PowerBrace Wall Bracing System

For some, the PowerBrace system makes the most sense because the entire system is installed on the inside of the structure, so there is no disturbance to exterior elements. Some limitations for this system include:

• Utilities located in the floor system above or along the foundation wall at the required PowerBrace locations may need to be relocated or temporarily removed.
• Certain types of floor joists or floor systems are incompatible with the PowerBrace connection components.

While specialized connections can help overcome some of these difficulties, they will cause the project costs to increase substantially.

CarbonArmor Wall Reinforcing System

CarbonArmor is often used when the GeoLock or PowerBrace systems are not preferred. It is an ideal choice when the wall is showing early stages of distress, and the owner only wants to stabilize the wall and doesn't want to try and recover any movement that has occurred. With its thin profile, this system is also the least invasive and is easily concealed. It is not a good option if the foundation has significant movement or if there is shear movement between the CMU blocks.

EverBrace Wall Restoration System

Many foundation repair solutions, including wall anchors, steel beams, and carbon fiber, are not viable options with older types of construction materials such as brick, clay block, fieldstone, or even highly deteriorated and broken poured concrete or concrete block.

The EverBrace system is used mainly for providing lateral support to foundation walls that are structurally compromised, but it can also be designed to provide supplemental support for vertical gravity loads. The EverBrace system utilizes steel beams and panels for the support elements, with expanding spray polyurethane foam placed between the panels and the foundation wall. In addition to the benefit of the foam expanding to match the contours of both the panels and the wall, it also provides significant insulation properties.

For additional information, including technical product specifications, refer to the Wall Stabilization Systems section in our Technical Manual.