Everything About Carbon Fiber – The Finest Solution When It Comes To Bowed Walls
One thing about carbon fiber that you should be aware of is the fact that it is considered as the greatest and the most inexpensive solution when it comes to bowed walls. Of course, this cannot be made possible if you do not ensure that carbon fibers are installed properly and appropriately into your walls.
Before we proceed on talking more about carbon fibers, we will first discuss with you about the reason or reasons why basement wall ten to bow down. Being a homeowner, for sure, you already noticed how the walls of your basement are always under pressure, mostly because of the accumulated dirt and rocks mixed with the constant cycles of thaw as well as freeze. What usually happens when a new foundation is built or poured in is that the surrounding area will be backfilled and will start to settle down. When the rain comes, the ground that is surrounding your foundation will become saturated and starts to get heavier. When this happens, the soil will get compacted and horizontal pressure will be added to our basement walls. That is not it at all since the constant cycles of freeze and thaw will lead to the expanding and contracting of the soil at different depths, causing the pressure to move up and down your foundation. As time goes by, the inward pressure will build up to the point that cracks will become visible to the foundation of your home. In some cases, the first cracks will appear near the frost line. Take note that these cracks will begin to appear even with just as little as five hundred fifty pounds of pressure. We want you to know that the adding of concrete patio or driveway will only double up the pressure that the foundation of your home will have and this will lead to the acceleration of the cracking of your basement walls.
If you do not want this to happen to your basement walls, then you have to think about installing carbon fiber. However, when installing carbon fibers, you have to make it a point to ensure that you do it right, otherwise, you are only adding another problem to your problem. Always bear in mind how carbon fibers or carbon fiber straps that are properly installed will create a repair that is much stronger and much durable than steel beams. It can strengthen your foundation to the point that it will be able to withstand fifty thousand psi. Moreover, when you properly and appropriately install carbon fiber straps, your foundation will be held together for quite some time and that time is enough for your basement walls to go steady and not bow down.