Cracked Foundation Repair Case Studies

Concrete Block Reinforcment

Company: Pentry Builders Inc.

Owner/Location: United States Government/Virginia

Description: The US Government was performing specialized testing which required containers to be constructed without the use of steel. The Reinforcer and The Reinforcer Shield were used to replace the conventional steel reinforcement. The project consisted of two large self-contained boxes made of 12-inch hollow concrete masonry units (CMU) or cinder blocks.

The first box was 28' long x 12' wide x 12' high and would be used to hold small pea gravel, which was lightly compacted. Topsoil was compacted in the second box to a minimum of 90% of the Modified Proctor. This box was 26' long x 18' wide x 9'4" tall.

The Engineers at Nationwide Reinforcing, Ltd. designed this unique system utilizing both The Reinforcer plate and Reinforcer Shield.

Building Foundation Repair

Company: CVS Pharmacy

Owner/Location: Wheeling, West Virginia

Description: This low-lying area of West Virginia frequently floods during heavy rains. Due to the frequent flooding, local engineers required an upgrade to the 8-inch hollow CMU or cinder blocks to resist the hydrostatic pressure during flooding. The walls for this structure were 15 feet tall. The Reinforcer strips were placed 5-feet on center around the interior of the structure’s concrete block.

Concrete Slab Floor Reinforcement

Company: Department of Transportation

Owner/Location: Clinton County, Ohio

Description: This three-span-concrete slab was under designed for current traffic volumes and loads. The County wanted to eliminate load restrictions on the bridge so that school busses could safely cross.

The Reinforcer and The Reinforcer Shield were utilized to add stiffness and flexural strength to the existing concrete bridge deck. The Reinforcer was installed in 40-foot lengths on 12-inch centers and the shield was placed in 40-foot lengths continuously across the bottom of the slab.

Upon completion of the job, full scale load testing was performed to confirm the design and all restrictions were successfully eliminated.

Foundation Repair

Company: Penn State College/ Behrend College

Owner/Location: State College, PA/ School of Engineering

Description: In this particular building on the campus of Penn State University, the bond beams were not properly installed at the corners of the structure during construction.

Steele Structural engineers, a local engineering firm worked with Nationwide Reinforcing’s engineers on designing a solution to correct the deficiencies in the existing bond beams. The answer was to install (2) 50-foot long strips of The Reinforcer in each corner (interior and exterior) of the structure to strengthen the deficient bond beams. 

Basement Foundation Repair

Company: Klein Basement Systems in Erie, PA

Owner/Location: Erie Metropolitan Housing Authority

Description: This particular project had been in the works for over a year before it was awarded. It just goes to show that perseverance does pay off.

The project consisted of nearly 100 houses that were owned by the Housing Authority. Most of the houses had bowing basement walls, which required stabilization in order to render the homes safe. Nearly 10,000 feet of The Reinforcer was utilized for this project.

This is the kind of project that any dealer can get with the proper marketing and persistence. Here is what Doug Klein had to say about adding The Reinforcer to his business:

"Just wanted to take a moment to let you know how pleased we are with The Reinforcer. As you know, the Housing Authority job (approximately 10,000 feet of Reinforcer) was a huge boom to our business. This product is one of the most profitable facets of our business.

"It's great that there is no heavy, expensive equipment needed, thus, no costly breakdowns. Customers love it because it is so unobtrusive, and best of all it works, plain and simple."

- Doug Klein

Commercial Basement Wall Reinforcement

Engineer: Robert A. Baumann, P.E.

Company: The Basement Doctor

Owner: Faith Mission

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Description: This 18 course unreinforced CMU wall was under designed for the nearly 10 feet of Ohio clay backfill.  With the wall beginning to bow and fail structurally in tension, the Structural engineer performed an engineering analysis to determine the appropriate repair method to correct the problem.  Robert A. Baumann engineering, recommended placing 20 Reinforcer straps along the interior face of the wall at approximately 2 foot spacing to structurally reinforce the wall.

The Basement Doctor was awarded the project and installed the twenty - 10 foot long Reinforcer straps along the face of the basement wall.  All of the work was inspected and approved by the structural engineer and the owners were given clean bill of health for their failing wall.