Carbon fiber reinforcement
Strengthen your home's foundation with carbon fiber
How carbon fiber keeps your foundation strong
At H&N Basement Worx, we use carbon fiber straps to hold your foundation steady. Think of these straps as a big, strong hug for your home’s foundation, keeping it from moving inward. These straps are great for fixing four main problems:
- Walls that bow inward or outward
- Walls that have slid down
- Walls that are pushed by soil
- Cracked walls, whether they’re made of solid concrete or blocks
Before we install these straps, some parts of your foundation might need a bit more care. That’s why we always work with a structural engineer to make sure we do everything just right. They help us decide where the straps should go and how many we need based on your home’s specific details. Once that’s all planned out, it’s time to start the work.
Beyond carbon fiber: securing your foundation
Core pinning
Once a block wall shears at the bottom, steel pins (rods) get installed into the footing through the hollow cores of the blocks in a concrete block foundation. After the pins are installed they are surrounded with high strength grout. This procedure locks the bottom 2 – 3 courses of blocks together so they cannot move inward any further.
Top of foundation reinforcement
There are times when a foundation is not connected properly to the rest of the house and the top section is forced inwards by soil pressure. When this happens it needs to be stopped so a special reinforcement needs to be installed to prevent this from future movement. Either the top of the reinforcement strap is extended up into the joist cavity and bolted firmly in place OR a separate “neck tie” carbon fiber kit is used. Either way future foundation movement is now eliminated for good.
Epoxy crack injection
Epoxy crack injection is used in poured concrete foundations that have structural cracks that require additional help. Before we install carbon fiber reinforcement straps we fill the cracks with 2 part epoxy to seal and bond the foundation back together internally. Once cured we can install our straps to the foundation to ensure it is reinforced properly.
Mortar joint repair
Mortar joint repair is required when working on concrete block foundations that are bowed or have shifted. The installation of carbon fiber reinforcement straps needs to take place on a flat smooth surface. Missing mortar joints need to be repacked in the area of the install so the carbon fiber can make 100% contact to the foundation.
