During underpinning, we assess the soil pressure, the type and condition of the foundation, and the thickness of foundation wall to determine if it requires additional lateral reinforcement.

 

We provide lateral reinforcement for existing foundation walls that cannot support the lateral loads applied by the exterior soil. A common way to do this is by casting steel into the underpinning, which runs from the basement-ceiling joist down past the new basement slab level. Alternately, we install wood backup walls that are anchored into the concrete slab and the joists above, in order to transfer lateral loads to the newly framed walls.