It has been estimated that about 76% of single-family homes in the US have a garage or carport. Whether used for protecting vehicles, extra storage, or that really cool man cave, the presence of a garage can have a very positive effect on a home’s value. But if the garage door, walls, or floor are in less-than-perfect condition, the presence of a garage could actually hurt the home’s value. While several different factors can damage your garage, such as heavy rains and soil pressure, repairing your bowed or cracked walls and floors doesn’t have to be a huge investment.
StrongHold’s carbon fiber fabric is easy to install!
Many soils expand when they get wet, and shrink as they dry out. As the soil expands and contracts, it often creates enough force to cause major damage to building and home foundations. In North Carolina, the expansion and contraction of the local soil composition exerted lateral pressures on a 23-year old home with a two-car garage. As a result, two of the masonry walls in the garage developed a one-inch bow and a ¼” crack.
The homeowner chose a combination of bi-directional and uni-directional carbon fiber fabric to complete the garage wall repair. StrongHold’s bi-directional crack repair kit confined the crack, while the uni-directional fabric strengthened the walls, preventing future movement. In cases in which a wall is both bowed and cracked, it is imperative to confine the crack prior to repairing the bow. After cleaning the surface to rid it of paint, dust, and delaminated concrete, HJ3’s StrongHold certified installer primed the walls and installed the StrongHold crack repair system. Once the crack was confined, the uni-directional fabric strips were applied in evenly spaced vertical intervals to prevent further movement of the walls.
StrongHold’s carbon fiber successfully strengthened the bowed wall.
StrongHold’s carbon fiber straps are ready to be painted.
By repairing their walls with HJ3’s carbon fiber instead of steel alternatives, the homeowner saved almost $10,000 and a week’s worth of time. The repair was completed in one day with no excavating or heavy equipment, and is officially one of 8,000 StrongHold home success stories. If you have a bowed or cracked garage wall, contact HJ3 at info@hj3.com.
