Garage walls bowing out

3/6/2018 at 2:23:10 PM

Hi James

The first step I would recommend in your case would be to bring in a structural engineer from your area for a site consultation. The issues you mentioned can be attributed to many sources. Bringing in a professional on site would allow them to investigate further and eliminate unlikely possibilities.

Things to look for are:

- has there been any recent movement?

- are structural elements exposed. It will make it easier for the professional assessment if members are exposed.

- can you see any discontinuity on your wall top plates?

- could differential settlement cause a rotation in your wall?

Many more things would need to be checked to have a conclusive answer. As well, you will want your engineer to provide recommendations based on his conclusion. By the sound of it, you would need some redesign work from that engineer to address the issue locally without tearing down the whole place. The engineer will be able to sign off on the design. I would recommend to use the same structural engineer as the one hired for the site consultation. This is typically cheaper as they will already have all your information.

Cheers

3/6/2018 at 9:34:39 PM

you have to consult a structure engineer or may be even a Geological Engineer as might be something is wrong with the soil. Temporary solutions through any contractor won't help much, first you have to take the right approach from a professional then hire a qualified contractor to perform the engineer recommendation. It might be your insurance company would share the cost of the repair with you but first try to figure out the cause of such problem.