This older West Des Moines home had a foundation wall that was well past its service life. The original construction had deteriorated to the point where the wall was no longer providing reliable structural support — water came through freely, and the wall had shifted enough to create visible misalignment with the floor framing above.
West Des Moines sits on glacial till deposits with heavy clay content. Iowa's deep freeze-thaw cycles are particularly punishing on older foundation walls — water gets into cracks and joints, freezes, expands, and grinds the wall apart from the inside out over decades. By the time this homeowner called us, temporary fixes weren't going to cut it.
We excavated the full perimeter of the affected wall, shored up the structure, and removed the failed wall down to the footing. After verifying the footing was sound, we formed and poured a new reinforced concrete wall with proper rebar tying into the existing foundation at both ends.
Before backfilling, we applied a waterproofing membrane to the exterior face and corrected the grading to ensure surface water drains away from the house. This poured concrete wall replacement gives the homeowner a foundation section stronger than the original — designed to handle Iowa's soil conditions and freeze-thaw cycles for the life of the home. See our Lee's Summit anchor repair for how we handle bowed walls that still have enough structural integrity to save.
