dirt basement walls

[Lisa has a problem]

My house was built in 1933. the walls of the basement are falling apart. There is a lot of dirt on the floor from the foundation. i need to know how i can fix this.

[pushkins]

it seems Lisa does have a problem...
Typically in dirt basement wall situations like yours you will need to get someone to apply a concrete coating over the top of the dirt to help stabilize it.
Until you can get this done you will need to keep an eye on the condition of this dirt wall, obviously you cannot allow it to keep falling away from the foundation.

[HayZee518]

if your walls are supported by nothing but dirt, then I doubt you have any foundation. the first floor is just resting on concrete block or field stone. the cellar was just dug out after the house was built. applying concrete by hand may not do. you'd probably need to have the concrete applied with "some force behind it" as in "shot-crete. this is concrete applied under pressure to a screen of some type. shot-crete is used to make the walls of dug out swimming pools.

[pushkins]

Shot-crete was what I was referring to.

[HayZee518]

sorry Dan, didn't know.

[tudor]

Thanks for this info, guys. Very interesting you can do this. Could shot-crete possibly be used inside existing foundations that are leaky too?

[Lisa has a problem]

Hello Gentelman,
Thanks for the great tips on the basement wall problem. Does anyone know of anything I can try to do it myself?

[HayZee518]

Not really. Even if you were to install courses of concrete block inside the existing walls, you'd need to anchor them through the dirt so they wouldn't "slide" on you. Each block weighs about20 lbs.

[Lisa has a problem]

Thanks heyzee518, Do you think I could put some kind of re-bar ( i'm not sure if that is the right word, but hopefully you know what i mean ) through the dirt with wire mesh in the dirt then add courses of concrete to build up the wall? My furnace is right next to the problem wall and offers little space to work. I can't really afford to hire a pool guy to come in to do this. I am assuming it will be quite expensive Thank You for the info.

[pushkins]

You might be surprised at the cost, especially if you need just one area done (right now). Shot-crete is used many times for exterior embankment retention as well. The cost may not be all that bad considering you probably don't need it trowelled (and finishing adds a large chunk of the cost) to a finish and may well be prepared to have the rough texture that it is blasted on with.