Carbon Fiber vs. Tiebacks & Plate Anchors for Bowing Walls

As a contractor dealing with bowing and cracking basement walls, you have several repair options to choose from. These include tiebacks and plate anchors as well as carbon fiber straps. While each has the strength to repair basement walls, carbon fiber straps offer distinct advantages over tiebacks and plate anchors both from a contractor perspective and for your clients.

Comparing Carbon Fiber and Tiebacks/Plate Anchors

Strength

Carbon fiber, with a tensile strength to rate ratio greater than steel, has the strength to halt the wall’s movement in its tracks, stopping the bowing from getting worse. Steel tiebacks and plate anchors are also strong enough to withstand the force applied by the soil on the basement wall.

The difference comes in the area over which that strength is applied.

Carbon fiber straps run from the top of the wall to the bottom, so it provides its strength and rigidity over that entire area. With tiebacks and plate anchors, the strength is concentrated only on the plates mounted to the inside of the basement wall that the anchors attach to. This can lead to issues with blocks above or below the plates beginning to shift or crack, and if that happens, you will be the one getting the call from an angry customer.

Installation process

This is an area in which carbon fiber holds a significant advantage. With carbon fiber, the entire installation process is done in the home’s basement. You need the materials (carbon fiber, epoxy, etc.) and a few power tools like a drill and a grinder. That is it.

No excavations. No trailer full of materials and equipment. No dealing with landscaping. You get inside, you do the job right, and you leave.

That’s not the case with tiebacks and wall anchors.

With tiebacks, you need to excavate around the exterior of the basement wall because while the helical plates are meant to be screwed into the dirt, they aren’t meant to be screwed through a cinder block wall. With plate anchors, the excavations are smaller and further into the yard, but you still must dig and refill a hole in order to attach the plate to the end of the steel rod.

You will need heavier equipment, and the weather can pose a much greater obstacle to installation.

And where there are excavations, there is cleanup work to be done. Holes must be refilled and landscaping must be replaced. All of this increases the installation time and opens more areas for potential customer complaints.

Liability

Whenever you are doing excavation work, there is the chance of hitting utility lines. Not only does this add another step in the process (getting the public utilities marked), it also adds potential liability and safety issues on properties with private utilities or other buried lines on site.

Invasiveness

Some of the same aspects that make carbon fiber easier to install than tiebacks or plate anchors are the ones your clients will thank you for.

No excavation means no touching of landscaping, no replacing of landscaping and no dirt tracked between the excavation sites and the wall plates in the basement.

Also, while both repair methods involve materials being placed attached to the basement walls, carbon fiber is the easiest wall repair method to hide. It sits almost flush with the wall and can be painted or drywalled over.

Versatility

Tiebacks and wall anchors have one job: repair walls that are bowing inward.

Carbon fiber, on the other hand, gives you more options. Does the crack need to be reinforced? Carbon fiber can do that. Are there other cracks that need to be repaired in order to prevent water seepage? Carbon fiber can do that.

Carbon fiber can even be used in conjunction with other repair options such as tiebacks or wall anchors to provide superior strength and crack repair. This provides a more complete repair than either of those options can provide alone.

Carbon Fiber is the Superior Choice for Wall Repair

Carbon fiber is, quite simply, the better basement wall repair choice for contractors. It is lighter, easier to install, reduces liability issues, and virtually eliminates callbacks while offering the same strength and additional benefits for your potential customers.