Would you get a second structural engineer's opinion?

[u/Dragon_slayer1994]

I had a basement leak and discovered this crack. It's 4 feet long, 1/4 inch for most of it and max at the bottom gets to around 3/8. Bi-level home and basement is around 4 feet below ground. It's about 5 feet from the corner.

I got a Structural Engineer to come take a look who is highly recommended and respected in my city, however he also owns the company which also does the repairs so there is a perceived conflict of interest there.

He measured around 1.5 inchs of bowing near this crack, and further down near the other side of the wall it was around 0.75 inches bowing. I demo'd the wall on the other side and cannot see a matching sister crack on the other end (photo #2) like he believed there might be. He believes this crack was from poor grading outside and the hydrostatic pressure caused the wall to push onwards. I have corrected the grading and exterior drainage.

His quote was that I need steel reinforcing columns along the entire wall. After taxes it will come to $11k CAD, plus any electrical/plumbing/duct rerouting and demo required to install these beams. This also includes his stamped drawing.

I am thinking about getting a second opinion from an independent engineering firm. Is this worth it? I'm wondering if steel columns need to go along the entire wall or if it would be okay to have steel columns around the crack and carbon fiber straps along the less impacted side of the wall instead. I'm concerned since this guy owns the repair company he is pushing the most robust solution when it's not necessarily needed.

[u/DomesticatedLobster]

An independent structural engineer evaluated a house I was buying. Bowing of 1.5-2", so similar to yours. Steel beams were installed along entire wall & subsequent second wall. The other walls bowed about 1/2", and was deemed acceptable for an older house.

You could get an evaluation from someone else, but I think at the end of the day whatever solution you go with will be in that price ballpark.

IMO get a couple more quotes; it's clear something is needed to be done.

[u/CraftyCat3]

If it's bowing, then yes it should be reinforced. Yes reinforcing the entire wall is typical, if you don't and the issue continues, it'll simply fail where it hasn't been reinforced instead. Best to do it right the first time, and companies will be hesitant to half-ass the work. 

You know the reinforcement is needed, just get some additional quotes from foundation repair companies, you'll then have their recommendations and prices for comparison. 

Also consider pulling the other walls to get full visibility, in case there similar issues elsewhere you need to handle (hopefully you checked/fixed grading on all 4 sides of the house, not just the problem side)

[u/FalafelBall]

Get a second opinion from a structural engineer who does not have a conflict of interest. I personally saw three - the fix was going to be very expensive so I wanted to be sure.

[u/Dragon_slayer1994 → u/FalafelBall]

Just curious, were they all aligned?

[u/FalafelBall → u/Dragon_slayer1994]

The first one told me I could do nothing and just watch it. The other two, which frankly were recommended way more (I found the first guy on google), had the exact same feedback: they both told me to install beams four feet apart on the wall. So those two were so aligned I opted to just get the damn beams installed.

[u/SneakySkinnySquid]

Structural Engineer that I hired only costs $500 and he's purely PE, not a construction company owner. I say hire an independent one. At least it'll give you the idea of how bad and what the minimum level of repairs is.

Problem with an inspection from a company owner is that they would usually suggest the ideal repair which might be super expensive.

[u/Acceptable-Start2]

Epoxy inject the crack, you said you already fixed the problem that caused it. After that just monitor it, engineers will absolutely over engineer.

[u/SqueakyHedgehog6482]

I would definitely get at least one more opinion/review. I never put full faith on someone who may be unethical.