# Basement Concrete Wall... Can I CUT these off?



## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Peacemaker said:


> Hello all,
> First post, First Question for me.
> 
> I have these Metal rod things sticking out of my concrete wall. Not sure exactly what they are, but they are letting 'moisture' into my 'Cold room' which is located under the stairs (Basement Front Left corner of the house).
> ...


 
I'm sure you can cut them back,can't imagine what they were for,had to be there when the walls were poured,the bolt that is, plate and nut were added after forms were stripped.


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## 1950home (Aug 4, 2012)

Could it be some type of a tie back?
Is that the only wall they are in?
Do the walls have any bow to them?


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## housegsx (Oct 21, 2010)

Looks like a wall anchor to me. And if there is water coming in around them, my guess is that's why they were needed.


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## Duckweather (Mar 26, 2012)

Is there anything on the other side of the wall? They look like the bolts that hold a precast bulkhead on. Or used for anchoring walls poured at right angle to foundation.


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## Peacemaker (Sep 5, 2012)

housegsx said:


> Looks like a wall anchor to me. And if there is water coming in around them, my guess is that's why they were needed.


I don't think they were needed for that purpose... There is no 'Water', just a bit of moisture buildup over the years due to the 'tiny seams' where the foundation meets the floor and through the bolt / anchor things.



1950home said:


> Could it be some type of a tie back?
> Is that the only wall they are in?
> Do the walls have any bow to them?


Not sure what a tie-back is, but it IS the only wall they are in and the walls look VERY straight and solid and with no cracks or anything...



Duckweather said:


> Is there anything on the other side of the wall? They look like the bolts that hold a precast bulkhead on. Or used for anchoring walls poured at right angle to foundation.


Hmmm, "Bulkhead"... THAT got me to thinking. I have 'Concrete Stairs' outside and directly 'above' where those two Bolts are!~ Could that be what they are for? The Height seems 'off', but perhaps its just the way I'm measuring / looking at it? Could there be anchors BELOW the concrete stairs that might add to the differential? 

Also, the steel plates behind these Nuts have a decent size bow / deflection to them, so MY guess is that whatever this threaded rod is connected to, must indeed be HEAVY and/or was pulled VERY tight.

Cheers,


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

It looks like someone went through a lot of trouble to put those in.....I would be inclinded to thing that removal would not be a good idea....

Hopefully some experts will chime in.


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## allthumbsdiy (Jul 15, 2012)

I am not an expert either but that looks like some sort of a tie back system to keep the wall in place.

Sort of like the World Trade Center Slurry Walls?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mapplegate/1380111770/

If it's just a small amount of water/moisture, I would get a dehumidifer and leave those alone imo.


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

Put up a picture of the outside steps when you get a chance. My guess is that they either anchor a set of pre-cast steps, or they are holding an angle iron ledge/etc... for a cast-in-place set of steps.......


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## luckattack (Mar 8, 2011)

Is the other side of the wall dirt and you cannot get to it? If so that wall is a retaining wall. Those look like tiebacks. For some retaining walls tiebacks are provided to help pull the wall so it doesnt push over if the normal footing is not adaquate. I would not remove it. These does not look like form ties as form ties are removable.


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## Peacemaker (Sep 5, 2012)

jomama45 said:


> Put up a picture of the outside steps when you get a chance. My guess is that they either anchor a set of pre-cast steps, or they are holding an angle iron ledge/etc... for a cast-in-place set of steps.......


Will do... The steps are really 'One Step' and it's Thick and Heavy.



luckattack said:


> Is the other side of the wall dirt and you cannot get to it? If so that wall is a retaining wall. Those look like tiebacks. For some retaining walls tiebacks are provided to help pull the wall so it doesnt push over if the normal footing is not adaquate. I would not remove it. These does not look like form ties as form ties are removable.


Correct, Dirt on the other side. In the Winter this room is nice and cool / cold. Basically this other side of this wall is my front door and One concrete step and of course... Front yard.
Even if I did take off the nut and plate, these ties (or) rods could never be pulled out. They are attached to something 'significant'.


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## luckattack (Mar 8, 2011)

not quite true...if they are indeed tie backs then they would have been designed with both the plate contact surface to the concrete and in turn is held by the nut to rod. it is suppose to be tied back to something significant but the only resistance would be that plate connection at the wall.



Peacemaker said:


> Will do... The steps are really 'One Step' and it's Thick and Heavy.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

Highly unlikely that they're "tie-backs" or "deadmen"..............


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

One thought comes to mind, ask your neighbors if they have the same thing in their basement. Or if they had and removed them, with any ill-effects. 

UPDATE YOUR PROFILE to include your location. That would help give advice appropriate to your location. If you're in a location with cold winters it's possible they bolted the stairs back into the house in order to avoid frost heave moving them up/down during the freeze/thaw cycle in winter. Taking the bolts out, if that's what they're doing, might mean eventual cracking or movement in the stairs.


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## Peacemaker (Sep 5, 2012)

wkearney99 said:


> One thought comes to mind, ask your neighbors if they have the same thing in their basement. Or if they had and removed them, with any ill-effects.
> 
> UPDATE YOUR PROFILE to include your location. That would help give advice appropriate to your location. If you're in a location with cold winters it's possible they bolted the stairs back into the house in order to avoid frost heave moving them up/down during the freeze/thaw cycle in winter. Taking the bolts out, if that's what they're doing, might mean eventual cracking or movement in the stairs.



From Alberta Canada and YES, we get some incredibly COLD Winters (-30 farenheit) for a couple of weeks at a time so that could be the case. I also checked with my neighbor and he should be getting back to me right away...

Cheers,


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

allthumbsdiy said:


> I am not an expert either but that looks like some sort of a tie back system to keep the wall in place.
> 
> Sort of like the World Trade Center Slurry Walls?
> 
> ...


 
You can't see slurry walls,as they are subsurface barriers and are below grade.


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## Peacemaker (Sep 5, 2012)

Canarywood1 said:


> You can't see slurry walls,as they are subsurface barriers and are below grade.



Yeah, that's weird... I'm not entirely sure what they are (even after reading the linked info...), but my walls have this interesting feature where it looks like they have a small slit every few feet or so and on VERY cold days there seems to be the 'slightest whisper' of air from these 'slits' (don't know what else to call them). Some of them seem to have a tiny bit of 'rust' stain below the vertical slit. Very odd, but wonder if it has something to do with 'air-flow'??

Cheers,


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## Duckweather (Mar 26, 2012)

It is likely they attach the steps, either L shaped with the L buried in the concrete and the straight end is the end you can see. They keep the step from pulling away from the house as the frost may affect the end away from the foundation. Cutting them off the steps would probably separate from the foundation eventually. A little or a lot depending on soil, frost, etc. Are the slits you talk about on every wall? They do make precast wall sections that interlock for foundations. If only on one wall or a couple places are they on a wall that has no dirt on the other side? Then they could be old openings that were filled with concrete and the slits are the joints. Hint, those would be in pairs.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

VERY cold days there seems to be the 'slightest whisper' of air from these 'slits' (don't know what else to call them). Some of them seem to have a tiny bit of 'rust' stain below the vertical slits.


I've never seen anything like that,what part of the country are you in??


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## Peacemaker (Sep 5, 2012)

*Thanks Everyone!*

Thanks for all that helped and gave suggestions...

I wanted to close this Thread earlier, but one of my Family members had a Stroke and things are 'just' getting back to normal... (quick detection made all the difference!)

Anyway,

Indeed these Bolts and Plates were put into place after the foundation was put in when the house was built. They are anchors for the outside concrete steps and would likely tilted and broke-off had I removed those Bolts and nuts. Instead, using a cut-off tool, I cut them back to the Nuts and 'patched over' them with hydraulic cement. Before I did this, I chipped all around the plates and removed the 'old patch' that was there to begin with... Once that was done, I used a Concrete sealing formula wash (similar to Kryton) that enters the concrete and crystallizes. I sealed the entire wall and 2' of the floor (also filled cracks with Hydraulic cement) and prepped as per directions.... Tested the walls with paper and cardboard and Final result is a nice Cool Room with NO moisture!! :thumbsup:

Thanks again for all your help!

Cheers,:wink:


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## dengle (Feb 8, 2012)

I have bilco doors in my basement and i have similar bolts where those precast stairs meet the foundation to hold them in place. It's quite possible those are meant for that purpose as to your precast stairs.

EDIT: And if I would read through the rest of the last post, I would have seen you figured it out. BUT, you have confirmation now


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