The Challenge
A homeowner faced lateral pressure from surrounding soils pushing the foundation wall inward. The foundation was not settling vertically — it was being pushed in laterally by surrounding soils.
To straighten and support the bowed wall with structural beams, full-depth excavation was required to relieve soil pressure before repairs could be completed.
Traditional backfill challenges:
- Soil near foundations is typically unsuitable for reuse due to fines and moisture content
- Excavated soil must be hauled away
- New backfill must be imported
- Backfill must be compacted in lifts
- Repeated truck and skid steer traffic can damage landscaping
The site also had limited access, making repeated trucking and material handling inefficient and disruptive.
The Solution
Using the large FillFoam system, the excavation was backfilled efficiently — in just a few hours — using only one tote set of material.
FillFoam fills subsurface voids with minimal disruption to your property. Its rapid cure time reduces downtime, and the lightweight application process helps alleviate the need for heavy equipment—helping protect landscaping, hardscapes, and nearby structures from unnecessary damage.
FillFoam advantages:
- Lightweight backfill
- Placed through a hose — no dump trucks required
- No post-compaction required
- Creates one solid, monolithic mass
- Will not settle like soil
- Not affected by water the way soil can be
Acts as a cushion, reducing lateral stress on the repaired wall
Before backfilling, the exterior foundation wall was sealed with HMI’s dual polyurethane spray seal.
Project Details
Excavation dimensions:
- 6 feet deep
- 2 feet wide
- 60 feet long
Wall repair:
- 12 steel beams installed to straighten and support the wall
Backfill installation:
- Completed in hours, not day(s)
- One tote set of FillFoam material
- No compaction equipment required
FillFoam Estimated Efficiency Improvements vs. Traditional Soil Backfill
Directional improvements for a project of this size:
- 40% reduction in total labor time
- 50% reduction in heavy equipment usage
- Up to 60% reduction in site disruption and landscape repair
- 30% overall project efficiency improvement (labor + equipment + material handling)
- 70% reduction in trucking-related fuel consumption and emissions
These estimates reflect reduced hauling, elimination of compaction cycles, fewer machine hours, and minimized restoration work.
Conclusion
This project demonstrates how FillFoam streamlines backfilling, reducing labor, equipment demands, site disruption, and overall project time — while providing a lightweight, stable backfill that reduces lateral stress on repaired foundation walls.
While highlighted here in a bowed wall repair application, FillFoam is well suited for any foundation repair project requiring excavation and backfill — including piering, wall stabilization, waterproofing, and structural reinforcement work.
