Helical Ties for Masonry Repair

[Wilson2992]

I am considering the use of helical ties in a retrofit application. We have a 4" conc. block chase that was built adjacent to the 8" load bearing block wall. The block chase was not tied to the load bearing wall when built, and is now pulling away. Can anyone comment on the suitability of helical ties in this type of situation? Note that the total chase height is 12'.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Do you mean as in earth anchors? If so, they work quite well when installed properly. Could you not just tie the walls together with some all thread, plates and nuts??

 

[Wilson2992]

Sorry if it wasn't clear. This is all above grade. The masonry anchors would tie the chase to the load bearing wall. Threaded rod, plates and nuts would work but I am looking for something that would not be (as) visible.

 

[csd72]

I assume you are talking about helities

http://www.cc-consulting.net/index.php

In my experience they work fine as long as the workmanship is good.

 

[bigmig]

we have had great success with the "helix" anchors. we had to to an in-situ field load test to determine the proper values to use for tension. Usually the anchor wins. The anchor manufacturers sell the tester for some ridiculous amount of money, but in our case we just rigged our own and did about 5 tests.

In our experience, they drove really well and were tough as all get out under tension loads. In 1800 era brick we were around 1000 lbs of service level tension load if I remember right.

 

[SkiisAndBikes]

I have successfully used Helifix ties on several projects to tie clay brick back to a stable support. It looked like they were relatively easy to install and after drilling them through the outer face, you could hardly tell they were there.

We had the supplier perform load tests on each project to verify methods and capacities as the products were new to us.