Basketball practice with a basement wall

[drw]

Hi guys. I have moved on from the HI business, due to lack of business, but I have a friend who asked me a question I never thought about before. I can't imagine this having an affect, but he is really afraid it will.

He has a son who is a pretty good basketball player. The son practices dribbling in the unfinished basement and also practices passing against the block wall. He throws the ball against the wall as hard as he can from various distances. There is already a small hairline horizontal crack on the wall he uses, but it was there before the son took up basketball. Do you think the basketball practice can make the crack worse?

[caryseidner]

Sure. The crack could get worse, but you probably won't have a structural failure. Tell your friend to have his son pick a new spot to practice his push pass. If a new crack develops there, get an NBA recruiter and a structural engineer involved immediately!

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by drw

Hi guys. I have moved on from the HI business, due to lack of business, but I have a friend who asked me a question I never thought about before. I can't imagine this having an affect, but he is really afraid it will.

He has a son who is a pretty good basketball player. The son practices dribbling in the unfinished basement and also practices passing against the block wall. He throws the ball against the wall as hard as he can from various distances. There is already a small hairline horizontal crack on the wall he uses, but it was there before the son took up basketball. Do you think the basketball practice can make the crack worse?

I doubt that the basketball will have any effect at all on the basement wall. Let the boy practice.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[hausdok]

If that kid can damage that wall with a basketball he needs to be talking to a major league baseball scout about a pitching career. Does he need an agent? I'm available.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Brandon Chew]

There's a lot more force continually pushing against the wall from the outside than you would ever see from a basketball bouncing against it. I bet that if you fired the basketball at the wall with a cannon, it would do little more than leave a scuff mark.

[David C. Argabright]

Originally posted by Brandon Chew

There's a lot more force continually pushing against the wall from the outside than you would ever see from a basketball bouncing against it. I bet that if you fired the basketball at the wall with a cannon, it would do little more than leave a scuff mark.

Of course it would do more than leave a scuff mark. It would burst the ball. The wall as has been said before, wouldn't feel a thing. Lots more exterior pressure causing the horizontal crack than the ball would generate.

How's the exterior grading and gutter system on the wall?

[Erby]

Doug, sorry to hear you moved on.

That horizontal crack sounds more like the wall being pushed in from the outside than the kid's basketball hurting it. He probably ought to check what's going on that's making the wall come in.

[drw]

Thanks guys.

I have a pretty good idea what caused the crack to begin with. Several years ago they had 2 or 3 wild cherry trees removed. These trees were so big (trunks 8 - 10 feet across), that they brought a huge crane in to lift the sections of the trunk and place them on a truck. The crane made several passes not far from this side of the house. My guess was that this is when the hairline crack originally developed. I had him paint this wall a couple of years ago, being sure to fill the cracks with paint. The paint still completely fills the crack, so I don't think it has moved since.

We were visiting over the weekend, and he asked about the basketball. I told him I couldn't imagine it would hurt, but thought I would ask all of you. I really appreciate all the useful information I gleaned from this site. Best wishes to all of you.