Anything with a damaged base will eventually come down, and your home isn’t an exception. That’s why all homeowners should be aware of the common causes of foundation damage to prevent the destruction of lives and property.
A home foundation inspection is when a structural engineer or foundation repair professional inspects your home for signs of settlement, heave, or damage. A home’s foundation needs to be structurally sound in order to provide your building and family with a safe environment. While some foundation repair issues are not structurally threatening to your home, they can still become a nuisance over time.
Several factors influence the foundation of a building, and knowing them can help you identify issues in advance and opt for repairs. In this case, knowing the facts and terms can help you search for precisely what you need, such as searching for bowed basement wall replacement costs vs. other kinds of repairs.
Let’s shed some light on these factors to increase your knowledge of structural issues.
Causes of Foundation Damage
Problems with the site
When constructing a building, you should inspect the site properly and acquire as much information as possible about its history. For example, you should ask around for any recent disasters in the area, like earthquakes, floods, forest fires, landslides, excavation and drilling activities, and so on. Even if such incidents happen nearby, they may affect the construction site.
It’s because such actions cause vibrations in the soil around the building, which may have far-reaching effects. You should also check other houses in the neighborhood for signs of foundation issues, like tilted structures, broken chimneys, gaps in the walls, etc.
Plumbing leaks
Leaks in the mainline or sewer can be difficult to identify with inexperienced eyes. Many a time, such issues can be detected only after the house suffers from major structural damage or foundation damage. However, it should be noted that these leaks can go a long way to make groundwater seep in, causing damage to the foundation. If you notice any such leaks beforehand, get them repaired as soon as possible.
Condition of the soil
A strong foundation is the key to a strong home. Thankfully, you can often spot foundation damage early, avoiding the costly repairs that come from a severely damaged foundation. These warning signs may seem like normal home issues, but they should not be ignored. Although the most common cause of foundation repair comes from the soil beneath it, leaking pipes, a damaged crawl space, and several other situations can also severely affect your foundation.
The kind of soil in an area also predicts whether a building will have foundation problems years later. If the soil seems wet, and expansive, with clay with boulders, and signs of buried debris, one should be extra careful while installing the foundation. For example, in the case of expansive soils, the homeowners must install a system that tends to keep the soil together and reduce shrinkage.
Water Buildup
For homes with water buildup issues, crawl space encapsulation along with a drain tile system prevents water buildup along your foundation, and this helps maintain the structural integrity of your building.
However, if someone’s buying a ready property, they should look for fills by inspecting the tree trunks. The experts suggest looking for vertical trunks of deciduous trees that run straight into the ground. It’s one of the significant proofs of construction on fills.
If you have a sunken, unlevel slab, we can make it beautiful again, and most sunken slab repairs take no more than a few hours, tops. Polyurethane foam injection also known as “slabjacking” is the best method of concrete leveling which uses a super lightweight foam that rapidly expands as soon as it’s injected under the slab. This lifts the slab back into position. It’s a fast repair that can usually be completed in a few hours and when it’s done, you can immediately start using the slab again.
Rocky terrains
If the building is raised on rocky terrain, the rocks require blasting before any construction work began. Improper and uncontrolled blasts can reduce the bearing capacity of the site and become one of the causes of foundation damage to the concerned building, as well as the ones in adjoining areas. They can also cause liquefaction, which may lead to foundation shrinkage or offer inadequate support to the building.
Freezing of wet soil
In a frost-prone area, lack of proper drainage and faults in the gutter can cause the wet soil to freeze, leading to the formation of cracks on the foundation wall. Buildings having their foundation walls at the same level or above the frost line depth can suffer from such problems. It’s better to call in the experts to look into the issue and resolve it in time.
Vehicle-damaged stepped footings on steep slopes, sinks, nearby streams, or excessive rains can also give rise to foundation problems. However, not all damage is irreversible. If you can identify these issues on time, proper repairs can resolve them. Sometimes, you may also need to install the foundation piers on your property, but it’s for the best. After all, safety is everyone’s priority.
