Friday, July 18, 2014

Home Foundations And Safety

By Howard Bowman


With most objects and living things, there is a feature that forms the core; the driving force on which every other part of it depends. While the other features are important in coming together to form a whole, if you were to remove that driving force, everything else would cease to work properly. For a human, this would be the brain. If that were damaged, the effects would be apparent across the entire body. For a physical structure, it would be the foundation. If the foundation were damaged, the rest of the building would exhibit detrimental symptoms.

A good, well-maintained foundation is one of the keys to keeping a home in good repair. Unlike most other areas of a home, failure to maintain a foundation could directly cause damage across the entire structure. Catching problems before they become worse can save a great deal of money and hassle.

There are a number of clues that point to foundational issues. If your home has such a problem, you have probably noticed them. They include, but are not limited to: cracks in concrete, tile or other hard surfaces, doors or windows that do not fit properly, walls, chimneys or other structures that are cracking or lopsided, and water leakage from the walls or pipes in the basement. Any of these signs warrants an inspection as soon as possible.

Foundation problems often stem from instability in the soil underneath the structure. The soil might shift and create voids, often due to improper compaction or mischaracterization of the soil during construction, or from moisture absorption. This creates inconsistencies in the leveling of the land. A home is meant to sit on a flat surface, and if the land does not stay flat, it can cause a great deal of stress to the structural integrity of the house. Once it gets bad enough, something will have to give. Whatever the cause of the problem, it will usually result in areas of the home cracking.

Once you know that there are foundational issues with your home, do not delay. The sooner you get them taken care of, the less damage it can do to the rest of the home. Foundation issues are not so much a Do-It-Yourself project, so you will probably need to hire a professional to take care of it. Just make sure they are reputable and competent. But what exactly can they do to fix it?

Foundation repair relies on several different methods that are proven to be effective. Most commonly, a structure will be underpinned. This is the method of placing supportive piers underneath the foundation to create a more stable, consistent mass for the foundation to rest on. With the foundation on more stable ground, it is better suited to support the weight of the structure above, taking the stress off of the floors and walls.

Ignoring or neglecting foundational problems is never a wise decision. The sooner you get them dealt with, the better. Failure to do so is both expensive and dangerous, and it will only get worse as time goes on.




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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Most of the people try to take helps of specialists in structural repairs who can help make our areas look perfect for all the extreme weather conditions in cost effective rates.