Separate drywall. Sloping floors. Damaged foundation. These words can make any homeowner mad if they occur in his or her home. Most foundation issues can be identified easily, but when it comes to the foundation repair process, it means correcting something more than what you are seeing.
If you have recently inspected your home and you think there is something wrong with your foundation, such as cracked foundation or sloping floors, then this is the right time you should consider foundation repair by DrainCom. Remember that when looking for an expert to handle your foundation work, you should ensure that he is licenced and certified to carry out such works. Poor services may make the problems in your foundation even worse.
Sign Of Damaged Foundation
- Cracked brick.
- Sticking windows and doors.
- Separated drywall.
- Cracks on the walls and the ceiling.
- Sloping floors.
- Sagging beams.
- Cracked foundation.
- Sloping exterior façade.
If you see these signs of damaged foundation, you should call an expert on foundation issues to inspect your foundation and give you the report.
Why The Inspection Report From An Expert Is Essential
An expert conducts a thorough inspection of your foundation to identify the causes of the identified damage and recommend the right actions to be taken to curb the problem. This helps an engineer to work on the exact issues to deal with the problem.
Why You Need To Hire A Professional Company.
A professional company such as Draincom will make sure that the foundation repair is perfect, and no issues will arise again in the future. Apart from the issue inspection of your home, a professional company conducts an elevation survey which accomplishes the following;
- Identifies whether the foundation is well settled on the ground. If the foundation is partially settled, it can lead to cracking of the foundation.
- The survey may also find out that the foundation is stable, but the damage is being caused by the old age of the structure, which usually causes thermal differentials.
- The quality of the foundation construction. Poorly constructed foundation can cause the foundation to break.
- The survey also identifies whether the issue is due to the ageing foundation.
After the inspection is through and all the things are done, including the recording of the floor elevations, the engineer looks at the extent of the damage and decides on the best methods to repair it. Basement on the extent of damage, the engineer, will propose the best method of foundation crack repair.
Causes Of Foundation Damage
Though other factors contribute to foundation damage, the usual culprit is water. Due to moisture variations, soil shrink and swell, causing the foundation to shift. Your home’s foundation may be susceptible to damage in the following cases;
- If the home is built on expansive clay.
- If the soil where the home is built was not correctly compacted.
- The drainage around the home’s foundation is poor.
- The area where you live experiences extreme weather changes.
- If there is a water leak below the foundation.
- Tree roots are penetrating the walls and foundation.
- Natural occurrences such as the earthquake that might disrupt the foundation.
If you have ticked most of the above factors, then your home might be susceptible to foundation damage, and soon you may need foundation repair.
In most cases, soils rich in clay are the most affected while those with low clay content are considerably stable and less affected. In some regions, foundation shifts are insignificant, while in others, they are quite significant.
If the foundation is laid on unstable soil such as clay, that instability is transferred to the foundation when the soil moves. And considering the fact that these shifts are normally not proportional in all parts, the foundation is subjected to different forces, and this leads to it breaking.
If these movements were all equal, there could be no issues on the foundation. The problems in the foundation occur when only one section of the foundation settles while the others move due to active force. What this means is that your structure gets damaged, lose its real estate value, some equipment in your home may malfunction and lastly, this could be a tipping catastrophe.