The Homeowner’s Guide to Detecting and Fixing Foundation Issues

With summer around the corner and the spring rain beginning to slow down, you may consider whether the weather permits home improvement. Before leaving for your Summer vacation, ensure your home is ready for the heated months ahead. Check your foundation before the sun comes on too strong. Your foundation is the backbone of your house, and postponing home care is not recommended.

How do you know whether your foundation faces trouble or just a leaky roof allowing excess rainwater? Here is the homeowner’s guide to detecting and fixing foundation issues. It’s important to note that weather conditions, such as heavy rainfall or extreme heat, can exacerbate existing foundation issues or even cause new ones, making it crucial to be vigilant during these seasons.

Importance of Early Detection in Foundation Maintenance

Being proactive in detecting your foundation’s weaknesses or damage can significantly reduce the severity of the problem and the cost of repairs. By taking the initiative to identify issues early, you can avoid the cost of repairs.

Home Inspections

Identifying the difference between foundation issues and other types of damage will save you time when selecting the right contractor. Depending on the severity of the damage, you may or may not need foundation repair if you have a roof leak or plumbing problem. Before you begin, a home inspection is vital for anyone investing in a house. Ask the seller when the last home inspection was. Home inspections should be conducted by certified home inspectors yearly. These inspections are crucial to ensuring the health of your home’s foundation. If you still need to schedule a home inspection, start there.

Detecting any Issues

After a home inspection, you might find some foundational concerns or potential issues. While home inspections are comprehensive, they only cover some things. Problems outside of foundation repair that may harm your foundation include:

• Roofing damage leads to unwanted leaks throughout the house, causing damage to your flooring and drywall.
• Plumbing leaks could leave water in your crawlspace, making it toxic to your home and potentially threatening your foundation if untreated.
• Construction settling is the common culprit of drywall cracks in more modern homes. Natural settling sometimes leaves cosmetic cracks in your lightweight walls despite a solid foundation.
• Basement wall damage may indicate improper placement of walls or simply a loose brick.
  
• Poor driveway cementing or a sandy driveway doesn’t guarantee foundation damage. While building your home on overly silty sandy soil is not recommended, sometimes sandy soil is used as a driveway filler separately from the house. Your cement driveway may have been independently filled in. Any driveway can settle over time and does not necessarily indicate a faulty foundation.

Preventing Damage

Preventing foundation damage can rule out damage. Safeguards throughout your home can rule out severe foundation damage versus normal wear and tear. To avoid damaging the foundation, consider implementing these measures: [list of preventive measures]. These simple steps, such as maintaining proper drainage around your home, keeping the soil around your foundation moist, and ensuring your home’s plumbing is in good condition, can go a long way in maintaining the integrity of your home’s foundation.

• French drains offer an eco-friendly way to direct water away from the foundation by evening the levels throughout the water table. Say no thank-you to sinking foundations, moldy crawlspaces, or wood and drywall rot.
• Crawlspace encapsulation offers a vapor barrier, sealing moisture out of the walls under your house.
• Roof and plumbing inspections keep the leaks out.
• Yearly home inspections keep you on top of your foundation and are imperative.
• If building for the first time, consider helical piers that shift with the soil.

How To Detect Foundation Issues

Call your local foundation repair company immediately if you see these red flags. Severe foundation damage can be a ticking time bomb, and holding off only worsens the damage. Call if you see the following:

• Warped wood throughout the doorframes and window frames that almost seem disconnected from the drywall.
• Shifting walls that shift as a unit as opposed to only walls that are minorly cracked.
• Large cracks from top to bottom indicated a severe foundation problem.
• Sinking floors on the first floor of your home.
• Driveway cracks from your garage suggest that something has gone awry in your foundation.
• They are bowing or cracks outside of your home. Settling is usually the culprit for a few small cracks in stucco homes, but cracks in brick, siding, and wood are concerning. For bricks, a few small cracks in the mortar may be expected, but large cracks spanning through the actual bricks are cause for concern.

Fixing your Foundation Issues

It is challenging for noncertified individuals to fix foundations, which could lead to dangerous or costly situations. Your best option is to contact your local foundation repair team. They will assess your situation and give you options such as:

• Installing new helical pier support brackets like Atlantic Foundation’s or push and slab piers for deep soil stabilization. This fixes the root of the problem but usually costs the most.
• Stabilizing basement walls using carbon fiber strips or wall anchors is an option for homeowners looking for a simple solution.
• Crawlspace supports hold up weakened beams.

Other Options

You can pursue quick-fix options individually or with a foundation repair team.

• Leveling the concrete with foam injections is a quick fix but only sometimes a long-term solution.
• Many homeowners pursue leveling the concrete by inserting new concrete to fill gaps over the old, but there are more long-term solutions.

These solutions may fix a short-term problem until you can afford foundation repair. However, it’s important to note that they are only guaranteed to maintain your home’s foundation in the short run. For a more permanent solution, it’s advisable to consult with a professional foundation repair team.

Free Consultations for Homeowners

In the long run, getting to the root of the problem is recommended. Find local foundation companies, such as Atlantic Foundation, who offer free consultations to homeowners. Our expert advice and services, including preventative measures, new construction helical pier installation, custom helical pier brackets, and crawlspace encapsulation, can give you the reassurance and confidence you need in your home’s foundation. Call us today for your free homeowner consultation.

Sources-

therealsealllc.com
foundationrecoverysystems.com