Having a strong, solid foundation is very important for every home. Without it, there will certainly be nothing but troubles. Unfortunately, you never know when a situation may present itself and the foundation deteriorates. Would you know what the signs are that your foundation is starting to have serious problems?
There are many different ways that your home’s foundation can tell you that there is something serious going on. Knowing how to identify that your home has a foundation issue, will usually require an expert. There are likely several companies that specialize in foundation repair and they will know exactly what they are looking for.
There are a number of things that would indicate that there is something very wrong with your home. One of the most common signs that there is a potential issue is that you start to notice cracks or fractures in the foundation walls or floors. This normally means that the ground underneath or around the foundation has shifted and is causing pressure on the concrete.
Another thing to look at is your exterior windows and see if there are any problems. What you would be looking for is any excessive gaps around them. These gaps can lead to a number of potential problems and you should call in the experts. This will help you figure out what needs to be done in order to repair any damage to the exterior windows.
Lastly, are the doors inside your home sticking when you try to open or close them? The doors of your home are mounted inside a frame known as a door jam. When a house is first built, the doors are all perfectly level when hung inside each wall opening. If there is anything going wrong with the foundation, you are likely going to have sticking or ill-fitting doors.
While it is well known that a house with a concrete slab foundation will inevitably settle over time and this is perfectly normal. However, this amount of settling will usually not result in noticeable damage as mentioned previously. The type of things that would however be responsible would be serious. Things like crack or fractures in the foundation, ill-fitting doors, or excessive gaps around windows are much more serious.
The most common causes of these more serious foundation problems have to do with the ground that the concrete slab was poured on. During the preparation process for the foundation that ground would have been compacted and leveled in order to ensure that the concrete was ready to fully support the structure. Unfortunately, things do go wrong and the soil under the slab can contract or expand depending on the amount of moisture and the type of soil.
When soil contracts you can get excessive sinking because the soil is no longer able to hold up the weight of the house. This can cause cracks in the walls or foundation floor. If the soil expands, it can cause foundation upheaval and that causes the ground to push the foundation upward abnormally. Lastly, soil erosion under the concrete slab happens when an excessive amount of groundwater washes away the soil in parts of the ground underneath the slab. This can cause major cracks and other damage to the foundation.
If you are experiencing anything as we described in this post and you live in the Western Colorado area you can contact an expert in your area that specializes in foundation repair. This company has the experience that you need to get your home back on a firm foundation.