Foundation damage can reduce the value of your home, require expensive repairs and lead to other damage in your home. Luckily, there are a lot of steps you can take to protect your foundation from damage. Take a look at these ideas.
1. Do a Soil Analysis
Protecting your foundation starts long before you even break ground on your home. As part of your site analysis, you may want to do a soil analysis. Ask the contractor if they are taking care of this step for you, and talk a bit about their findings. If the soil isn't firm enough, you may need to bring in firmer soil or potentially add something to the soil.
Similarly, if the soil has excessive amounts of clay, that tends to absorb a lot of water. That can lead to the ground expanding or contracting unnecessarily. In these cases, you may need to bring in more sand.
2. Prepare the Ground
Your contractors should also take steps to prepare the site before pouring the foundation. In particular, if you have a high water table, you may want to put in a moisture barrier between the soil and the foundation. It's also critical to tamp down the soil. That helps to make the base firm and reduce the risk of shifting.
3. Keep It Dry
Excessive moisture can also lead to foundation damage. To ensure that doesn't happen, you need to focus on drainage. During the building process that involves simple steps such as putting your home on the highest part of the land.
After your home is built, you need drainage to move stormwater away from the foundation of the house. The most straightforward way to do this is with guttering and downspouts, but you may also want to put a hard perimetre around your home such as rows of rocks. That prevents water from getting absorbed by the ground in that area.
While you own your home, always be aware of potential plumbing leaks. If your water bill is unusually high one month, look for signs of leaks. Also, if water tends to build up in your basement after storms, you may want to waterproof the walls of your foundation to protect your home. On top of that, you may want to put a pump in your basement to help get rid of water.
If you already have foundation damage, contact a professional to help with foundation repairs today.
