Tips to Help Maintain Your Home’s Foundation

The foundation of your house is the building block on which everything is built. The entire structure can become unstable if the foundation is not properly laid. So, ensure that your home’s foundation is always at its peak condition.

Here are five proven tips to help you maintain your home’s foundation and ensure it lasts a lifetime.

 

• Do regular foundation inspections

 

Preferably, have these inspections done biannually. This way, you’ll be able to catch problems early and limit the extent of the damage.

During the inspection, check for:

• Doors or window frames that look like they no longer fit
• Roofs that are sagging
• Walls that are buckling
• Large cracks
• Slanted floors

Any of these signs could mean a serious foundation problem. Call in a foundation repair expert as soon as possible. The sooner you intervene, the less expensive it’ll be to correct the problem.

 

Do intelligent landscaping

 

Foundation problems can be traced to foundation drainage issues. While good drainage keeps a consistent moisture level in the soil, poor drainage can cause standing water under the house, flooded basements and foundation instability.

Fortunately, you can help prevent foundation damage by implementing a few changes in your landscaping.

• Plan concrete features carefully to prevent foundation problems. To prevent water from pooling near the foundation, patios, driveways, sidewalks and landscaping paths, make sure their design directs water away from your house.
• Don’t install plants too close to your home’s foundation. Plants can be a source of beauty to your home. They also help prevent erosion and landslides and keep the surrounding soil intact. However, they can also cause foundation problems especially when planted too close to your home. Shrubs and trees should be planted, “no closer to the foundation of light building structures than the anticipated height of the particular plant,” according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Simply put, if any leaves or branches can touch your house, so can the roots.
• Grade your lot properly to avoid foundation problems to prevent structural damage.

 

Fill minor cracks

 

This tip was provided by Jim Oursler, owner of Granite Foundation Repair, Inc. Foundations are rigid and tend to crack over time. Major cracks could indicate substantial movement and can undermine the home’s structural integrity. Minor cracks, on the other hand, though unsightly, do not normally cause for alarm.

The following is a step-by-step process to follow when filling minor cracks:

• Step 1: Inspect the foundation crack. Foundation cracks can be caused by various reasons. Therefore, it’s very important to know why they are happening in the first place. Generally, the cause of these cracks can be determined by the nature of the cracks themselves.
• Step 2: Prepare the crack for fixing. You’ll need a hammer, chisel, gloves and safety glasses. Slightly widen the crack and undercut crack edges in order to facilitate patch adhesion. Next, clear out any debris and then use a garden hose to rinse the crack with water. Finally, use silicone, polyurethane, or latex concrete caulk to fill cracks that are wider than a hairline.
• Step 3: Seal the foundation walls. After the patch has dried, you need to protect the foundation walls from water infiltration by applying waterproof masonry sealer. Experts recommend that the waterproof masonry sealer be applied with a masonry roller or a large brush for best results.
• Step 4: Keep water away. To achieve this, make sure that downspouts and gutters are properly functioning. Ideally, the downspouts should divert water away by at least 5 feet. This will help keep water away from your home’s foundation.

 

Ensure proper drainage.

 

Water is one of the leading causes of foundation failure. In most of these cases, plumbing is oftentimes the culprit. In other cases, aquifers and rainwater are to blame.

Without proper drainage, there can be undue strain on your property’s foundation leading to foundation shifting.

So how do you prevent excessive moisture from causing foundation failure? Well, the key is to keep checking that water is always redirected away from your home by properly positioning the gutters and downspouts.

When the soil is too dry, use a garden hose to water the surrounding soil. As a rule of thumb, the earth surrounding your home only needs enough water to keep plants healthy. Overwatering could cause more damage.

 

Conduct annual plumbing checks.

 

Catching leaks early could save you a ton of cash down the road. When conducting these yearly checks, make sure to check your home’s plumbing system both inside and out.

Without proper care and maintenance, foundation cracks can cost you thousands of dollars in repairs. With these five proven tips, costly foundation repairs could save you more in the end.