When you’re faced with the possibility of foundation repairs, you may wonder why they happened in the first place. You need to know this to ensure you aren’t faced with the same problem again in a few years. In Mooresville, we see a lot of foundations in need of repairs, and the causes vary.
Here’s a look at the most common causes of foundation problems in Mooresville:
Water
If you’ve ever had a pipe in your home leak or burst, you’re already well aware of the damage water can do in a short amount of time. Water is a force of nature. But did you know that water has weight? Yes, and the weight of the water can build up and apply pressure to anything in it, including people, submarines, and your home’s foundation.
This is called hydrostatic pressure. Now, we know that your home’s foundation has your house on top of it and not a lake. However, the soil around your home soaks up a lot of water and this applies hydrostatic pressure to your home.
In Mooresville, we see around 42 inches of rain each year, which is a little above the national average. Also, the South is known for its humid springs and summers, and Mooresville isn’t an exception. Between the rain and moisture in the air, your soil can become saturated. This applies enough hydrostatic pressure to the foundation of your home to damage it.
Another way that water can damage your home’s foundation in Mooresville is damaged or poorly installed gutters and downspouts. When the builders built your home, they had to add a way to quickly move rainwater off the roof to protect it.
Your gutters and downspouts can become damaged, or maybe they weren’t installed properly. This can lead to rainwater from your roof pooling and the foundation of your home. All this moisture can create erosion of your foundation, causing it to crumble or crack.
Poor Workmanship
With homes popping up so fast around the Mooresville area, some builders and contractors take shortcuts or don’t have the skills to correctly lay the foundation. Others simply don’t have the experience and knowledge to correctly pour and determine the correct weight load for a foundation.
While Mooresville and Iredell county has strict building codes, sometimes, contractors don’t use the correct material or place enough reinforcement to handle the job. This can lead to problems with the foundation.
However, if the workmanship is the cause of your foundation damage, you’ll start to see signs soon after the home is built. You may find that there are cracks, holes, or areas of crumbling in the foundation, or it might not remain level.
Drought and Dry Soil
While Mooresville sees a little more than the national average for rainfall, there are periods when you don’t see rain for several weeks. During this time, the soil in your yard drains off all the excess water and begins to dry out.
The soil type in your yard in Mooresville is either red clay or loamy clay. No matter which it is, the soil tends to shrink as it dries out.
This shrinking can cause the soil around your home’s foundation to pull away from it, leaving it unstable. If the right supports aren’t in place for the foundation of your Mooresville home, you may see movement in the foundation that causes damage to it.
If you’re living in a relatively new home and see signs of foundation damage, you need a professional like ours to evaluate the situation. What are the signs? We’ll look at a few signs next.