Many parts of the home can be considered vitally important, but few are more essential than the foundation of the home, since that’s the surface upon which the rest of the house sits. There are three primary forms of home foundation: crawl spaces, slabs, and full basements. Foundation contractors will tell you that the health of your home’s foundation is directly tied to the health of the house above it; if the foundation gets damaged, it’s only a matter of time before the home gets damaged as a result. Because of this, it’s important to be able to recognize the signs that your home’s foundation needs to be looked at by foundation repair contractors. This article will look at some of the signs that indicate your home’s foundation needs to be repaired.
- Water Damage: One sign that indicates your home’s foundation needs to be looked at by a foundation repair contractor is if there is an unusual amount of water damage in and around your home’s foundation. A little water damage isn’t completely unusual, after all, over 98% of homes with basements will experience some type of water damage sooner or later. However, if it’s a large amount of water damage, then that could be a sign that there’s damage somewhere that’s letting water in. This problem can be remedied by by hiring basement waterproofing services to render the interior and exterior of the foundation waterproof.
- Cracks Forming in the Foundation: Another sign that indicates your foundation needs to be looked at by a foundation repair contractor is if there are visible cracks forming in the foundation. Any cracks, large or small, are usually a reliable sign that something is fundamentally wrong with the foundation. If cracks are spotted, it is wise to have a professional come and examine the foundation to see if they are symptoms of a larger problem before having them repaired.
- Walls Buckling: A third sign that indicates your foundation needs to be looked at is if the walls of the basement are showing signs of buckling. This is a very bad sign that indicates structural collapse could occur if the problem is not corrected. A professional will need to look at the basement walls to determine everything that needs to be done to fix the problem.
- Parts of the Foundation are Sinking: And finally, a fourth sign that indicates your foundation needs to be looked at is if parts of the foundation (or the home) are observed to be sinking. Sometimes, if the ground underneath the foundation becomes unstable, sections of the foundation can begin to settle and sink, causing cracks to form that can damage the entire foundation. This is typically fixed by hiring house leveling services to raise the foundation back to its proper level and then reinforcing the ground underneath so the problem doesn’t happen again.
In conclusion, there are a number of signs that can indicate your home’s foundation needs to be repaired. These signs include water damage, cracks forming in the foundation, walls buckling, and parts of the foundation sinking. All of these signs can indicate that serious problems are forming with your home’s foundation.