 |
| Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Your foundation is perhaps the most important part of your home. Not only does it hold all of your home’s weight, but it also keeps everything level. You may not think that this is such a big deal, but wait until your chair starts sliding down hill indoors or your windows stick shut. Without a decent foundation you can find yourself with a house that leans. Needless to say, your house won’t be worth much if this is the case. However, most foundations should be made well. The trouble is in how the house settles after that. If you suspect your home may be suffering from a bad foundation call a Dallas foundation repair company to check it out.
Checking For Damage
One way to check for damage to your foundation is by the cracks you find on the outside of your house. Serious foundation damage will cause large cracks at definite locations. Normal settling and weather, however, can also form cracks, but these will be minimal and less isolated. If you’re looking at a brick wall on your house, small cracks in the mortar are normal. These should be fairly small, under a ¼ inch. If they are larger, then you could be looking at bigger problem. Cracks in the actual cement foundation can also be normal, such as in slopes or steps, and are probably just indications of the cement curing. The worst cracks you could have are horizontal because these are not from normal settling.
Preventing Damage
Smaller cracks are easy to tend to. Simply paint over them with waterproofing paint and see what happens. This is useful for two reasons. The first reason is to prevent water getting into the cracks and causing more damage, especially if it freezes and expands. The second reason is so you can watch to see if the crack gets worse. It the crack is simply from the cement curing then it shouldn’t get worse. If the foundation is actually sinking unevenly, then you could see the paint crack wider than it was before. The dreaded horizontal cracks means that your foundation has been compressed by interior pressure, probably from water that leaked in and froze. If you find yourself with foundation problems, be sure to call Dallas foundation repair specialists soon.
Checking For Damage
One way to check for damage to your foundation is by the cracks you find on the outside of your house. Serious foundation damage will cause large cracks at definite locations. Normal settling and weather, however, can also form cracks, but these will be minimal and less isolated. If you’re looking at a brick wall on your house, small cracks in the mortar are normal. These should be fairly small, under a ¼ inch. If they are larger, then you could be looking at bigger problem. Cracks in the actual cement foundation can also be normal, such as in slopes or steps, and are probably just indications of the cement curing. The worst cracks you could have are horizontal because these are not from normal settling.
Preventing Damage
Smaller cracks are easy to tend to. Simply paint over them with waterproofing paint and see what happens. This is useful for two reasons. The first reason is to prevent water getting into the cracks and causing more damage, especially if it freezes and expands. The second reason is so you can watch to see if the crack gets worse. It the crack is simply from the cement curing then it shouldn’t get worse. If the foundation is actually sinking unevenly, then you could see the paint crack wider than it was before. The dreaded horizontal cracks means that your foundation has been compressed by interior pressure, probably from water that leaked in and froze. If you find yourself with foundation problems, be sure to call Dallas foundation repair specialists soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment