10 Fun Facts About Your Home Foundation

10 Fun Facts About Your Home Foundation. It’s interesting how little awareness there is about the foundation of your home. After all, it’s kind of the glue that holds everything together. That’s why, today, we’re partnering with Restumping Melbourne to share ten fun facts about one of the most important parts of your home.

1. Foundation problems are caused by changes in the condition of the soil that you find under your home. There are many different types of soil that may be beneath your house. This totally depends on the area that you live in, as well as associated weather patterns. Examples include clay, silt and peat. When soils are expansive, they do exactly that – expand. This happens whenever there is moisture around. Then, when conditions return to dry, the soil shrinks. This makes your foundation move if it’s not properly fortified.
2. Weather can dictate the state of your foundation. As noted above, moisture plays a big part in how your soil moves and shrinks. This is a constantly changing pattern and part of the reason why it’s so important to fortify your foundation.
3. Termites can be extremely detrimental to the foundation of your home. Termites eat away at your floor joist and framing. This mimics the symptoms of a foundation that’s falling.
4. Cracks are the first sign that you’re experiencing foundation issues. Stress cracks start to show up when your foundation can no longer properly support the weight of your home. Foundation piers under particular areas of your home are also indicative that the foundation is moving or falling.
5. Regular inspections can save you thousands of dollars. Working with experts like those at Restumping Melbourne on an annual basis can ensure that any issues are spotted early, keeping more green back in your wallet. Even if no issues are found, you’ll feel better knowing that you checked.
6. Doors and windows are also indicators of any potential challenges. When you swing a door open or closed, does it do so properly? Or does it fail to return to its original position. If you experience the latter, that’s a telling sign that things are moving and shifting.
7. The proper name for foundation experts is structural engineers. They’ve been educated and trained to know all of the ins and the outs of your foundation. This knowledge expands to knowing exactly how to design your home so that it’s yours for generations.
8. You need to lift entire sections of your home in order to repair foundation damage. This is also a good way to remedy any issues with your walls or ceilings. This can be an issue with older homes as the materials, like tile are easily breakable.
9. Reinforcing your foundation doesn’t take as long as you’d think. Many are averse to getting after the work because they think they’ll be kicked out of their home for weeks. In fact, this work can be done in as little as 10 days and in some scenarios does not even require displacing your family.
10. It’s never too soon to get your foundation checked out. A common misconception is that issues are only found in older homes. This is not the case, as you can see from the fun facts above!

Questions?Comments? Give us a shout. We’d love to hear from you. And be sure to check out Restumping Melbourne’s site for more fun facts and information about reinforcing your homes’ foundation.