Your home’s foundation is responsible for holding the rest of the house in place. You need it to be strong and stable to ensure your safety while living there. However, the foundation is often hidden beneath the ground, so you might ask what you can do to check that it’s in good condition. Let’s delve into how to know your property has a good foundation.
Inspect the Home’s Perimeter
To start, walk around your home’s outside perimeter. Inspect the walls, paying close attention to any large cracks or bulging. Shifting in the ground around the foundation can lead to uneven pressure, which can damage the foundation and lead to these signs. Other details to look out for are gaps around doors and windows. These may show up when those openings are shut, or they may prevent you from closing them fully in the first place. As with cracks and bulging, doors and windows that don’t fit correctly show that the foundation may not be firm.
Read more about – How the direction of the rain affect the basement flooding?
Look For Mold
Mold growth in a basement means there’s excess moisture in the area. While this might be from cooking or showering in the basement or an unvented clothes dryer, the moisture could also be a sign of poor drainage in the ground around the foundation. If this isn’t corrected, hydrostatic pressure could build up in the ground outside the foundation and eventually cause the foundation wall to bow inward and even crack. Also, mold spores can pose serious health risks for anyone living in the home.
Look at the Ground’s Sloping
Sloping is another factor to consider when you’re determining whether your property has a good foundation. Uneven sloping in the ground around your home shows that the foundation isn’t completely level as it should be. As a portion of the foundation moves, the floor above it follows suit.
However, sloping can be good in certain situations. The landscaping around newer homes may slope downward, pointing away from the house in all directions. This is meant to naturally direct water away from the foundation using the force of gravity. Look at your yard and see whether you have this type of sloping. If you do, your foundation has an extra defense against rain.
Check for Water in the Basement
The basement and foundation are naturally connected, since the basement is located right under the main portion of the house. You should look for leaks, cracks, and sitting water in your basement to figure out whether there’s any instability that could result in the overall foundation breaking down. These indicate that the force of water within the soil has become strong enough to physically damage the basement and threaten its structural integrity. However, if your basement is clean and dry, it means that your foundation is probably sturdy.
After checking your home’s foundation in these ways, you may find that it’s not in as good a condition as you’d hoped. Call The Real Seal for foundation repair in Chicago to bring it back to a state that will support your home without trouble.
