Below is another excellent question from our "Ask Us Anything" page on our foundation repair website.
Danny,
Thanks for the question. Without a deeper structural investigation, it is really difficult to identify the exact problem. You may want to hire an independent structural engineer to look into it for you. If you call my office,(972) 272-1900, you can request a list of engineers to work from.
What I DO KNOW is that houses in this area are ALWAYS in a state of movement. That is directly tied to their dependence on the soil upon which they are built, clay soil. Clay soil is always in transition related to the infusion of moisture or the loss of moisture; when this soil absorbs water, like the melting snow and ice, it expands and lifts the house up with it
When we leave a wet season and enter our infamous Texas Summers, the soil starts to dry out, shrink, and contract in a downward motion. Of course, the house must follow the soil.
Most houses go through this 'slow motion roller coaster ride' without showing any stress signs greater than a few 'hairline' cracks in brick mortar or wall board, at least for their first couple of decades. BUT, they will 'snap, crackle and pop' as they go through the motions and that just may be what you have going on. The above mentioned 'roller coaster ride' is why you hear people harping on the subject of WATERING YOUR FOUNDATION. It is not the foundation which needs the water, but it is the soil around it that does need the water in order to limit the shrinking and pulling away from the foundation. But the opposite is true when we are getting a lot of rain: you want to make sure all excess runoff goes somewhere other than pooling next to your foundation.
I hope this simple answer helps you some. There a lot of other factors which can contribute to the situation such as the number of, size of, and placement of trees and shrubs; the contour of landscaping; the gutters; whether the home was built on fill dirt etc.
Feel free to contact me with any further questions I may be able to help with.
Sincerely,
Alan Ardoin
Get more information by visiting www.AceFoundation.com.
Posts
I think that every home needs to do a foundation repair at least once. A home is never still and small shifts can affect the foundation. I got my foundation repaired a few months ago because it cracked during a tiny earthquake. I could not feel it, but my home did.
ReplyDeleteWe just bought our very first home, but we neglected to notice the poor foundation it was on. Now we are looking into how much the foundation repair is going to cost us. Thankfully we got the place at a great price (now we know why), so we can use the money we saved to fix it. How often should we water the dirt around the foundation?
ReplyDeleteCompanies that do foundation repairs, really have their job cut out for them. It is quiet the process that they have to do and they really have to be careful. A lot can happen and it is important to know what you are doing.
ReplyDeleteJak Manson | http://www.ecosealsolutions.com/
I didn't have a gutter on the side of my house so when it rained it would just fall down the side of my house, all the way to the foundation. I later got my house inspected and it turns out that my foundation had water damaged. I have to get it repaired before it gets worse.
ReplyDeleteEdmund | http://www.abalonconstruction.com/en/services.html
I need to have my foundation repaired. I think it's crazy how a house is always in movement. This causes cracks that are uncontrollable. I guess it's just an inevitable part of a building's life.
ReplyDeleteGary Puntman | http://www.permadrywaterproofing.com