Plumbing Problems and Your Building Foundation

Your home is a system of connected subsystems. That is, one part of your house stands a pretty good chance of affecting another, even if they don't seem related. For instance, doors and windows that seem to get stuck a lot can often times be traced back to a failing foundation. The shifting of the foundation pushes the door frames and window frames out of square, thus causing the doors and windows to stick.

The relationship we'd like to cover in this blog post, though, is one you won't even see even though it can be right under your feet! What we're talking about is the plumbing located under your foundation slab.

When there's a leak, whether it's in the fresh water line(s) or in the sewer line, the leak adds moisture to the soil under the foundation causing the soil to swell and shift. For the foundation built on this soil, that's bad news indeed! If the leak is small, you might not even notice it, even if it's in the freshwater lines. You might notice your water bill is slightly higher, but it might not be high enough to cause warning bells to go off in your head.

If the leak is in the sewer line, it's even more hidden since such a leak wouldn't result in a higher sewer or water bill.

Finding Out If You Have a Leak

If you have the typical signs of foundation problems, such as stuck doors and windows, cracks in your walls, cracks in your ceiling, loose floor tiles or "popping" floor tiles, then you should contact a foundation repair company. They will inspect your home and decide if the symptoms you have (cracks, stuck doors, etc.) are indeed the result of a foundation failure.

If the problems are due to your foundation, then the next step is to decide how, why, and where the foundation is failing. At this point, it may become necessary to involve a plumber, who can definitively determine where in the plumbing system (if the problem is plumbing related) the leak is.

Your property insurance (homeowners or commercial) company can be very helpful at this point. Not only can insurance help cover the cost of the repair, they can offer several recommendations for licensed professional plumbers. Many insurance policies can pay for tests to determine if there is leakage in the sewer drain lines. Also, an insurance policy may pay for the damage caused by a broken sewer line to a foundation. Unfortunately, many policies don't cover the cost of repairs to the sewer line leaks.

Types of Problems

The soil under the slab foundation will respond differently, based on the amount of water or sewage leaked. Large amounts of sewage or water will create a hump or rise in the soil, pushing the foundation up. Small amounts of sewage or water will compact the soil and create a dip. In either case, the result is the same: You have a foundation problem that needs attention!

In Summary

One source of foundation problems is plumbing. Plumbing leaks add moisture to the soil, creating either a rise in the soil (expansion of soil) or a depression (compaction of soil). Both cases can cause your foundation to move or fail in other ways.

If the foundation problem is caused by poor or broken plumbing, your homeowners or property insurance may pay for tests and damage (but not necessarily the foundation repair itself). Your insurance company may also provide a list of licensed plumbers who can fix the plumbing problem.

Once the plumbing problem is fixed, the foundation problems can be fixed.

As always, if you have questions, remember that you can ask us anything. We're here to help and welcome any type of foundation-related

Get more information by visiting www.AceFoundation.com.