Keep an eye out for cracks in walls or floors, especially those wider than 1/4 inch, which can indicate foundation movement. Doors and windows that stick or don’t close properly might mean your house frame has shifted. Uneven or sloping floors, visible gaps between walls and ceilings, or moisture in your crawl space are all signs of foundation problems.
What is Going on Under Your House? Foundation Inspection
Stability is everything when it comes to buildings, and stability starts with the foundations. The basis on which your house is built is the quiet but mighty foundation, which sits there year after year doing nothing but keeping the peace, allowing the building to be used for all kinds of purposes. As owners and occupiers, you don’t even think about it, because foundations are taken for granted.
But potential issues have to be faced head-on and if necessary rectified. Sometimes inspecting a house foundation has to be done just to make sure, and to nip trouble in the bud if it does exist.
House Foundation Inspection Is Troubleshooting
If a house loses its precision, it could be a sign that there is a foundation issue. That exactness shows itself in simple things like doors that open and close smoothly or walls and floors that fit together precisely. If that seems like an obvious condition, perhaps you have never seen an old building where the symmetry has gone astray. It could happen to any foundation and therefore any house, which is why foundation inspections should be on the agenda from time to time. particularly if things start to look even a little bit imprecise.
Factors Affecting Foundations
Foundations in themselves can develop faults. Whether yours is a huge concrete slab or the pier and beam type, it is subject to small movements of the earth below and around it, and this can be made worse by the weather phenomena on the Texas Gulf Coast, with the flooding that we are prone to. Changes in the moisture level of soil can lead to movement so that what was once perfectly flat and level, ideal for setting the foundation of a house, is altered and therefore pressure is exerted not just downwards but from an angle. Even a small crack in a foundation needs to be rectified as soon as possible, to avoid it growing and making more trouble.
In addition to fixing uneven floors in the building itself, we can tackle the underlying problem, repairing foundations and even installing moisture barriers to prevent further issues with that cause.
How Long Do Foundations Last?
Buildings don’t last forever, and old ones that have lasted a long time may appear fine at a glance, but they inevitably develop issues that have to be dealt with, not least the foundations. Between 75 and 100 years is a fairly typical lifespan down there. In more recent times, the rush to create housing in the post-WW2 period resulted in some structures that weren’t built to such exacting standards, and in certain cases trouble occurs quite early. All may not be lost, though; if there is a problem with your foundation and we at Terrafirm diagnose it for you, we can also fix it, using methods that regular building companies don’t have the expertise or the equipment to carry out.
Contact Us and Let’s Face the Issue
It pays to deal with trouble head-on, rather than ignoring it and hoping for the best, so if you suspect you may have a foundation issue, contact us and let us carry out an inspection. If it turns out to be nothing to worry about, so much the better, but if it needs to be dealt with, let’s get it done. Read Less
