Understanding and Solving Foundation Damage: A quick study.

Richard Rash

8-18-24

Foundation damage can feel like a complex puzzle, but the key to an effective repair lies in identifying the root cause of the problem. Before diving into solutions, it's important to rule out some common misconceptions. For modern buildings constructed by professionals, it's highly unlikely that materials like concrete or bricks will degrade on their own. Cracks in sheetrock, sloping floors, sticking windows, and doors that don’t close properly are rarely spontaneous issues. These problems typically arise from external forces affecting the structure.

What Causes Foundation Movement?

The primary culprit for foundation issues is soil movement under and around the structure. To address and prevent foundation damage, it’s crucial to determine why the soil is shifting. The most common causes include:

• Expansive Soils: In many regions, uneven shrinking or swelling of expansive soils beneath a foundation is the main issue. When soil expands or contracts, it affects the building, causing structural damage similar to pieces of a jigsaw puzzle coming apart when the board is flexed.
• Severe Weather Events: Earthquakes, sinkholes, erosion, hurricanes, and floods can lead to significant foundation issues. While these are dramatic and visible, they are less common compared to soil-related problems.

Identifying the Right Solution

Before choosing a repair solution, it's crucial to understand whether the soil has eroded, compacted, shrunk or swollen. This cannot be determined by simple elevation measurements unless you have the original construction elevations and a reliable benchmark… which almost nobody has. Without this data, it's challenging to assess whether soil expansion or contraction is affecting different areas of the foundation.

Common Causes of Soil Issues:

• Damp Clay Soils: Foundations poured on damp clay can shrink as the soil dries, especially during hot, dry periods.
• Improper Compaction: Soil that wasn’t compacted properly before construction can lead to settling issues.
• Erosion and Subsidence: While less common, erosion and subsidence can also impact foundation support.
• Dry clay soils: Most concrete projects including foundations are not poured in or on wet soils. Most foundations are poured during dry months which makes it quite possible that the soil will swell unevenly when the rain comes after construction.

Addressing Foundation Movement

1. When Soil Shrinks: In areas with water shortages where soil shrinks, piers are often used to replace lost soil support. However, this method can fail if the soil receives an unusual amount of water which may cause the soil to heave off of the piers. This is most likely to happen in hilly terrain where moisture tends to sit on the high side and run off on the downside.
2. When Soil Swells: For issues caused by soil upheaval, the focus should be on managing excess moisture. This includes correcting drainage problems, repairing plumbing issues, and addressing potential leaks from neighboring properties or municipal sources.

Unlike roof repair, plumbing repair, air conditioning repair and most other major home projects, foundations and their components generally can’t be replaced but under certain conditions may be re-enforced. The correct cause of the movement must be determined, as well as the structure being repositioned to a point near “as built”.

Get Expert Help

Navigating foundation repairs requires a thorough understanding of soil behavior and building dynamics. If you have foundation issues, please watch this short video made by a prominent Texas Engineer. /Rain caused foundation damage ( youtube.com )

Now if you still have questions explore my website: Foundation Repair Consultant – I provide foundation repair solutions, not piers ( repairfoundations.com )

If you still aren’t ready to contact me, consider ordering my new 211-page book “Foundation Repair…The Book.??Click here: Foundation Repair…. The Book!: Consumers Guide to Dealing with Foundation Damage: Rash, Richard: Amazon.com : Books