If you don’t take steps to protect your home, you may have more than a bit of water or other damage to deal with. Excessive exposure to hydrostatic pressure and shifting soil can cause your foundation to settle and sink.
Your foundation doesn’t settle at random. The process doesn’t just describe the strange sounds your home makes in the middle of the night, either. Instead, the settling process can be attributed to the shifting of soil beneath your home.
Consider this: Whenever it rains in the Orlando, FL, area, your soil expands and contracts. As it does so, the structure of the soil beneath your home starts to shift. Sometimes, that shifting leaves behind vacuums. If water doesn’t immediately fill those vacuums up, gravity encourages your foundation to sink a little deeper into the ground. If this happens too frequently, either due to hydrostatic pressure or an unstable foundation, you may rapidly find your home not just settling but sinking.
Unfortunately, settling may not be your only problem. The longer you let your home sink without doing anything, the more likely it is that you’ll have to deal with foundation damage in the long run. The same hydrostatic pressure that can cause settling to begin with can also cause your foundation to crack or spring a leak. With that in mind, it’s important to keep an eye on your home’s health so you can react accordingly.
Most settling foundations do give themselves away. There are several signs of sinking you can look out for if you suspect something’s wrong in your home. Some of the most common signs of settling include:
Unfortunately, some homeowners may not catch these signs quickly enough. The longer you let your foundation sink without checking on its overall structural integrity, the more likely it is that you’ll start to see signs of damage outside of your home. The most common types of external damage to your foundation that home sinking can cause include:
If you notice any of these issues, you’ll want to get in touch with one of the professionals in the Orlando, FL, area to determine what precisely is going on with your foundation and how best you can deal with the problem at hand.
Luckily, you can take steps to keep your home from settling before damage starts to settle in. Ideally, you’ll want a professional to inspect your home to determine what your weak points are and what repair measures may suit you best. There are different types of foundation repair such as piers, crawl space supports, and wall repair solutions that you’ll be able to take advantage of.
That said, there are some steps that benefit all homes. These include:
Want to protect your foundation from settling and sinking? Reach out to a professional today for a home inspection and a free quote on potential services.