The concrete foundation of your home or business can be expensive to repair. Foundation repairs for a typical home can be between $2,200 – $8,400 with major structural repairs costing much more. Businesses with a larger, heavier foundation may see major repair bills that exceed $30,000. These high repair costs can be avoided if home and business owners know how to prevent foundation damage, and this overview created by Potrykus Construction will highlight what every property owner should know about preventing foundation damage.
5 Ways to Protect Your Foundation and Prevent Damage
Damage to a concrete foundation can be caused by a number of factors that include — unstable soil with expansive clay, poor water drainage, tree roots, water leaks, natural disasters, poor site preparation, and more. Many of the scenarios that will cause damage to your concrete foundation involve water and improper drainage, which is important to understand and prevent whenever possible.
Here is a closer look at a few ways you can prevent damage to your foundation:
1. Ensure You Have Proper Drainage
Water is the primary culprit of foundation damage — so the best way to protect your foundation and prevent damage is to keep the water away from the foundation. This makes proper drainage a critical factor, and makes it important to ensure your gutters are clean and downspouts release water 3 – 5 feet away from the foundation.
2. Graded Slope Around the Foundation
A graded slope is a great defense against excess water that can lead to a damaged foundation, keeping water away from your home or business. The ground around your foundation should slope away at a rate of one inch per foot for at least the first six feet. This allows rainfall or water from a downspout to flow farther away from your foundation.
3. Pay Attention to Moisture Levels
When the soil around your concrete foundation gets wet and then dries, it expands and contracts. That constant expansion and contraction can cause your concrete foundation to crack, resulting in expensive damage. If you pay attention to moisture levels, you can use hoses or soaker lines to keep the ground around your foundation moist when it is extremely dry to prevent contraction.
4. Take Precautions with Landscaping
We love beautiful landscaping like trees, bushes, and flowers, as much as the next person — but if you are not careful with your landscaping, the roots can cause damage to your foundation. When you put in new plants, trees, or bushes, it is important that you plant them far enough away from the foundation. Trees and large bushes should be planted at least half the distance of their mature height from your foundation to prevent plants from drying out the soil and causing the soil to contract.
5. Employ Protective Drainage Systems
The steps listed above are a few basic things you can do to protect the foundation of your home or business — but there is still more you can do. Protective drainage systems can be installed to provide additional protection for your concrete foundation. Key examples of protective drainage systems include French drains, sump pumps, or additional gutters to improve drainage.
5 Warning Signs of Foundation Damage
Damage to a foundation is not always obvious, and when minor damage goes unnoticed, it can lead to more severe damage down the road. This makes it critical for you to recognize the early warning signs of foundation damage — and we may be able to help at Potrykus Construction with this list of warning signs.
- Cracks in exterior brick walls or interior drywall.
- Floors that are sloping, uneven, or sagging.
- Windows and doors are separating from the framework.
- Doors and windows that stick or cannot close.
- Gaps between the walls and ceiling or the walls and floor.
READ MORE: Differences Between Slab Foundations and Deep Foundations
When it comes to preventing foundation damage, there are a few things that all property owners should know — and we may be able to help at Potrykus Construction. We hope that this quick overview of how to prevent foundation damage has answered your questions and will give you a few ideas on how you can protect your property.
Contact Potrykus Construction today for more information about our concrete work!