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| Problems with House Foundations
Constructed on Clay Soil |
| By Greg Vanden Berge |
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One of the worst types of soil that you can build a home on today is
clay soil. There are other problems with other types of soil, but clay
soil seems to create the most problems for home builders and home owners
alike.
Clay soil is often referred to as expansive soil by home builders and
soil engineers. As water absorbs into the clay soil, it will start to
expand and grow. The exact opposite happens once the moisture is removed
and the clay soil starts to dry out, it will start to shrink.
How does this affect your house foundation? As moisture is absorbed into
the clay soil, it can actually cause the building foundation to lift and
as the moisture starts to retreat and the clay soil starts to dry out,
it can cause the home to lower. This constant movement in the soil can
create problems in the future for your building foundation and problems
with your building foundation, could lead to problems with the rest of
the house. |
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If you're building foundation is suffering from
cracks and other foundation damage, one of the first things that you
should check is the soil. If the home is built on clay soil, there's a
good chance that this is the reason for the building foundation failure.
Remember that clay soil expands when it's wet and can put a lot of
pressure on the building foundation and retaining walls. If there are
any weak spots in the building foundation or there isn’t any structural
reinforcement like rebar, these areas could start to suffer.
If you live in an area with clay soil, try to keep water at least 5 feet
away from the homes building foundation. This can be done by using rain
gutters with extended downspouts and relocating your sprinklers.
You can also use drought tolerant plants around the perimeter of your
home or sidewalks. The main thing is to keep as much water away from
your building foundations as possible, to prevent concrete foundation
problems in the future. |
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