It helps to know a little about Texas soil to effectively safeguard your Texas home from foundation problems. What is known as gumbo mud, or expansive soil is what is found in much of the region’s soil. Expanding during rainy seasons and contracting during dry seasons, the expansive soil acts like a sponge. Putting enormous stress on your home’s foundation is this fluctuation can increase soil volume by more than 10%. It puts your home’s entire structure at risk of damage from the shifting soil under and around your foundation can cause it to tilt or sink over time. There are several steps you can take to prevent the soil from soaking up too much water, though you can’t very well move a home with a foundation that’s built on expansive soil of course. With this in mind, we at DuraTech Texas would like to share the steps to prevent home foundation issues.
Ensure Your Landscape Slopes Away from the House
Away from your home, the landscaping should be graded to slope. In order to keep water moving away from your foundation and prevent it from pooling on your property, the ground should slope 6 inches for every 10 feet as a general rule. It’s important to check for any low or sunken spots around the perimeter of your foundation, the ground can shift and settle over time.
Routinely Clean Your GuttersIf You have a Basement; Install a Sump Pump
Sometimes groundwater from oversaturated soil will seep into your basement no matter how hard you try to prevent it. In order to reduce below-ground saturation is how sump pumps are designed. Underneath a basement floor or the floor of a crawl space is where they are usually placed. To prevent it from entering any cracks in the foundation, pump collects groundwater and then directs the water away from the home.
Consider a French Drain System Installation
A trench filled with gravel or rock and containing a perforated pipe that directs surface water away from the house is a French drain. Because they operate under the principle that water flows downhill and by the easiest route possible, French drains are particularly useful for homes built on hills or slopes. It flows freely through the pipe after water runs into the trench, which empties a safe distance from the house. Whether due to pooling rainwater or a badly designed irrigation system, you most likely need a French drain if your lawn is frequently soggy, or your driveway often floods.
Foundation Repair Services & More in Crosby, Cypress, Friendswood & Greater Houston, Texas
When you are faced with foundation trouble in Houston, TX and surrounding areas, call in the leading experts of DuraTech Texas and let us help you with quality repairs.