Common Wintertime Threats to Foundations
Owning a home is one of the most valuable assets for most Americans. When it comes to your home's foundation, a lot of planning is involved to ensure your home is structurally sound and able to withstand the outside elements, such as high winds, tornadoes, and winter conditions. Due to fluctuating weather patterns and unpredictable rainfalls, many construction companies didn't build home foundations with these common threats in mind. At Pro Foundation, we can help protect your home's foundation during wintertime in Missouri and Kansas.
Wintertime can be one of the common threats for homeowners in Missouri and Kansas. The two biggest dangers include frost heaving and freezing pipes.
Frost Heaving
What is frost heaving? Frost heaving occurs when the top level of soil freezes and thaws. This process draws more water into the soil, creating a freeze and thaw cycle that results in uneven pressure. Over time, this causes the foundation to shift and crack. Since homes in Missouri and Kansas are built on silt soil as oppose to grainier soils, they are prone to frost heave.
How do you prevent frost heave? You can't stop seasonal frosting, but you can protect your foundation by investing in an effective water drainage system. You can also implement the following:
- Direct the flow of water from your foundation
- Insulate the foundation to reduce frosting
- Replace the soil with more porous alternatives
Freezing Pipes
Pipe freezing is a common and serious situation that needs immediate attention. Pipes may burst due to ice expanding in the pipes, resulting in water damage to your foundation and costly repairs. The most common affected areas of the home include:
- Pipes directly exposed to outside temperatures, such as washrooms
- Pipes in crawlspaces or exposed indirectly to outside temperatures
- Outdoor faucets
Homeowners can prevent pipe-freezing by sealing leaks around pipes, insulating pipes, and shutting off uncovered pipes. Make sure the temperature of your home stays above 55 degrees.
These preventative measures can lower the risk of foundation problems. But if your foundation becomes volatile, contact Pro Foundation Technology, Inc. right away. We offer foundation repair solutions, such as steel piers, helical piers, and helical anchors to stabilize your foundation.
To repair cracking and uneven concrete, we offer concrete leveling and concrete repair solutions. We apply polyjacking to stabilize and strengthen the surface back to normal.
Regardless of what situation you may have, we'll help you find the best foundation repair solution to keep your foundation stable all winter long.
Filed under Foundation Repair
Tags: foundation repair