If water isn’t draining properly around your home, it can wreak havoc on your foundation. Poor water drainage, such as when water is flowing towards a house instead of away from it, can severely damage the foundation and compromise its structural integrity. A foundation repair expert is needed to fix such foundation issues, because doing it yourself could lead to future costly repairs.
Here’s how improper water drainage can impact your foundation.
Soil expansion
The seasonal swelling and shrinking of expansive soils, such as the clay soil found in parts of the San Antonio area, is the most common cause of foundation movement. During wetter months, the soil swells with an increase in its moisture content, which raises a foundation. Then in the drier months, the soil shrinks back down, and the foundation settles.
If water around a home isn’t draining properly, some areas of soil may swell more than others, and consequently, some areas may dry out quicker than others. This is bad news for a foundation. Cracking can begin to occur due to the unbalanced soil below, since one part of the foundation becomes more supported than another.
Soil erosion
As time goes on, soil around a home may become eroded. Runoff from rooftops that lands too close to a home may begin to erode the soil around its foundation. This could cause damage and movement of the foundation as the soil becomes less stable.
Clogged gutters can also contribute to soil erosion if water overflows and accumulates around a home’s foundation. Downspout drains that aren’t angled properly can add to the problem here too.
Groundwater
It’s not always direct rainwater that can cause a foundation issue. Groundwater can seep through soil and into areas that are damaging to a home’s foundation if pooling happens too closely to the house’s perimeter. Appropriate water drainage can prevent this.
Telltale signs
Your home’s foundation may be affected by water not draining properly if you notice continuous dampness in the house. Damage to walls, such as plaster crumbling, paint peeling or wood rotting, may also appear if the problem is left untreated.
Cracking and tilting in a home are also symptoms of poor water drainage around the foundation. When floors sag and windows or doors that once worked smoothly begin to become stuck, this can mean there’s movement in the foundation.
In situations where water continues to damage a home’s foundation, the home itself can start to sink, or worse yet, collapse. Therefore it’s important that water drains properly around a home, and why the help of an expert is necessary if it doesn’t.
Getting help
Serving the San Antonio area, our foundation repair professionals can help correct a variety of foundation issues, as well as make sure water is draining properly around your foundation. We offer free estimates too, so give us a call at (210) 485-1995 if you suspect any problems with your foundation or water drainage. 