Expansive clay soils exist in lots of elements of the country, including Texas. This kind of soil shrinks and cracks when it dries out. When it rains, soils with high clay and silt content don’t allow water to feed the soil. Instead, water is absorbed and held in the soil, significantly increasing its volume.
Soil and water pressure could cause foundation problems
It’s difficult to assume that soil can damage a material as hard, dense and strong as concrete, but homeowners and foundation repair contractors alike will testify to the destructive power of expansive soils.
So what sort of damage can occur because of expansive soils, and how would it be repaired and/or avoided?
Cracked and buckled walls probably occur more often because of expansive soils than other foundation problems. During a dry spell, clay-rich soil probably will distance themself from a foundation wall, creating a hole that can fill with stone, gravel, loose soil and other debris. Some homeowners even deliberately fill out this shrinkage gap. Nothing bad happens until there’s a long, soaking rain. Then the extra material in the crack increases pressure on the foundation wall since the soil expands de cimentación proceso constructivo. Since there’s not just a balancing volume of expansive soil against the interior of the wall, this one-sided pressure can push the wall inward, causing it to crack and bow in sections. Occasionally the building blocks wall will resist cracking or bowing, however the damage will need the shape of tilting. The the surface of the wall is going to be pushed in by the expansive soil, creating a foundation that tilts inward.
Soil that shrinks, settles and expands causes slabs, footings and walls to crack
Other site conditions that can contribute to foundation problems concerning expansive soils include trees and bushes that displace soil or increase drying and shrinkage by absorbing ground water. Soils abundant with clay and silt aren’t just unstable; they also have poor load-bearing characteristics compared to soils that have sand and gravel. Foundation footings and slabs built on clay-rich soil can heave in response to wet conditions or settle because of excessive shrinkage. In any case, cracks in foundation slabs, footings and walls will probably accompany heaving and settlement, since concrete can’t stretch or bend.
Foundation repair contractors overcome soil problems with special tools, materials and techniques
To a homeowner, the sort of foundation damage stated earlier looks severe. But an experienced foundation repair contractor sees an opportunity to stabilize difficult soil and connect the building foundation to solid, stable soil at greater depth.
Different techniques may be used stabilize the soil that surrounds a residence or commercial building. Since water is why is clay-rich soil swell and shrink, among the first things foundation repair contractors do is to check the big event of gutters, downspouts and general drainage across the house. Moving water far from the building blocks is really a reliable solution to limit soil movement, protecting the building blocks from soil’s expansive pressure.
If the soil has shrunk or settled, causing the masonry to crack and sink, soil stabilization may also be accomplished by driving helical piers into the soil. The helical flanges (or plates) on these steel piers are shaped like the threads on a wood screw, and function in an identical way. While the contractor turns the shank of the pier, the helical plates pull the pier deeper into the soil. The contractor may add pier sections to be able to reach stable soil underneath the damaged foundation. When the pier’s resistance to rotation reaches a predetermined level, the contractor knows that the pier is solidly anchored, and can offer the stable support the building blocks has been lacking. A bracket is installed to get in touch the pier to the building blocks; this can also enable the contractor to lift a sunken slab, footing or wall back once again to its original position.