The foundation of your home is crucial, but it is often an overlooked part of the property. You are not alone in this – homeowners all over the world are unaware of the importance of their home’s foundation. When it comes to home upgrades or renovations, homeowners typically choose extensions, aesthetic upgrades or trends. While there is nothing wrong with this, there needs to be some awareness and attention to the foundations of your home.
The property foundations support your home’s structure and integrity. It will provide your home with stability and impact its future. The foundation needs to be strong, as it will help prevent water ingress and damage to your property, protect against the elements, safeguard against soil movement, and much more.
Why your home’s foundations are important
Here are some reasons why your home’s foundations are vital.
Structural support
The foundation of your home is important, as the entire structure of your home relies on it. It supports the weight of the house and ensures it remains stable. The foundation will support any kind of collapsing, sinking, cracks, and other risks.
Soil movement
Soil is not solid, so the property of the foundation has to support and protect against the pressure of the ground and any kind of movement. Your foundation is an anchor.
Prevention of water
Every property needs to have a strong barrier against the elements. For example, water can have a huge impact on the safety of your home. A good foundation will help act as a barrier against dampness, mold, groundwater, water ingress, and wood rot.
Energy efficiency
A foundation that is well-insulated can ensure that your home is eco-friendly. Without cold draughts coming through the property or the loss of heat, it can help you to maintain a consistent house temperature and significantly reduce energy bill costs.
Protect against pests
The foundations of your home are the sneaky places that pests can enter. They are typically dark, unguarded, and open for anything to come into your home. When you have a solid foundation, you can create a physical barrier against pests, whether that is by closing up cracks and holes or ensuring you don’t create a damp location with rotting wood. Typical pests include ants, termites, and pests that can burrow.
Property value
Whether you plan to sell your house now or in the future, a solid foundation that is regularly checked and properly maintained is going to play an important role in its ability to sell and the value you are able to sell it at.
Futureproof your home
Your home should be a safe place for you and your family. The foundation is so important that if it is properly looked after, you can rest assured that your property is set up for you and your family now and in the years to come.
Every property is different, so it is important that you review your own property and learn about its foundations. The more familiar you become, the easier it will be to identify issues before they become problematic and cause safety issues.
Important actions you need to take to support your home’s foundations
Learn about your property
Learn about your property. Take a walk around and visually look at the exterior of your home and everything around it in the outdoor space, including the soil, the concrete, window frames, and more. It can be helpful, especially if you have a new property or have been in your property a while and don’t know anything about your foundations, you can seek the support of a home inspector to learn from a professional.
Drainage around the property
Your home needs proper drainage to support the foundations. If you don’t, then when the elements strike, water will build up and begin to erode and saturate the soil and impact your property’s foundations. This can have detrimental impacts both short-term and long-term. Water can lead to very big issues, including dangerous mold and even bigger damage to your property, leaving it unstable and unsafe.
Check the kind of drainage your property has and whether it is sufficient on the wetter days. This includes gutters and down spouts, anything that helps to manage water loads and direct them away from the property foundations.
Cracks
Cracks may be something you think is normal, but in a lot of cases, they could be part of a bigger issue. Regularly inspect your exterior walls for cracks, especially if they have grown. You should check the cracks in any cement surrounding your property. If you find you have issues, then you will need to seek professional concrete repair. As well as getting the cracks repaired, you should conduct further checks to see if there is a cause for the cracks that you need to consider more carefully. Inspect the cracks inside your home, too.
Sticking windows and doors
If you find that your windows and doors are beginning to stick, then it could be a sign that there has been a shift in alignment or warping of the walls. This could be a serious issue, so it is vital that you inspect this. You shouldn’t replace any windows or doors until you have checked the foundation over.
Uneven floors
The floors in your home moving could be a sign of a foundation issue that you need to inspect further. This could be floors that are uneven, sagging, sloping, or warped.
Foundation issues should be taken very seriously. You should regularly inspect your home, as well as consider what activities you can complete on a regular basis. This might be a specific check list tailored to the details of your home and a regular maintenance list, for example, cleaning out the gutters. It is really important that you consider this advice and personalize it to your home. If you have any doubts about an issue or need more support to understand your property foundations, then you should speak to a professional.
