What Every Home Owner Should Know About The Care And Keeping Of Their Foundation
If you’re looking to build a high quality home that can withstand the test of time, build a home with a strong foundation. Ideally, this means investing up to 15% (and no less than 8%) of the home’s total value into said foundation. Making sure that the foundation is built with high quality materials and by skilled foundation contractors is an absolute must, to say the very least. In addition to this, the type of foundation that you choose is hugely important as well.
After all, there are a number of different types of foundations to pick from. Some of the most popularly used here in the United States include the slab foundation, the crawlspace foundation, and the basement foundation. While all of these foundations can be high in quality, it is also important to note that they cannot be applied universally. For instance, parts of the country with certain soil types that are prone to erosion (such as in the state of Florida) should not invest in something like a basement foundation. Instead, a slab foundation will likely be the much better choice.
Of course, the basement foundation can also be ideal, especially for homes found in the Midwest region of this country. But when a basement foundation is in place, certain precautions must be taken. For instance, precautions against flooding are absolutely essential, as it has been estimated that around 98% of all basements will experience at least some type of flooding at some point in time. With more than 10,000 (around 14,000, to be just a bit more specific) people dealing with various levels of flooding on a daily basis, it should come as no surprise that more than 35% of all home owners in this country have had to contend with flooding at some point in time. Unfortunately, some of this flooding damage has been quite severe indeed.
Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to avoid the damage that leads to flooding in the typical basement foundation. For instance, even steps like planting your garden with care can have an impact. Ideally, you should ensure that everything you plant is at least two full feet away from the foundation of your home. Not planting anything too deeply will also be beneficial, as it will help to ensure that the roots do not interfere with your foundation in any way, such as by diverting water towards it.
Gutter placement is something that can also have an impact. Making sure that your gutters are diverting water at least ten feet away from your foundation is something that will help to ensure that they do not cause water damage to the foundation. Of course, routine and regular cleaning of your gutters is something that will also help to prevent damage not just to your foundation but to your home as well, including your roof.
But what if damage to your foundation does occur? After all, flooding is so common, as are other types of damage, such as termite damage. Fortunately, home foundation repair services are quite a bit more common than many people realize. Home foundation repair services will help to rectify the problem, of course, but home foundation repair services can sometimes even help to prevent problems from occurring in the future. And home foundation repair services can certainly help to prevent a relatively minor issue from becoming worse and spiraling out of control. When you hire home foundation repair services early on in the lifespan of a problem, ideally as soon as you notice it, you will end up saving yourself a considerable amount of money indeed. Home foundation repair services will almost always be well worth the cost.
At the end of the day, you should not ignore the overall quality of your foundation, not in the slightest. By investing in the upkeep or even home foundation repair of your foundation, you can help to ensure that the value of your home stays high – or even gets higher as time passes by. Ultimately, investing in your foundation will pay off in the rest of your home and for years to come.
