Water Damage Leads to Foundation Damage- It’s True
There are a million separate issues that can damage your home's foundation, from hurricane to earthquake and subsidence. But improper drainage of water is one of the most harmful.
If your foundation has too much water, the soil swells. Not having sufficient water will make the soil shrinking. If expansions and contractions are not even, cracks, changes and other basic problems may occur and you may need to go for home foundation repair.
Things relatively isolated in the past have been water drainage. Certain communities were susceptible – not others.
But water drainage problems have continued to arise in the latest places in recent years. For example, the heavier than normal rainfall in Oklahoma has resulted in a host of slides, flooding and water damage.
Oklahoma received more than 77" of rain alone in 2013 (and not the year has ended yet) Brevard is not far behind, with 29" more rainfall than an average.
The issue's only going to get worse in Oklahoma. The damage caused by heavy rains will become more unpredictable and destructive in the years to come with climate change and changing weather patterns.
Water damage protection of your home foundation
It's bad news. It might be worse, however. After all, improper drainage of water can be detected and remedied. Once found, there are a number of improvements that can be made in order to remove excess water from your foundation.
If you live in a high-risk area, a fund expert, geologist or aquifer technician will consult you to examine your property in order to find out what might be wrong. You can also talk to a foundation repair expert to take advice on how to protect your home from further damage.
What is a high-risk region?
Well, you probably are a suitable candidate for professional help if you live in OKC near types of slides and floods that continue to headlines.
But to alert you to potential risks, you don't have to wait for natural disasters. You will want to make some phone calls before the problem gets worse if you notice your composition of your ground change quickly (too wet, too dry, soil erosion, sink holes, etc.).
Are improvements in water drainage the best solution?
Many homeowners initially refuse to spend money on water drainage to correct it, especially if the problem is not at first very obvious. But even minor problems with water drainage can go beyond control without addressing them. This is true across the country, but in OKC, where precipitation continues to reach an unprecedented level, in particular.
At the end of the day water drainage fixing is generally far less expensive than the repair of foundation problems – especially since under most of the home insurance policies the damage to the foundation is not normally covered. Give us a call at Ramjack by American Leveling to find out more about protecting your home against inadequate water drainage and other home foundation repair details.