09/Apr/2009
Give Your Home A Solid Foundation
By Claston Bernard
Quandam Home Inspections
Any structure needs a solid foundation and your home is no exception. A cracked foundation may cost anywhere from $100 to over $100,000 when trying to sell or refinance a home.
The best way to avoid a hugely expensive repair is to learn more about your foundation and how to keep an eye out for problems.
But what exactly does a foundation do and how can it be strengthened? Simply put, a foundation is a structure that transfers loads to the earth, meaning it keeps your house structurally sound over time, even during bad weather.
Foundations are generally broken into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.
Shallow foundations are usually embedded only a meter or so into soil, making this the ideal foundation for South Louisiana homes. Most often, the weight of the building or home is transferred to the soil through a concrete slab placed at the surface.
Deep foundations transfer a load through an upper weak layer of soil to a stronger deeper layer of soil. Since Louisiana ground consists of many layers of top soil from the Mississippi River, deep foundations are rarely used.
Other primary design concerns for any building’s foundation are settlement and bearing capacity, the amount of weight a shallow foundation can hold before cracking.
These two concepts go hand in hand when building a foundation. If differential settlement occurs, meaning one part of a foundation settles more than another part, it is absolutely necessary to consider its bearing capacity. If uneven weight is built on a foundation with insufficient bearing capacity, the foundation will certainly crack or fail.
Louisiana residents must also consider scour when designing their foundation. Scour occurs when flowing water removes supporting soil from a foundation. Due to heavy rainfall year-round, Louisiana residents must keep a close eye on their foundation to catch this problem if it occurs.
For more information contact Claston Bernard at 454-7184 or quandamn@yahoo.com.
By Claston Bernard
Quandam Home Inspections
Any structure needs a solid foundation and your home is no exception. A cracked foundation may cost anywhere from $100 to over $100,000 when trying to sell or refinance a home.
The best way to avoid a hugely expensive repair is to learn more about your foundation and how to keep an eye out for problems.
But what exactly does a foundation do and how can it be strengthened? Simply put, a foundation is a structure that transfers loads to the earth, meaning it keeps your house structurally sound over time, even during bad weather.
Foundations are generally broken into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.
Shallow foundations are usually embedded only a meter or so into soil, making this the ideal foundation for South Louisiana homes. Most often, the weight of the building or home is transferred to the soil through a concrete slab placed at the surface.
Deep foundations transfer a load through an upper weak layer of soil to a stronger deeper layer of soil. Since Louisiana ground consists of many layers of top soil from the Mississippi River, deep foundations are rarely used.
Other primary design concerns for any building’s foundation are settlement and bearing capacity, the amount of weight a shallow foundation can hold before cracking.
These two concepts go hand in hand when building a foundation. If differential settlement occurs, meaning one part of a foundation settles more than another part, it is absolutely necessary to consider its bearing capacity. If uneven weight is built on a foundation with insufficient bearing capacity, the foundation will certainly crack or fail.
Louisiana residents must also consider scour when designing their foundation. Scour occurs when flowing water removes supporting soil from a foundation. Due to heavy rainfall year-round, Louisiana residents must keep a close eye on their foundation to catch this problem if it occurs.
For more information contact Claston Bernard at 454-7184 or quandamn@yahoo.com.
