What Are The Causes Of Basement Cracks

Basement waterproofing can be one of the most expensive home repairs, depending on the extent of the damage found on the basement floors, and walls, and also to your draining system. When the horror is over and the price has been paid, many are left curious as to the causes of the many cracks on the basement walls, or floor that became the reservoir of water that broke up their houses foundation.

What produces basement cracks? There are various causes actually. We will explore the common ones so you will have an idea how to prevent another expensive costly home basement repair project.

Water accumulation is one of the leading causes that lead to cracks in the basement walls, and floors, and the posterior basement waterproof process. Too much water under the concrete foundation of the house, can cause tension build up, when this accumulated tension becomes too much for the concrete holding it in place, cracks start to appear, and eventually, if not handled, can cause basement flooding.

Lot grading is another factor to explore as a cause of basement cracks. At times the slope of the top soil, instead of being diverted to the yard, is in the incorrect direction, that is to say, towards the house. This inevitably causes drainage to be directed to the foundation that eventually causes the development of cracks.

Weight distribution can also be an offender if not equally proportioned. It depends on the placement of your furniture in your basement, if really heavy items are balanced with less heavy items, the floor will be predisposed to cracking. It also no help if beneath the floor there is a watery volcano ready and waiting to explode.

Improper slab thickness is also a primary cause of you ending up at a basement waterproofing contractor's office. If in the first place, the design of your house was flawed by a contractor who did not ensure that the concrete slabs had the required thickness upon installation. You are at risk for basement cracks. The thickness requirement is considered to be at least four inches, and should be done including reinforcing wire.

If you live in the colder regions or areas, that has freezing and thawing going on, then cracks may be developing in the basement just as you are reading this article. This is due to the fact that when the ground freezes and then it in turn expands, and after thawing then it contracts. This repeated motion will eventually lead to ground shifting which then causing pressure build up causing inevitable splitting.

Concrete slab settling is also a prodromal influence on future basement waterproofing projects. Slab settling is a process that happens over time, and causes to become more compact, the problem is that certain sections of concrete slabs may settle at a faster rate than others, and it is this unevenness that produces cracks which also appear over time.

Now that you know the principal causes, you can start prevention as soon as possible, of course, this in no way means, that cracks will never appear, most likely they will, but this doesn't mean you next visit will be to a basement waterproofing contractors office. With foresight, a bit of planning, and a whole lot of preparation, there's no doubt, costly home incidents can be avoided.

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