Signs Your Richmond Foundation is Failing
Concrete is the common material for residential and commercial construction, particularly for foundations and basements. But concrete is not without its drawbacks. While it is strong and can handle high compression loads, concrete is brittle and has low tensile strength. Because of that, you may see the backfill around your foundation and basement walls settles and causes bowing walls, water intrusion, and foundation cracks in your Richmond property. The water content of the soil is heavy, and when that weight is added to the weight of the soil, the concrete of your foundation is subjected to an incredible amount of hydrostatic pressure (inward force). When that pressure exceeds the strength of the concrete that supports and stabilizes your home in Richmond, you get problems.
Some of those signs your Richmond foundation may be failing:
- Foundation cracks in Richmond properties with block walls, which tend to crack easier and will exhibit a stair-stepped pattern, but poured walls can also exhibit jagged cracks.
- Dark, weepy streaks in the concrete or blotches on the walls and in the corners. Water can get anywhere, often in hard-to-see and hard-to-reach places, and given enough time, will create standing pools in basement floors.
- Interior doors and windows begin to stick and are hard to open, and the frames in which they are placed are no longer square.
- Cracks in the corners of the interior drywall. The wall may also separate from the ceiling or floor.
- Uneven and spongy floors that sag and creak when you move from one location of the house to another.
- An outside chimney has separated from the house.
Water causes some of the most expensive damage to any home or business, and the longer the water problems remain unmitigated, the more expensive the repairs become. The moment you notice any symptom of foundation damage like sticking doors or foundation cracks to your Richmond home, contact the professionals at Stable Foundations. We’ve been Richmond’s number-one foundation contractor since 1992. We’re dedicated to providing long-term solutions to protect homes and businesses in our community.