Make Sure You Start With A Good Foundation
The importance of first establishing a firm foundation is a commonly used phrase. The "foundation" might refer to a mission statement that governs an organization. It might refer to the base coat of finish on a new painting. Or it might be the masonry footings and walls that support a building. Like many metaphors, this one is often put to use without much thought to its origins or its most literal meaning. So let's take a moment to determine if the good foundation cliché is as solid as it appears to be.
Dead Foundation Loads
Foundation-designing structural engineers divide the loads that weigh on a foundation, into the "dead" load and the live load.
The dead load is the weight of the building itself. The building's structural systems and all the materials used to build them qualify as dead load stuff like plywood, floor joists, studs, ceiling joists, nails, rafters, roof sheathing, shingles, insulation, and gypsum board.
The load that bears on a foundation doesn't change, but the live load does.
Live Foundation Load
The "live" load is the combined weight of the people who occupy the building and all the furniture, appliances, clothing and other items. The live load can also refer to the weight of snow or ice that accumulates on a building's roof and sidewalls.
Other Foundation Forces
Although dead and live loads are the main forces that weigh on a typical foundation, there are other foundation stressors worth mentioning. For example, hydrostatic pressure is the pressure of water in the soil. In worst-case scenarios, hydrostatic pressure can cause a foundation wall to crack and leak; it can also push a foundation up out of the ground.
Expansive soil can also cause foundation damage. Certain types of soil with high clay content can expand with tremendous force when they become saturated with water. When this happens, the foundation experiences loading from the side, which is more likely to cause damage such as cracking and shifting.
The Durable and Long-Lasting Foundation
Just like buildings, foundations also differ in size, scale and design. A full basement foundation may have a purpose beyond just providing additional living space. Other foundations, such as crawl space foundations, slab foundations and post-and-beam foundations, cannot enclose extra living space.
The foundation makes contact with the soil under and around a building, which is why masonry materials are often used to build foundations: poured concrete, concrete blocks (technically known as concrete masonry units, or CMUs), bricks and even precast concrete panels. Unlike other building materials, masonry can be in constant contact with soil and moisture without succumbing to damage such as mold, rot, insect attack or corrosion. Masonry has the added advantage of being fireproof.
A Masonry Foundation
A well-constructed masonry foundation has the durability to outlast the other parts of the house that are built on top of it. When foundations become damaged and suffer deterioration, it's often because of soil and water conditions that put pressure on foundations beyond standard dead and live loads. Soils can become saturated with water or expand with great force because of moisture saturation, as explained above. It's also possible for the soils that support the foundation to have poor stability or inadequate load-bearing capabilities. Fixing problems such as these usually calls for the services of an experienced foundation repair specialist.
Contact the experts at Master Services Foundation Specialists today for a free estimate for foundation repair in Kentucky.