Many of us have had to deal with an aging home that’s starting to show the signs of age with a settling foundation. What often happens as a result of the settling is the formation of cracks in your foundation. Although those cracks may be the least exciting thing you’d like to pay attention to, they’re linked to one of the most important areas of your home, the foundation and its ability to protect the structural integrity of your home. If your foundation is not sound it will affect many things in your home, like how well your doors close and your windows open, for example. This is why it’s a good idea to know what signs to look for and then do something about it.
Not all cracks indicate a serious foundation problem. Some can come from the natural settling of an older home. In a word, it boils down to size. Small hairline cracks are usually the result of the natural settling of the house. However, wide cracks represent more than natural settling and demand your immediate attention. In fact, those wide cracks will only become worse with time, possibly costing you a pretty penny to fix. If you have cracks as a result of natural settling, you can often get away with simply sealing the cracks so that moisture doesn’t become an issue.
Unfortunately, sloping floors definitely represent a problem with your foundation. Not only is your home settling, it’s settling unevenly. The uneven settling creates areas where the foundation has sunk lower in one place more than another. It’s something worth investigating because this type of foundation problem will no doubt effect doors, windows, and walls. A foundation in distress requires that you contact Atlanta Foundation Repair.
As foundation damage progresses, tell-tell signs will become more obvious. Windows will become more difficult to close or open and so will doors. In fact, you may find that your doors start to stick, particularly on hot humid days. These are all symptoms of an unstable foundation shifting and creating structural problems. Depending on the weather and the amount of settling a foundation is experiencing, some doors may not be able to close at all.
Dealing with an unstable foundation is not fun for anyone, but the structural integrity of your house rests soundly on how stable your foundation is. Your house will provide you with many clues that let you know that it’s not doing so well. Cracks in the drywall, sloping floors and misaligned doors and windows are just a few of the ways that your house will speak to you. A cracked foundation has the ability to greatly impact the structural integrity of the house negatively, especially as time passes. This is why foundation repair becomes eminent when you start to notice a variety of different signs that expose a failing foundation. Regardless of whether you are a homeowner or planning on buying a home with foundation issues, make fixing the foundation a priority.