What Happens When You Don’t Fix Foundation Issues?
As a homeowner, it can sometimes feel that your work is never-ending. If it’s not the roof that needs repairs, it’s a window that needs to be replaced. Since you have only so much time and money, prioritizing some projects and delaying others makes sense. But when it comes to foundation issues, delay is not an advisable practice. Your foundation is the structural base of your home, and its strength and stability ensure the longevity of your home as well as any improvements you’ve invested in. The problems that result from foundation issues vary depending on the extent of the foundational instability, but some common and often costly problems are:
Extensive Structural Damage
Misaligned doors and windows, wall cracks, and uneven floors are among the first signs of a degraded foundation. But allow this degradation to continue, and you can expect even more problems. Remember, your house sits atop the foundation, so when the foundation moves, so do some parts of your home. Ceilings, wooden cross beams, upstairs walls, and attached garages—nearly every part of your home can be affected by an unsteady foundation. And there’s no telling how extensive the damage will be or how costly it will be to fix each damaged component.
Water Damage
A cracked or crumbling foundation makes a home extremely vulnerable to moisture penetration. If you have a basement, check for cracks and crevices in the walls. A shifting foundation puts excessive strain on basement walls. While water can sometimes leak into the basement of a home with a solid foundation, seepage is almost guaranteed when basement walls have been compromised. The likelihood of significant water damage to your home increases the longer the foundation issues are left unaddressed. Not only that, mold and mildew, which thrive in wet subterranean conditions, can gain a foothold and cause several long-term health conditions such as coughing, nasal stuffiness, throat and eye irritation, asthma, and other respiratory problems.
Plumbing Problems
A degraded foundation puts your plumbing at risk. In homes with pier and beam foundation, for instance, pipes can become intertwined with the foundation and weave their way into the house. With regard to concrete slab foundations, when the subsoil expands and contracts, it can lift, drop, and dislocate the slab, breaking the pipes below. This particular problem can be difficult to correctly diagnose without a professional evaluation. Additionally, repairing under-slab pipes is often costly since they aren’t always easy to access. As for above-ground pipes that run through walls and beneath floors, they are also vulnerable to damage because a shifting foundation will cause structural displacement throughout the house.
Get Help From a Foundation Repair Company
Be proactive about foundation issues because they will only get worse over time and cost more to repair the longer you wait. If you live in or near Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and you notice sizable wall cracks or any other common signs of a weakened foundation, contact Ecoscape Foundation & Home Services. We offer free evaluations and convenient payment options to make it easier to get the home foundation repair you need now rather than later.
