Category: Blog

When you’re on the market for a new home, don’t fall in love with how it looks. Instead, run a full gamut of tests that measure the house’s structural quality and the quality of its systems. Even if you can’t schedule an appointment with a foundation expert, there are a few ways to check if a house has foundation problems just waiting to emerge. One way is to check if the floor is level. The other is to look for signs of bad drainage.

Keep an eye out for these three signs of poor drainage on the property:

1. The house is downhill.

There’s something picturesque about a house on a hill. But it means water running down the slope will pool against at least one side of the house unless you actively prevent it. Houses built on a downhill slope need to have carefully maintained lawns and drainage systems that divert the runoff around the foundation. So if your prospective next home is on a slope, make sure that the previous owner was on top of that maintenance. Also be sure that you’re willing to keep it going.

2. The grass and soil around the house aren’t uniform.

If the soil around the edge of the property’s foundation is pitted or has smooth chunks carved out of the surface, that usually indicates the gutters aren’t doing their job. There may be missing downspouts at those spots, the gutters might be clogged, or there could just be a pocket of extra loamy soil. No matter what the reason is, uneven, pocked soil around the foundation line means the previous owner hasn’t been paying attention.

3. The crawlspace smells musty.

Nobody likes going into a crawlspace, even under the best of circumstances. But if you’re looking at a home with a pier and beam foundation, you need to make sure that the space is in good condition. One of the simplest tests to look for bad drainage is to open the door and smell the air. A little bit of mustiness is to be expected. But if you are hit by a wave of mildew and rot, it might be time to walk away.

If poor drainage is a problem but you like the house anyway, call in a foundation expert to take a look. We can offer recommendations or an estimate for future repairs.

Houses shift and settle. Some notable signs are sticking and dragging windows and doors. There may be hairline cracks in the walls near interior doors and windows. Floors may slope, slant, buck or sag.  You may also notice exterior cracks as well. Gaps may develop between caulking and windows and doors, also between the ceiling and crown molding. These minor issues can become major ones unless attended to. Shifting and settling may be because of soil related issues.

The symptoms you are noticing can be caused by the soil under and around your home. The soil may not be compacted well, which causes your home to shift and settle. Soil composed mostly of clay, most affected by moisture, may swell and shrink. The soil’s movement affects your foundation. Since the movement is usually not even, neither are the shifting and settling.

Foundation Shifting

When you notice the signs of shifting and settling, make sure your rain gutters and downspouts send the water away from your house. Your yard should slightly slant or slope away from your house as well. You also don’t want your neighbor’s water to run toward your house. You want the water to run toward the drainage system away from your home. Your house responses to both too much moisture in the soil as well as too little. You will have shifting and settling during dry seasons as well as wet ones.

In you are in an area where the soil have a high clay content or lots of sand, there is a greater probability of foundation damage. Texas is known to have soil that expands and contract. Homes need good drainage as well. Some cities that should be particularly concerned are San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Houston, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth. Steady House Foundation Repair serves the Dallas and Fort Worth areas and has a vast amount of experience with both foundation and drainage problems.

You should have your home inspected by a professional foundation repair expert. You want an expert that will inform, consult and educate you about possible repairs and solutions. You want a specialist that offer quick repairs and foundation inspections that will keep your home and foundation in the best possible shape. You want Steady House Foundation Repair. For an inspection and consultation, contact us.

So you need some foundation work done around your residential or commercial property, but you don’t know where to begin? Whether you need a minor foundation repair job addressed or a complete installation, it is always a good idea to call on the help of a professional contractor. But how can you be sure you found the right contractor for the job? In this post, we will introduce you to two qualities you should look for in a great foundation contractor.

1. The Ability to Communicate Transparently: You don’t want to hire a contractor who is going to gloss over vital information or be vague about important points. If a contractor is easy to touch base with and happy to answer all of your questions, it is a good sign that they are a reputable contractor. Additionally, you want someone who will go over the big and little details with you such as cost, time frame, removal of old materials, and preparation techniques.
2. They Have a Backup Plan: The unfortunate reality of any foundation repair project is that once in a while, things don’t always go according to plan. For example, a foundation repair may take longer than usual due to harsh weather conditions. Before hiring a contractor, ask them what their Plan B is. What will they do when something gets in the way of finishing the job in a timely manner? The right foundation contractor will have an answer for you and a plan as to how they’ll handle the situation.
3. A Proven Track Record: Great foundation contractors will have a proven track record which includes plenty of testimonials from other customers as well as a portfolio of their past work. Before hiring anyone, ask to speak to a few references or read the reviews on their website and any other online platform. Finally, by looking at examples of their past work, you can get a sense of what they’ll do for you.

Looking for more information? Contact us today!

It certainly doesn’t take an expert to realize that puddles in the basement or a pool of water in your front yard are potential signs of a drainage problem. However, there are many drainage issues that aren’t so easy to see. Detecting drainage problems when they’re small and easier to fix is crucial to protecting your property from extensive repairs in the future. Fortunately, there are a few tell-tale signs to look for if you think you may have a drainage problem.

Notice Cracks

We all know that houses tend to settle over time, which can often cause small cracks in the foundation. Although most small cracks are harmless, you need to know when it’s time to call the experts. Any cracks that are larger than about 1/8th of an inch wide should be closely watched. If you notice these cracks are growing, it’s time to call in the pros.

Watch Those Downspouts

If you notice that your downspouts are dumping too much water from the roof, this could be hazardous to your foundation. Too much water being dumped too close to your home’s foundation can cause flooding in your basement, thus ruining your flooring, walls, and even damaging your personal belongings.

Examine Your Gutters

Designed to keep water away from your home, gutters should be examined on a fairly routine basis. If you notice vertical streaks of dirt on the outside of your gutters, splatters of mud on the siding, or vertically peeling paint on your home’s exterior, it could be a clear sign that your gutters are not functioning as they should. They may simply be clogged with leaves and need to be cleared out by a professional. However, undersized or improperly pitched gutters will need to be reinstalled or completely replaced.

At Steady House Foundation Repair, we want to help you protect your property. That’s why we work with each of our customers across the DFW area to fix what is broken and, more importantly, to help detect potential problems before they arise. The earlier you detect an issue, the more money you save yourself in the end. If you’ve noticed any of the above signs or you suspect that you might have a drainage problem, contact us today!

If you think there’s something wrong with your foundation, the first thing you want is confirmation that it’s not serious. There’s nothing like the peace of mind after you find a crack you don’t remember seeing before and realizing it’s not something you need to panic about. Here are three signs that your home’s foundation is simply settling or not moving at all.

Your wooden door is sticking.

If your door is harder to open and close then you remember, you might immediately worry about your foundation. But if you have a wooden door, it might just be swelling from humidity. Wooden doors can also expand and contract because of the temperature, so don’t be too concerned if this is the only problem you see. Even wooden door frames can swell against a metal or fiberglass door enough to make it stick. If the problem stays regardless of the season but it doesn’t get worse, the foundation might just be settling.

There are straight cracks in the drywall.

Your home’s walls are made up of smaller sheets of drywall. If you have a grid of paint lines in your garage, that’s approximately how tall and wide the sheetrock is in your home’s interior, too. Over time, heat and foundational settling tug the paint apart. The cracks run over the seams. As long as the cracks are thin and just horizontal or vertical, they’re probably not an emergency. Take a picture so you can measure growth and keep an eye out for more telling diagonal cracks.

A foundation expert signs off on it.

Having a professional inspect your foundation gives the best peace of mind. An inspector can measure the levelness of the floors, inspect the visible damage, and check for signs of problems that are harder to spot. They can tell you more about your foundation, tips for keeping settling in check, and answer your questions.

If you want that peace of mind as soon as possible, schedule an appointment with Steady House Foundation. One of our inspectors will be happy to take a look.

One of the first things you’ll see online when you type in ‘foundation maintenance’ is a lot of advice about watering your soil. Dry soil contracts and pulls away from the sides of your foundation. The dirt underneath your foundation can also shift and destabilize. Foundation shift happens when the soil isn’t hydrated, but it also depends on the soil itself.

What type of soil is on your property?

If you’re directly in Dallas County, find your neighborhood on this soil map of the area. While knowing the gradient of the property, or how much it slopes, gives you a good indication of how much erosion and drainage might be a problem in the future, it’s an incomplete picture. The type of soil your house sits on can tell you a lot about how likely foundational shift is. The majority of the soil around Dallas has a heavy clay make-up, but that general rule doesn’t apply to the whole metroplex. If you live outside of the Dallas county limits, a quick search can tell you more about your neighborhood’s soil.

Clay, loam, or sand — why does it matter?

If you have loamy dirt, or dirt with a good mix of clay, sand, and silt, you hit the jackpot. This soil is more stable than it’s other counterparts. However, it’s much more likely than even loam-heavy regions have too much clay in the soil. Sandy soil is almost as good because of the good drainage, but it’s rare. Unfortunately, sandy soil is also vulnerable to erosion.

Clay is really good at retaining water, which is good for your plants but bad for the foundation. The dirt will swell up with as much water as it can hold onto when it rains, and that can put a lot of pressure on your foundation. During a drought, the dirt will severely shrink as the water disappears. The high level of expansion and contraction is why shift happens so much in the DFW area.

You don’t have to figure out what type of soil your foundation sits on to keep it safe. Call in a foundation inspector to examine potential problems and shift.