4 Ways an Engineer Can Improve Your Home’s Foundation


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Most homeowners often overlook the foundation of their properties until a problem starts to emerge. However, if you’re a property owner, there are several reasons why it is always vital to hire an engineer to inspect the foundation of your home before problems begin to pop up. By getting the right person for the job right away, you can help ensure that you are going to get the job done right the first time around. Securing your home’s foundation can also be a really smart long term investment, as people knowing that it is secure will help you know that it will not fail for years to come.

How Can an Engineer Improve Your Home’s Foundation?

A foundation is simply the element of that structure connecting the base of your home to the ground. In case your home lacks a solid foundation, natural catastrophes including soil erosion, floods and heavy winds among others can turn out to be a concern over time. This can be exasperated by an older home with a weak foundation that was not properly installed. Luckily, there are several measures an engineer can put in place to ensure such occurrences don’t interfere with the foundation of your property. By hiring the proper engineer, you can help ensure that your home’s foundation is strengthened in exactly the ways that it needs. Looking out for your home’s foundation is an important part of home maintenance that should be done every decade or so in order to know that your home is still doing well. Even if there are no visible signs, it can be important to get your foundation inspected regularly to make sure everything is still working properly.

Fixing Existing Foundation Cracks

Large cracks appearing all of a sudden on the walls of your home may indicate a foundation issue. If the problem is overlooked, your home’s foundation may sink, and this can lead to more costly damages. This can warp the rest of your home, as the foundation is the base that your home sits on. By not having a proper foundation, you are endangering the rest of your home. An engineer can inspect your home’s foundation, discover cracks and other problems that your naked eyes can’t see, and offer an appropriate solution that will ensure your home is in stable shape for decades to come. This can also serve as a cost saving endeavor as well.  By fixing smaller cracks as they appear, you are helping ensure that larger structural problems don’t happen.

Lifting and Leveling

Home lifting will mostly come in handy when a property owner wants to avoid the consequences of flood damage. An engineer will likely apply this process to strengthen the foundation below your home’s structure. By leveling your home, you not only protect against regular foundational damage, but you also help prevent things like your flooring warping or cracking. This can be especially important if you have wood floors in your home, as those are more prone to warping and cracking with an uneven foundation. While all of these things should have been taken care of in the initial inspection of your home, new leveling problems can arise over the years. If you have been in your home for a long time, it is probably important to get your foundation checked out.

Underpinning

If your home has wider cracks, underpinning might be the appropriate process needed to strengthen the foundation of the building. An engineer can consider applying this technique to increase the bottom of your building’s foundation. This is a more extensive process meant to help with more severe problems. By correcting your home’s underpinning, an engineer can help reset the foundation to an extent. It would be smart to find a contractor who is specialized in this type of repair if a professional deems it necessary, as it is a rather technical process that needs an expert’s touch.

Structural Engineering

Though it is possible to sort out some of the foundation issues that are often encountered in most homes, there are several benefits of involving a structural engineer when your property encounters repair problems. Structural engineers are professionals who have undergone proper training, and therefore can quickly discover those problems that can cause significant damage if left unattended. By finding a professional who has dealt with this type of problem before, you can help be assured that the damage is not going to be long term or permanent. Having a professional engineer fix your home, you can help ensure that it will last a long time.

An experienced structural engineer will inspect your home’s foundation, discover problems and offer appropriate solutions that best suit your needs. When you are choosing an engineer, make sure to check with several different professional organizations in order to know that you are getting someone who knows what they are doing. Checking online reviews and testimonials is also a good way to help ensure that the person who you are hiring is experienced and qualified enough to get the job done right the first time.

The Bottom Line

If you are a property owner or if you plan to become one in the future, it’s important to note that numerous advantages come with hiring an engineer to inspect your home’s foundation more often. Get the peace of mind that you deserve by hiring an engineer who will ensure the foundation of your home is firm and not likely to fail soon.