Your foundation is a hugely important part of your home, something that helps it to stay safe and stable indeed. If there are problems with the foundation (especially if they have not been immediately addressed with the aid of a foundation repair contractor performing home foundation repair), these issues can all too easily extend to other facets of the home. Fortunately, there are many steps to take that can adequately prevent such issues from ever occurring in the first place.
First of all, choosing the right type of foundation is key, as this will vary in different parts of the country. Slab foundations are common in parts of the country where soil quality is less than ideal. You might want to choose this foundation over others under such circumstances. In addition to this, basement foundations and even crawlspace foundations are widely utilized. Such foundations can be highly beneficial if you’re looking for some extra storage – or even to create some extra living space, in the case of homes with basement foundations that can be turned into everything from a game room to a full additional apartment that can be rented out to bring in a little bit more in terms of money.
But making sure your foundation is high in quality at the time that it is built (if you are building your own home from the ground up) is something that will pay off at the end of the day no matter what type of foundation it is that you might have. After all, it is recommended that you invest up to 15% of your home’s overall cost into the foundation and the foundation alone. At the very least, you should be investing a minimum of 8%.
If you decide on a basement foundation, taking other precautionary measures is also a good idea. This is due to the fact that basements are quite prone to flooding, with more than 95% of all basements found throughout the United States experiencing some level of flooding at some point in time or another, leaving up to 14,000 people having to deal with flooding based emergencies on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this means that more than 35% of all home owners in the United States alone have dealt with property damage, something that can take a financial toll as well as an emotional one.
But there are steps that can be taken to prevent basement flooding – or at least mitigate its impact. Exterior waterproofing services, for instance, are quite effective. Exterior waterproofing can be conducted on just about any home, and this exterior waterproofing is so impressive as to have an average return on investment of at least 30%, if not higher. And exterior waterproofing is not the only effective form of basement waterproofing out there. In addition to exterior waterproofing, other encapsulation services will include everything from crawl space encapsulation services to interior basement waterproofing services. No matter what, hiring an exterior waterproofing company will help to ensure that the exterior waterproofing job conducted is done well and thoroughly.
But even aside from interior and exterior waterproofing, there are further steps that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of issues with your foundation, no matter what kind of foundation it might be. For instance, it is likely that taking simple gardening measures can go a long way. For instance, you should never plant anything closer than two feet to your home. In addition to this, making sure that the roots of your plants do not go too deeply will also have a positive impact on your foundation’s overall safety.
Gutter placement also matters, as your gutters should be able to divert any rainwater that passes through them at least ten feet away from your foundation. Regular cleaning and maintenance of your gutters will also help in this regard. In fact, a lack of gutter maintenance can lead to issues in many parts of your home, not just for your foundation.
At the end of the day, the foundation of your home is a hugely important thing. However, there are many ways to protect it and maintain quality.
