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Home Owner Maintenance Tip
We enjoy trying to make sure that your home stays your most valuable asset. One of the best ways we know to help, is to pass along some simple maintenance tips that most people don’t know could save thousands of dollars. Soils A homeowner needs to be aware of their home's soil condition. Often soil has the potential to swell or shrink according to water content. If the water content increases the soil can swell. If the water content decreases, soil can recede and pull away from the foundation. This can create difficulties for buildings on these types of soil. Heavy clay, the type of soil that causes the biggest source of foundation problems, contains montmorillonite. Soil with this substance can easily change in volume 10-14 times with the addition or subtraction of water. When clay soil expands it can exert a force of 3-15 tons per square foot. Most houses weigh 350-400 lb per square foot, so the volume can move a house very easily. Color is not a good indicator to test the expansiveness of the soil. Expansive soils can be red, black, gray, green or even orange. Sand does not change as moisture changes. It can however, erode if there is not proper drainage. Sand can fall into a crack caused from drying soils and cause the soil to drift horizontally. Rock can expand and erode if it is has a lower density of shale. It is important that a structure have one type of soil and not various types of soil. If there are more than one type, building pads will need to be cut and filled so the soil is all the same. Take the time to ask your builder what type of soil your home is being built on, it is always better to know before hand. A shallow foundation wall be more vulnerable than a deep foundation. Please feel free to forward this maintenance tip to your friends and/or family members so they too can maintain their real estate investment.
Lem McSpadden and Brian McSpadden "Your Property Consultants for Life"
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