With or without a basement, your home sits on a foundation. The foundation is the fundamental support of any home. For many homes this foundation system is also built to serve as a basement living space. One of the most costly and difficult repairs to made on any home is to the foundation system. Conducting routine inspections throughout your home will help you to discover any potential problems early on so that they can be addressed before they become more costly repairs. Here are just a few signs to be looking for:
- While it is very common to have a complete home inspection done before you purchase a home that includes checking the foundation, often after a homeowner moves in it is hardly thought about again. To prevent costly foundation problems taking time periodically to check for signs of foundation problems is important. Some of the things you can look for include new cracks forming on walls and ceilings, floors that seem to slope or separate, and changes to the exterior look of your home.
- If you notice changes to your homes foundation you can take time to determine if there are outside factors influencing the change. For instance is there a sprinkler or other water system that allows for water puddles that could be contributing to settlement? Are there other environmental concerns? Addressing the environmental concerns could be a simple solution to fixing problems caused by extra water.
- For those cracks that you see in your home’s foundation that don’t appear to be changing you should consider filling and repairing them. Using the appropriate tools and materials you can fill cracks to ensure that there is no moisture penetration and to help support the foundation and limit the crack from expanding further. When fixing cracks in the foundation use quality products and tools to complete the job. Bosch parts and tools are made of quality products to give you the performance you expect for a job well done.
- Once cracks have been noticed and repaired it is a good idea to continue to inspect them regularly for any changes.
Taking care of your home’s structural systems is an important part of home ownership. Conducting routine whole home inspections will help you not only find potential problems with the foundation but with other structural systems as well. Doing inspections allows you to find potential problems when they are small so that you can avoid costly home foundation repair costs later.
In her spare time Nicole enjoys gardening and growing healthy vegetables and fruits. She also spends her days working on eBooks and raising her kids.