If you’re a home owner here in the United States, you likely know already that there is a great deal of responsibility that goes into the care and keeping of your home on the whole. From the care of your roof to your windows and doors to even your siding, the importance of regular home care and maintenance is certainly not something that can be underestimated by any means. This is the case for the foundation of your home as well.
For one thing, the foundation of your home must be well built – and in the right style for the type of land that it is built on. When foundation is shoddily constructed or not particularly well thought through, it is far too likely that the foundation will become problematic later on, even if it is a number of years later and not necessarily an immediate thing. For many homes, simply building the foundation well in the first place will make a world of difference.
Take, for instance, pier and beam foundation, a type of foundation that is popular in many parts of the United States and used in residential buildings and commercial ones alike. Pier and beam foundation must be built to specific measurements, such as that the joists should not be any more or less than 18 total inches apart. The same can be said the of the beams used in pier and beam foundation, which must be, ideally, 12 feet apart. This careful construction will help to ensure that the foundation stays in good shape – and avoids the need for foundation repair and never becomes a victim to foundation failure – for many years to come.
Choosing the right variety of foundation will also help you to avoid the need for foundation repair services at a future date. For instance, slab foundation is frequently used in Texas, a state boasting as many as 60 different types of soil. When problematic soil types are present on a property – as problematic soil types so often are in Texas – slab foundation can be ideal to avoid the detriments of building foundation into these problematic soil types. In fact, the vast majority of homes that have been built within the last half of a century or so – in Texas, at least – all have slab foundations, primarily to avoid concerns with problematic soil types that might be present on the property in question.
Having an expert soil analysis conducted for your property can be a great step to take as well, though it will certainly be important to take this step before anything is actually built. This expert soil analysis will help you to determine if any problematic soil types are present – and what to do if such problematic soil types are. When you have problematic soil types, it is certainly not the end of the world, but extra planning for building type and foundations used will likely be necessary, though you’ll certainly be glad that you took the time to do so in the end, as you are far less likely to have foundational concerns as a result of your problematic soil types at the end of the day.
Simply caring for your foundation is another step that every home owner should take. This step will typically involve routine inspections – and hiring foundation repair services promptly should you ever suspect that something is wrong with your foundation, even if you don’t think this thing wrong is a particularly big deal. Having prompt repairs is essential for truly any aspect of your home, as prompt repairs will help to prevent the problem in question from spreading and becoming more extensive than what was really necessary. At the end of the day, paying for smaller repairs to be conducted now will prevent you from needing to pay for much larger repairs to be conducted down the line, again something that is hugely beneficial to just about every home and property owner out there, whether you are dealing with residential foundational issues or commercial foundational issues here in the United States.