About Peak Basement Systems

June is Expansive Soil Month at Peak!

Foundation Concerns? Let’s look at Soil!

For the next few months, we'll be walking through the different chapters of our new eBook, Foundation Technology. We'll be looking at soils and providing you with handy checklists, helpful hints and much more.

Expansive soil exerts more pressure on a foundation than 10 women standing on each other’s shoulders, balanced on a single stiletto heel! Ouch!

It’s the same pressure exerted on a domino if you stacked 20 Nissan Altima’s on top of it!


Clay, Swelling Soil, Benonite; it's all expansive soil!

Fast Facts on Expansive Soil:

  1. Expansive soil is soil that contains a high percentage of certain types of clay that absorb vast quantities of water.
  2. Most soil in the Front Range can be classified as a swelling soil.
  3. Soil to expand 10% or more as moisture enters it, usually during winter snow melt and spring run off.
  4. Expansive soil contracts when the moisture evaporates during our hot summer months, causing extreme differences in the pressure being generated on foundation, driveway, or patios.
  5. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that these soils are responsible for more home damage every year than floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined.

Resolving Structural Issues Due to Expansive Soils

Unfortunately, cosmetic repairs such as new paint or stucco will not fix problems caused by expansive soil. That's why it's important to have a professional service company to come in to your home with engineered work that is backed up with warranties and guarantees to protect your investment. The service company should hire an independent, professional Geo-technical Engineer can make a site inspection and perform laboratory tests. After analyzing your particular situation, he can make recommendations specific to your property.


Posted on: 2009/06/04 2:55:06pm by: Matilda D. Waters

 

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