Are you planning to expand your home story? Adding a new story is a good idea but you should contact Greenville contractors and ask them to check your home foundation. It’s because a new story will add weight to your existing foundation. You might get a brand new story but this good news turns bad when after some day home foundations start sinking.
Maybe your home already shows some signs that you need to do basement underpinning. The most obvious sign is wide cracks on walls. If you notice diagonal cracks or stairs-like cracks on your basement walls, they are tell-tale signs of structural damage.
When you walk in your driveway and notice uneven concrete slab, they tell you that you need to take the foundation repair task seriously.
Why to Do basement pinning before adding a new home story?
Your home foundation is the base that gives support to the rest of the structural components from floor to ceiling. A homeowner can’t afford to overlook visible signs of basement damage. Renovating your home with a new story is a good idea but it will become the best one once you reinforce your home basement by hiring Greenville local contractors for Basement repair.
Reasons of underpinning your Basement
The most common reason is subsidence. Your home is built on soil, mainly clay. This subsoil is water sensitive – it expands in excess water and contracts during low water scenarios. Weather and temperature changes result in soil movement underneath your home and this movement always causes damage in your basement structure. Other reasons are improperly compacted fill soils, malfunctioning of drainage solutions and extreme seasonal changes.
Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
Many homeowners remain confused about symptoms of basement damage. A clear sign is a diagonal crack that is wider than 1/4 inch. Other signs that require an immediate call to local Greenville contractors are bowing walls, uneven basement floors, and ceiling damage.
Underpinning Basement – The Ultimate Solution
When you hire an expert contractor in Greenville, a team inspect the area and sometimes a simple solution like repairing faulty drains and removing tree work for your favor. When damage is serious, they recommend basement underpinning.
There are different forms of underpinning. Mass pour is a specialized method of digging out sections below the foundation and then filling them with concrete. The idea is to lift home structure and make the foundation as smooth as possible.
Mass pour –
This process requires excavating soil in proper order. The depth of excavation is pre-planned by experts. They create depth below footing and place concrete in every exposed pit.
Screw piles and brackets-
Sometimes, it’s not possible for Greenville local contractors to use mass pour underpinning. Therefore, they rely on its best alternative available in the form of screw piles and brackets. Expert technicians install multiple screw piles and then set some brackets. All weight of the foundation transferred to the bracket after lifting the piles.
Once the basement is underpinning, your home foundation becomes stronger than ever. It’s time to start construction of another home story without worrying about structural collapse or damage.
