If you are bothered by the heat, imagine how the hot weather affects your home’s foundation. When we experience a long, hot dry, or humid spell, it can cause damage to your home and the foundation.
Many damages can occur without you even realizing it is happening. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the potential damages and be vigilant about inspections.
How the Hot Weather Affects Your Home’s Foundation
Once your home’s foundation is damaged, it can have a troubling effect on the entire home.
Soil Shrinkage
For the most part, the soil around and underneath your foundation is moist. It remains solid through the winter months, and in the spring the melting snow and ice keep it damp.
In the hot months, the soil can dry out. This causes it to shrink up and get smaller. It can also start to shift a bit, due to gravity and the weight of the home.
Once the earth starts to move, so will the foundation. This can cause the home to settle or even shift and settle unevenly. This will be evident by cracks, gaps around doors and windows, or uneven floors.
Dry Concrete
As the soil around your home is damp, so is the concrete of the foundation itself. Hot weather affects your home’s foundation by sapping the moisture right out of the concrete.
Concrete is porous and holds a bit of moisture in. Once the moisture starts to evaporate, it can cause the foundation to start to crack and move. It becomes more brittle and weak.
Once the soil starts to dry, everything starts to try and take moisture from anywhere it can. Trees, soil, grass, and your foundation all need to have a bit of moisture.
Trees that need water will sap the ground and everything around them to maintain their need for water. Watering your trees and lawn during a drought will help keep the soil moist.
Soil Erosion
When the soil around the foundation is dried out, it can not only shrink but leave altogether. It can be moved by the wind or an onslaught of water, by either rain or watering.
The water may not get a chance to soak in and it just wets the top and then slides away. This will expose more of the foundation and create more gaps and cracks in the soil underneath.
This opens up the foundation to more hot weather that will affect your home’s foundation. Once the water returns to these cracks, it adds pressure to the soil, moving it even more.
The Hot Weather Affects Your Home’s Foundation
Make sure your lawn, trees, and the foundation are watered. Trees will spa the water, so make sure they have enough. Water in the morning or early evening, so it will get a chance to soak in and not evaporate.
Keep the soil and the foundation damp. Be sure you are not soaking the basement through an open window or feeding water to large cracks in the foundation.
Watch for Damage
You should be aware the hot weather affects your home’s foundation and keep an eye out for damages. Cracks in the walls, around doorways and windows, or the corners of your home.
Look for warped or uneven floors, doors that stick or swing wide, and windows that no longer work properly. Check the basement for cracks or crumbling walls.
It’s a good idea to have an inspection and make small repairs as needed. Contact us at Olson Foundation Repair for more information or repairs.