What Causes of Floor Cracks in a Home

There are a multitude of things that can cause a floor to crack in your home. The first and most frequent reason for a crack to appear in your slab floor is the change in the moisture content that surrounds your home. There are several reasons this can occur, long duration of hot weather or in other cases excessive amounts of rain that typically occur during our hurricane season. When your foundation experiences these types of weather events the soil will contract and expand causing your foundation to shift, move and cause serious foundation issues.

As we discussed previously, both dry heat and excessive moisture can cause your foundation to shift. If your area experiences excessive rainfall and you have an inadequate drainage system around your home you may find pools of water accumulating around your home. These pools can cause your foundation to soak up the moisture and expand beyond its normal size. On top of this, if you have any type of plumbing leak under your foundation, that too can cause your foundation to soak up additional moisture and expand causing floor cracks in your home. The expansion and contraction of your foundation on a regular basis can cause your main exterior foundation beam to bend. Over time, this will result in floor cracks as well as cracks that will appear in your brick and inside your home.

In order to prevent floor cracks and the need for AAA Foundation to repair your Houston, Texas home, it is very important to ensure you are maintaining contstant moisture levels around your home. During the summer months you can protect your foundation by spreading soaker hoses around the exterior of the home and running them for 15-20 minutes a week. Even better, if you have a sprikler system already installed just ensure that some of the water is indeed hitting your home or soaking into the groud around the perimiter of your home. Also, if you have any spots around your home that you know pools water, have a proper drainage system installed and you may be able to avoid costly repairs down the road.

Tree roots are another major problem facing homeowners with a slab foundation. If you foundation was constructed over 20 years ago and you do not have any type of root barriers surrounding you home you may find that these tree roots can easily move your foundation up or down and create cracks with relative ease. It is strongly recommended to place root barriers into the ground surrounding all areas in which mature trees have been growing.

Faulty construction or a slab foundation that was poorly designed when it was built is yet another reason some concrete foundations can buckle and crack. The heat of Houston makes it hard to properly mix and pour concrete and in some cases this can lead to early cracking and concrete this is more pliable than properly mixed concrete. Also, if the proper steel reinforcement bars where not used or placed correctly you may also experience signs of foundation issues in your Houston, Texas home. It is very hard to get it right when pouring a foundation in Houston due to these extreme weather events.

If you are noticing floor cracks in your home or any other signs your foundation has shifted, it is recommended that the situation be inspected right away to ensure that the problem does not get any worse. AAA Foundation Service will come out at no-charge and no-obligation to you and complete a property evaluation. If we do find you need a repair we have great pricing and 18-month no interest financing. Call us today at 713-467-8981 to schedule your free site walk!