Maintaining Your Home Foundation After Repair

How to Maintain Your Home Foundation after It's Repaired

You’ve invested time and money in a high-quality repair of your home foundation. What steps should you taken to ensure you maintain that home foundation after it’s repaired?

First, understand that a foundation repair can cause some minor headaches that should be addressed:

1. Ask a licensed plumber to check your pipes. Any time a foundation settles, the plumbing attached to it can suffer damage. Similarly, when the foundation is lifted back to its original position, pipes can move and break. Call on a plumber to test your plumbing after the foundation repair is complete.
2. Check for new cracks. Sometimes, when a foundation is repaired, cracks in brick veneer, walls and the foundation itself actually close up. But this isn’t always the case. In addition, a foundation repair job can sometimes create new cosmetic cracks, especially in drywall. Wait about four to six weeks after the foundation has been repaired, giving your walls time to adjust to their new position. Then, fill any cracks in drywall, brick veneer and concrete. By repairing your walls, you will increase your home’s value further. Also, you will be able to better evaluate whether new cracks appear in the future.

Since you know your home is prone to foundation damage, make sure you head off future problems with excellent maintenance of your property. This includes the following steps to maintain your repaired foundation:

1. Make sure water drains away from your foundation. No water should be allowed to stand next to the foundation. The ground should either slope away from your home, or you should install surface drains and French drains. Also, the ground around your home should be at least 6 inches below the top edge of your slab. Don’t pile up soil or mulch in your flowerbeds so that it rests against the slab.
2. Check your gutters and downspouts. Ensure that your gutters are clear, allowing for the proper flow of water. Downspouts should drain away from the home.
3. Ensure consistent moisture around your foundation. In North Texas, this is most often achieved with soaker hoses. In addition, by maintaining the soil immediately around the foundation with grass or mulch, you can slow evaporation and ensure a more consistent moisture level.
4. Install root barriers. If you have trees close to the foundation of your home, consider installing a root barrier, which prevents roots from encroaching on your foundation.
5. Keep an eye on your plumbing. Plumbing leaks cause a significant number of foundation problems. Call a plumber to periodically check your water and waste lines, so you can head off problems before they begin.