When you’re building your new home, considering the foundation and having it constructed to be high in quality is a hugely important thing. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon for up to 14% of the budget for building a home to be directed towards the foundation alone. After all, the foundation holds up the rest of the home, playing a key and critical role in the overall stability of said home not just in the present, but for the future years as well. Having this foundation constructed well can help to ensure that there is little need for foundation repair or other associated repair work in the years that are ahead.
Of course, not all types of foundation are created the same and so picking out the right type of foundation for your home will be absolutely essential. The slab foundation is a common type of foundation, typically used in places where other types of foundation would prove to be too unstable. This will, in many cases, come down to soil quality and type on the property in question. In addition to slab foundation, crawl space foundations and basement foundations are also commonplace and can be ideal for both living and storage space. However, avoiding foundation repair for the latter types of foundations can require a few extra steps to be taken.
After all, flooding in basement spaces is hugely commonplace indeed, with more than 95% (around 98%, to be just a bit more exact) of all basements flooding at some point in time, leading to the need for not just foundation repair, but basement repair as well. Unfortunately, this has led to a great many people losing their possessions as well, with up to 37% of all people in this country having lost their belongings to some type of flooding or another. But there are ways in which such types of flooding can be readily prevented and foundation repair needs avoided.
In order to avoid home foundation repair, for instance, your gutters should be strategically placed. Ideally, they should always be diverting water at least ten feet away from your foundation. And not only is the placement important, but the maintenance provided to them as well. Maintaining your gutters means regular cleanings, as this will help to prevent them from getting waterlogged, an issue that can incrase your chance of flooding and water damage immensely. Taking such steps will most certainly help to ensure that your foundation stays free of the need for ever hiring someone like a foundation repair contractor or the like.
In addition to this, even your gardening habits can have an impact for foundation – and need for foundation repair, by extension. For many people, this is an unknown thing, but it’s one that has the potential to make a bigger impact than many think possible at the end of the day. For instance, you should never plant anything closer than two feet to your foundation – and ideally even further away than that. Planting your plants shallowly enough is also important, as this will prevent their developing root systems from ever interfering with your foundation as well. At the end of the day, taking such simple steps can have a big impact on the overall quality of your foundation – and on maintaining that quality as well, to say the very least.
Of course, basement waterproofing services can also go a long way towards avoiding the need for home foundation repair as well as repair for water damage. In fact, an ROI of up to 30% can even be obtained during a high quality interior waterproofing job. Waterproofing your basement space can make it much more likely that you won’t ever have to deal with flooding issues. And even if flooding does still occur, it will certainly be much less pronounced than it would otherwise be. Ultimately, investing in even exterior waterproofing services is something that is more than likely to pay off at the end of the day – to say the very least on the subject matter at hand.
All said, the proper care and keeping of your foundation is essential and can keep you from ever needing foundation repair.