Your house or building is built on a concrete slab that is the foundation. If you live in an area with dry, compacted soil, the foundation is likely just sitting on top of the earth. Your gutters direct water away from the foundation to prevent the erosion of the soil underneath it. The trees and grass around your house also help hold the soil together. In many areas, that’s all you need. However, if you live in one of the many different places where the ground shifts somewhat dramatically, you’ll need more than just trees and grass. Also, if you have a very large building or home, you’ll need more than just a concrete slab for a foundation. If you have either of these conditions, you need pilings.
What Are Pilings?
Pilings are concrete, wood, or metal beams that run perpendicular to the concrete slab foundation. They are sunk into the ground by professionals to provide added stability. One of the dangers of the concrete slab is that the ground underneath it will shift and the slab will become uneven. You can tell if you’re having some kind of problem like this by looking at your house from the outside. If it’s just beginning, you might not even notice anything. You should take a level and place it on different parts of your house. Place it on window sills, the roof line, and the porch to determine if your house is still level. If it’s not, you likely need piling services in London.
Pilings are installed underneath the concrete slab and sink into the ground. So, even if the ground underneath the slab begins to shift, the vertical pilings will provide you with added stability. Such stability will prevent your house from growing uneven.
Foundation Issues
If you’re having a serious foundation issue, you will know it because there will be some obvious signs. The most obvious sign of foundation issues will be vertical cracks in the facade of your house. Your house is obviously incredibly heavy, and one side of the house cannot support the weight of the other. So if the foundation begins to slant, it will begin to split the house in half at the point of balance. You’ll notice these vertical cracks near the foundation first. You will need to call a foundation expert as soon as you see that. These cracks will not get better, and the problem will only grow.
Furthermore, you might need foundation work from time to time just because your house is getting old. The pilings and concrete slab should be very good at keeping your house level; however, from time to time, a foundation expert might need to come in and adjust the pilings. Depending on how they are set up, the pilings can be raised and lowered to re-level the house.