How to Choose the Right Foundation for Your House

The right foundation for your home is important. When you’re planning to build the home of your dreams, you’ll spend a lot of time looking at floor plans. However, you should start your planning process with your home’s foundation. Without a solid foundation, your dream home will have a lot of problems. Consider these tips for choosing the right foundation for your house.

Consider the Soil Type for the Right Foundation

The soil type is the number one consideration when choosing the right foundation for your home. Sandy soil shifts a lot, and it might not be strong enough to hold up your house. Soil with a high water table may quickly saturate, and a wet foundation is a weak one. Clay soil can also be a problem. When this soil absorbs moisture, it expands. That expansion can cause your home’s foundation to shift, buckle, crack or bow. You may also want to consider whether or not the soil is naturally high in uranium. If it is, your home’s foundation could allow radioactive radon gas to seep inside of the structure. If you’re building in an area with high radon levels, you’ll need to have a mitigation system installed in your new home.

 

Determine If Your Property Is at Risk of Flooding

Another consideration for planning your home’s right foundation is whether or not your property is at risk of flooding. If you’re building on a flood plain, you may be more limited in the options. If you’re building a beach house, local building codes may require that your house be elevated on stilts or risers. A percolation test of the soil may be necessary before choosing a foundation type and style. This test determines how much and how quickly the soil absorbs water.

 

Think About How to Redirect Water

Even if you’re building your dream home on a lot that is not at risk of flooding, your home will get rained on. Pooling water against your foundation could cause severe damage. You’ll need an effective method of redirecting rainwater and melted frozen precipitation away from your home. The standard for doing this is gutters and downspouts on your roof. The downspouts can travel underground with PVC pipe. The PVC pipe can drain to the street or many feet away from your home. The grade or slope of the soil around your home will also help redirect water away from the right foundation.

Calculate the Load of Your Home

The last consideration when choosing the right foundation of your home is how much your home will weigh. Not only do you need to consider the materials of your house but also the items that will be inside. Your home’s appliances, furniture, and mechanical systems will add a lot of weight. The foundation must be able to support that weight. In order to calculate the load, you’ll have to make some decisions, such as hardwood, tile, or carpeted floors. Hardwood and tile weigh much more than carpeting or linoleum. Contact Steele Restoration for more information.

Categories