All houses are built on foundations of concrete and stone, and this is often the first thing built when a house is being constructed. Naturally, a good foundation will be solid and secure, and will have minimal issues, while a faulty basement may be prone to problems such as water leaks, the house leaning, or even radon gas emitting from the ground beneath the foundation, and commercial foundation repair may be needed to seal such leaks and fill up cracks or other structure issues. Residential foundation repair crews can be contacted if there is an issue, and certain methods can also be done to effect foundation repair based on the issue at hand. A person may control moisture levels by dealing with leaking pipes or rainwater getting in, and foundation problems may cause some serious health issues if this is not done. What might happen to cause someone to need drainage solutions or commercial foundation repair?
Why You Might Need Commercial Foundation Repair
A solid and safe foundation might not need much commercial foundation repair, but a faulty one with cracks or other issues can cause some problems for everyone in the home. Today, most Texan homes 50 years old or younger will have slab foundations, which may give them some advantages over older models, but problems might strike any house. What can go wrong?
Water is one such issue. Unwelcome water may get into the home from a man made source, such as the pipes in the house leaking. Over time, pipes will drip water from cracks in their bodies or from faulty joints and connections, and give enough time, these drips will build up some standing water in the basement, and this can be an issue. Standing water can encourage a lot of mold growth in the basement, and these molds release spores and other biological elements that can set off allergies or asthma, or even illness in the people and pets who live in the house. And of course, a faulty foundation will allow a lot of rainwater to get into the home, and in areas prone to flash floods, a lot of water may get into the basement within hours, and there may be over a foot of standing water or more in some cases. Standing water can also damage items stored in the basement and allow other harmful organisms to grow in it.
Another issue is radon gas, something that most people might not associate with a home’s foundation or basement. But the danger is very real. Radon gas is radioactive and is often found in the ground, and it can waft up and slowly grow in the air to reach dangerous concentration levels. A faulty foundation or basement will have cracks that allow a lot of radon gas to get in, and over time, the concentration will reach what the EPA calls the action level. Radon gas can get into the home and cause mild symptoms at first, such as chest pain or nausea, and in high enough concentrations, it may even cause lung cancer. Many thousands of Americans every year succumb to radon-induced lung cancer, and many American homes are already at or above the EPA’s action level. This can threaten lives.
Commercial Foundation Repair and More
These are some serious issues, but solutions exist. Commercial foundation repair can be done if a home leaks water from the outside, and crews can fix the foundation so that water does not have such easy ingress during rain or floods, and plumbers can fix the leaking pipes. Meanwhile, the foundation’s cracks and other faults may be fixed so that radon gas does not emit as easily from the ground underneath, and this can save lives. If water does get into the home, a homeowner can have a sump pump installed, which collects all loose water and draws it up, then deposits it outside the home. Meanwhile, homeowners can also buy a radon gas testing kit that measures the contents of the air over a few months, then transmits this data to professionals elsewhere. The homeowners may be alerted about dangerous radon levels, and they should clear out the air at once to reduce its concentration below dangerous levels.
