Many homeowners do not realize that proper landscaping is not just essential for great aesthetic value but can also help in protecting the foundation of their home. Doing it properly will protect the foundation but doing it the wrong way has the potential to do major damage to the foundation of your house. Here are few drainage and landscape tips to protect your home’s foundation.
As you are already aware, the biggest enemy of the foundation is water. You need to pay special attention to the water run-off. It is important to slope the landscape in the right direction in order to keep the foundation safe. If the slope makes the water run towards the foundation, you need to get it fixed. Make sure that water doesn’t collect near the foundation as it can lead to huge problems. Many experts recommend landscape grading to be at least 6 inches downward for a distance of 10 feet from the foundation. In order to find the slope, take a string and measure the gap between the high point and the low point.
Another important thing you need to keep in mind is that tree roots are the enemy of your house’s foundation. There is no problem usually with trees and these are great to prevent soil erosion but trees with invasive root systems have the potential to do major damage to your house’s foundation. There are a few things you need to consider in order to determine the chances of a tree affecting the foundation of your home. One of the things is the distance of the tree from the foundation. Other 2 are species of the tree as well as soil composition of the property. It is better to plant trees that are unlikely to damage the foundation.
In case you already have trees like silver maple or cottonwoods or willows, you should know that these are bad for the foundation. However, there are a few things you can do to prevent any extensive damage to the foundation. You should seriously consider installing a root barrier after consulting a professional. Another option is to install an irrigation line. If the tree is still young or small, you should seriously consider getting it removed.
Make sure the gutter extensions do not push water nearly foundation. The run-off from your gutter extensions can potentially erode the slope quickly. Make sure the extensions are at a distance of at least 5 feet from the foundation. It is also better to install downspouts in order to make sure the water is carried away from the foundation. You also need to ensure that the gutters are always clean. It will help in ensuring prevention of overflows. You might also want to consider the option of investing in rain barrels as these will collect the gutter run-off and this water can be used for gardening or other things.
One of the most common mistakes made by homeowners is that they only landscape the front yard but it can lead to foundation issues. This is due to the reason that landscaped area usually receives much more water as compared to other areas of the property. Water causes expansion of soil and watered soil keeps pushing against the foundation leading to damage. This is the reason; experts recommend landscaping every side of the house foundation.
If you have a flower bed, you should seriously consider the option of mulching the flower beds. This is due to the reason that mulch works like a sponge and retains water. If the soil gets excessively dry, it can harm the foundation due to uneven movement. Mulching helps in maintaining just the right amount of moisture. In addition to protecting the foundation, it also offers a number of other benefits such as enriching the soil.
If you have concrete structures as part of your landscaping, make sure these are created to keep the water run-off away from the foundation. Do not forget that the biggest enemy of your foundation is stagnant water. If any kind of concrete structure leads to collection of stagnant water near the foundation, it will seriously harm the foundation. Therefore, make sure water never collect near the foundation.
Overall, these are some of the things you should keep in mind in order to make sure that the drainage and landscape in your property does not lead to any foundation issues. While these are not going to mitigate existing foundation issues, these will help in preventing any potential problems.
In case you are already experiencing some issues with your house’s foundation, it is recommended to call in professionals to look at the issues and make sure these issues do not exacerbate further. There are many foundation repairs companies with expertise in mitigating a wide variety of foundation problems. So, do your research and call in a professional company with good reputation in your location to deal with the existing foundation issues and to prevent the foundation issues from growing any further.
One Response
I was completely unaware that doing wrong landscaping might cause problems to our house foundation until you mentioned it. I only prioritized the aesthetics and didn’t realize that we’re planting too close to our foundation. It would probably be safer to hire contractors who can inspect the area and see if there’s a need for repair.