Four Ways Water Damage Adversely Impacts Your Property's Foundation in Catawba

12/22/2015 (Permalink)

Sump pump is First Line of Defense for Basement Water Damage

SERVPRO Can Restore Your Catawba Foundation After Water Damage

One of the worst issues a residential property owner in Catawba may have to grapple with is water damage. Although water damage can adversely impact any region of the property, the damage that can be done to the home's foundation is particularly problematic. Learn more about the problems that water damage can cause to your home's foundation by reviewing the following information provided by SERVPRO:

1. The saturated soil located near your home's foundation walls can leak or wick into the walls of the basement. After the basement or foundation site is excavated and the foundation flooring is poured, the builders construct the exterior walls. They will back-fill soil into the cavity surrounding the outside walls. This soil will not become as compacted as the property's adjacent soil. Moreover, it will soak up the water nearby. After rainfall, water pressure can push the walls of the foundation inward and also cause them to crack or leak.

2. Water is capable of washing nearby soil from beneath and around your foundation. Specifically, many homes and garages are designed over concrete slabs, and if a slope that drains water away from the property's foundation is not created, the soil can wash away. As the water continues eroding the soil located beneath the property's foundation, it will start to crack and can even sink, like a miniature sink-hole. Septic tank black water may seep into the structure.

3. Water damage can be problematic for homes in which the basement is built in a region where the amount of clay located in the soil is significant. This is the case because clay retains water more effectively than other types of soil. Because the clay expands upon absorbing moisture and then contracts when it dries out, the result is pressure changes that destabilize the structural integrity of the property's foundation wall and flooring.

4. Water, sufficient water moisture or vapor located close to the sill plate, studs, or siding near the foundation can cause wood rot. This may also result in rotting of floor joists in crawl space construction.  As these fungi attacked and softened the cellulose building materials, a conducive condition for a subterranean termite attack is viable. The result is the rotting and loss of structural strength of the wood. So, clay that retains moisture affecting exterior wall and slabs, and crawl space foundations absorbing water into floor joists, piers, and single or double pine flooring, can all lead to water damage. 

Dormant mold spores, present in all Catawba houses, have the moisture, along with the cellulose food source, to begin to grow string--colonies.  These molds can now proliferate into large mold patches damaging furniture, drywall, and infiltrating your HVAC system. Health issues arise from inspiring fungi's mycotoxins into your lungs. 

Let The Professionals Of SERVPRO Assist You. As explained by the information listed above, water damage in Catawba can have a profoundly negative impact on your home's foundation and structure.  However, securing professional water damage restoration services can help you address and resolve the problem before it gets too widespread. Our team can be trusted for immediate, effective restoration services.  SERVPRO employs IICRC-certified technicians, who also receive additional training in all aspects of water damage remediation. Call us for advice on how to protect your foundation, or call us to restore any water damage problems.

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Locally Owned Company with National Resources

SERVPRO of Rock Hill & York County is locally owned and operated—so we are part of this community too. We are also part of a national network of over 1,650 SERVPRO Franchises and special Disaster Recovery Teams strategically located throughout the country to respond to large scale disasters.