The Life Expectancy of Your Concrete Foundation (Facts you Should Know)
A foundation is a crucial and necessary component of any home building project. It is the lowest component or structure of the home that serves as the support for the whole building. Every weight that comes down from the home’s top level is securely transferred to the ground level by the foundation.
Most concrete foundation contractors state that foundations are built from sturdy materials to keep the home in place even during earthquakes and cyclones. As a result, they are often constructed from some of the most durable of all building materials.
Factors in determining the life expectancy of your foundation
Determining the life expectancy of anything that has been buried for a long period is a difficult task. there are lots of variables that are at interplay; included among these variables are the amount of rain that soaks into the ground, fluctuations in the water table below it, creeping tree roots, the severity of temperature fluctuations, particularly freeze and thaw cycles, the mobility of underlying soil due to that geographical area, or site drainage conditions, concentrated loads at points along the length of the structure, and the composition of both the soil and foundation materials
All of these considerations make a lifelong generalization problematic. Therefore a range rather than a definite number is the best we can offer at this point. Some common quotations include how long a house foundation lasts. This and other pertinent issues will be addressed here. If you’d like to learn more after reading this article, you can find additional resources here https://denverfoundationrepairspecialists.com/.
How long should a house foundation last?
Accurate construction ensures that poured concrete block bases and slab foundations will endure almost a lifetime, maybe for 80 to 100 years or more. The termite proofing of the foundation will last for 12 years, providing that the chemical barriers remain in good working order.
Best foundation options for a house
The types of foundations appropriate for a home are determined by the style of the building being used and the type of soil available at the construction site.
The kind of construction refers to whether the structure is a high-rise or multi-storeyed building or a low-rise or tiny dwelling structure. For both forms of building, we must choose various types of foundations, proving to be more cost-effective for the property owner.
Most high-rise structures, such as apartment complexes, need a deep foundation of between 5 and 20 meters, although low-rise home construction depths of 6 to 8 feet are often suitable for residential properties. However, some schools of thought have proposed concrete foundations as the sturdiest. According to HomeAdvisor, the average quote for a concrete foundation is put at $4 to $7 per square foot.
Are poured concrete walls cheaper than blocks?
Generally speaking, the cost of building varies from one location to another. On the other hand, the cost of concrete poured walls is about 20 percent cheaper than concrete block foundation walls.
Because we cannot predict the lifetime of poured concrete, slabs, or any other kind of house foundation with precision, it is vital to consider how several elements interact to affect the foundation’s lifespan. Pour concrete, slabs, or any other type of house foundation. These variables are as follows:
1. Sinkholes
Because of the existence of a sinkhole, a foundation’s life expectancy is severely reduced. Sinkholes may be classified into three categories:
- solution sinkholes,
- cover subsidence sinkholes
- cover collapse sinkholes.
The first two forms sank gradually over some time. The cover collapse sinkholes are responsible for the sudden and spectacular collapse of the sinkhole cover.
2. Quality of underground soil
Clay soil is more prevalent than sinkholes, even though sinkholes are the most dreaded subsurface fault. Clay’s flexibility leads it to shrink during dry periods and expand during rainy seasons due to its ability to absorb water. A house constructed upon a layer of clay soil will heave up and down due to the swell and shrink cycle. Multiple wet/dry cycles can cause the foundation to break, with matching fissures going up the walls.
3. Presence of trees close to the foundation
While most people are aware that tree roots may cause the foundation of a house to heave, it is also possible for roots to induce soil shrinkage and foundation disruption because they extract so much water from the earth.
4. Spalling
Concrete footings, foundation piers, and grade beams may suffer from spalling if moisture seeps through the concrete covering the reinforcing steel. An underside of a cantilever floor slab is seen in the image on the left. Because rust is such a slow but strong expanding process, it causes fractures to form on the reinforcing steel’s surface over time. To put it another way, it’s a gradual degradation since the break enables additional moisture to accelerate corrosion, which further widens the crack. The structural breakdown is inevitable if the problem is not addressed sooner rather than later.
5. Drainage
Water flowing around or beneath a home on a sloping site can erode and expose the foundation, ultimately causing the structure to be undercut. The foundation’s land should slope away from it on all sides to provide the most effective drainage possible. An underground plumbing leak that has been there for a long time might create foundation difficulties.
6. Type of material used
Foundation with wood as a building base Certain varieties of wood, like cypress, have a remarkably long life when used as a foundation and may last for up to 100 years or more if properly cared for and maintained. However, there are situations when rot begins to set in before the rest of the organism. Wood rot, on the other hand, may occur at any moment; hence, in areas prone to wood rot, wooden foundations are not unexpectedly reduced in size greatly.
Consult with a foundation expert!
The lifespan or life expectancy of your concrete foundation is difficult to determine. Always seek professional advice from concrete foundation contractors when building your home to suggest the best foundation for your geographical area, soil type and intended structure you want to build.