Foundation Problems? Most Aren'tPosted by Hjorth Williamson on January 21st, 2021 Cracks in the concrete foundation slab? Cracks in the corners of Windows? Cracked ceramic tile? It must be foundation problems, we'll remedy it for ,000. That's what you'll hear from most Foundation repair companies. Most in the times, you will not have foundation problems. There are quite obvious truths about building materials and their behavior in construction that any honest and knowledgeable structural engineer knows, and this is among the recommendations for understand potential foundation problems. For instance, concrete hardens eventually, because it hardens it shrinks thus cracking. concrete structural analysis perth is likely to expand and contract with temperatures changes which further causes cracking. This is popularly known as temperature and Shrinkage cracks - they have got absolutely nothing to do with what everyone associates with foundation problems, mainly the inspiration shifting, moving up and down, due to expansion or settlement from the soil. What about Cracks within the porcelain tile? click here to read is "glued" to the concrete slab, so any movement or crack that comes about inside the slab may also occur inside tile, including temperature and shrinkage cracks. Not as a consequence of foundation problems. Cracks inside corners door and windows are very common, usually caused by the information itself, gypsum board, which incidentally, is also a concrete product, and yes it too cracks as it gets older. As you can try these out turns out, concrete doesn't like corners because the geometrical model of a large part usually creates stress concentration. Many residential and commercial foundations have chipped concrete right inside edges in the corners as this is this is the way concrete behaves, this is simply the pad properties of concrete. With windows and doors you do have also wind pushing contrary to the house, and in many cases with a structural engineer designing your home, probably you still produce a crack in the corner of windows and doors. There's an inside joke among contractors and structural engineers that is certainly "the only thing we can easily guarantee is always that concrete will crack". We're not necessarily suggesting that nobody has foundation problems but we have been on the grounds that most from the problems homeowners consider as foundation problems are actually, not foundation problems. No foundation problems means no structural problems. The fix for such non structural foundation problems is patching, and often there is no fix, including inside case of temperature and shrinkage cracks inside foundation. Therefore, it is critical to choose a skilled structural engineer, but many importantly, a structural engineer that does not offer foundation repair services. A structural engineer who works for a company that provides foundation repairs has an enormous and inherent conflict of interest. Our experience is more often than not, these structural engineers treat everything as foundation problems which could end up costing you several thousands of dollars while using result that your foundation will not be any benefit than it originally was. If you might have doubts about your foundation, just employ a structural engineer it doesn't offer repair services. He'll execute a foundation inspection and will tell you what problems, if any, your foundation has. Also, ensure you check with any local board of professional engineers to ensure the engineer you hire is in fact licensed to practice structural engineering.Like it? Share it! More by this author |