It’s time to stop expecting regular troubles after a rainy autumn or snowy winter…
Cracks on walls and uneven floors are often symptoms of a problem. Many structural problems are related to unstable ground conditions or subsidence. To fix these problems, it is important to understand not only the visible effects on the building or structure, but also what is happening in the soils themselves. Different soil types create different problems and require different solutions. Having an expert on hand who knows how to behave and what to do can help ensure that when you solve one problem, you don’t cause another.
The wrong understanding can lead to disastrous results. As an example, one residential building suffered damage after a trench dug under the floor to fix a leaking pipe (the pipe replacement technique involved opening up the floor) was backfilled with sand. The house was built on a heaving (swelling) clay base. The sand-filled trench created a channel that diverted groundwater under the house, saturating the clay and, as a heaving effect, unevenly lifting different parts of the building. As a result, the repair of the pipe caused much more significant damage to the building than the burst pipe, because the type of foundation soils was not taken into account when choosing a solution.
