Crawlspace Repair
Crawlspace Repair
Damage to a crawlspace in your Ottawa home can come from settling columns, beams, and floor joists. Any of these will cause both structural and cosmetic damage to any home. Repair of the damage, such as a sloping floor or cracks in a wall, is accomplished by adding increased support to the understructure, (the floor joists, beams, and columns), of the house within the crawlspace.
Typically, the cause for sagging floors in a house with a crawlspace is due to the foundation soil softening causing the columns to sink or settle deeper into the ground. This phenomenon occurs naturally over time because of the changing soil density from the constant changing amount of moisture in the soil. This allows the columns to shift their respective positions resulting in a sloping floor, and or cracked walls and shifted door frames.
When a floor slops because of a sagging beam or joist, it is normally due to the spacing of the pier columns being spaced incorrectly. This results in spot overloads from the lack of the right support appearing as a sagging or sloping floor, or shifted door frames. In addition, to this the presence of excessive moisture, causing wood rot will weaken the structural integrity of the support system of the understructure or your home in Ottawa.
This translates into getting periodic inspections, by a crawlspace repair specialist in Ottawa, can help a homeowner avoid the need for crawlspace repair.
After an inspection of the foundation integrity has been determined as fully functional, a preventative measure is to encapsulate the area with a vapor barrier. This will decrease the cost of utilities and provide an increase in storage space for the home.
