Sometimes it is the acceptable designs and routine installations in your home that can cause substantial damage to your foundation. We understand things like how moisture content and the type of soil impact the home’s concrete slab. It makes sense that weather conditions, such as a long drought, can cause shifting of the ground beneath our home foundation. However, we are often caught by surprise by the little things that also cause collateral damage to your foundation.
Take, for instance, the little drainpipe that comes from the your air conditioning unit’s drain pan to the exterior of your home. This drainpipe is very important. It funnels the condensation from your A/C unit to outside your home. Otherwise, all that moisture would puddle in the drip pan, eventually overflowing and causing extensive damage to your ceiling or flooring, depending on whether your unit is in your attic or at floor level. Thus, that little PVC pipe or rubber hose sticking out of the exterior wall and dumping that water on the ground is essential.
But, guess what kind of collateral damage results from all this water? You guessed it. That A/C drain pan water is usually routed just an inch or two from the edge of your foundation. It pools there and seeps under your foundation. The hotter the weather, the harder the A/C units works, the more condensation is created, the more water is drained onto a patch of ground near your foundation. This patch of ground swells in size and creates a hump that can push up your foundation.
The ground surrounding the hump continues to remain dry because the weather is just too hot and it hasn’t rained for a while in drought-stricken areas of the state. The rest of the foundation is on very dry soil that has shrunk because it is much drier. Guess what happens? Again—you guessed it. The foundation gives way to the imbalance of the moisture of the soil on which it is relying for stability.
This is called upheaval – part of the soil has swelled and pushed upward due to high moisture content and the surrounding soil has shrunk in volume due to low moisture content. Your foundation gives way and the damage is done, all because a small pipe that is doing what it is designed to do – drain air conditioning condensation onto the ground. Upheaval can cause significant foundation damage as well as crack exterior bricks and interior sheetrock.
There is a quick and easy repair to avoid foundation problems resulting from your A/C drainpipe. Simply extend your drainpipe with more pvc or with a plastic tube so that the water is dumped on the ground a good distance away from your foundation. Make sure the ground is also sloping away from your foundation.
We have a team of experts that offer a free foundation inspection if you have noticed a little mud bog at the base of your foundation caused by the a/c drainpipe. We are able to measure and assess the data to give you all you need to make the best decision for the care of your home. We have been around for almost 30 years providing the best foundation repair work because we use the time-tested bell bottom pier method. It is proven to be the best method. Your home deserves it.
Dawson Foundation Repair installs only Bell Bottom Piers for homeowners and commercial property owners. Bell Bottom Piers have far more advantages over any other method of foundation repair and we feel the homeowner should receive the best option available. Dawson Foundation Repair services homes and commercial businesses all over Texas including Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and other smaller cities. Call us for a free inspection and assessment of your home’s foundation security.