There are many signs of foundation damage; noticeable symptoms inside and outside your home that tell us something is going on with the foundation that requires our immediate attention. One of these signs are bowing walls and today we will explore this symptom in further detail.
As the name suggest a bowing wall is a wall that is pushing inward at the centre of it while the top and bottom are staying in place. Sometimes bowing walls have long horizontal cracks along the center, or in the case of concrete block walls, stair-step cracks. Either of these cracks are to be considered very dangerous as there is a clear sign of pressure outside the foundation causing the walls to move inward.
There are multiple reasons that can cause this phenomenon such as:
Expansive soil. The one reason that is most commonly found in our state. When the soil around the foundation is made mostly of clay it will swell and shrink based on changing moisture content. When soil absorbs water it grows and when the soil grows it can only go in one direction: pushing against your foundation. Then, once the soil dries it will shrink back, allowing your wall to back outward. Think of the soil as a pair of lungs. When you breathe in, the lungs expand. When you exhale, they contract. This causes a constant back and forth throughout the year, specially with the coming and going of different seasons, and this will in time prove harmful to the foundation walls, leading to bowing and cracking.
Frost-heaving. Basically this is the same situation described before. When the soil outside freezes it causes the volume of the soil to increase and push against the walls leading to the aforementioned result. On top of that, soil can also rise as it freezes, settling back down with thawing so now you have an up-and-down movement that your foundation needs to contend with, and this, as you might have guessed, can also cause walls to crack and bow.
Tree roots. There are a couple of different ways tree roots can affect the foundation. It can be directly or indirectly. You have to remember that most of the time a tree’s root system is much larger than its canopy. And obviously the ones that can cause more damage are those with large root systems like poplars, sycamores, oaks and ash trees. The indirect way trees can cause damage to your foundation has to do with water. Roots will always grow in the direction where they’ll more likely find water. Quite often this is near the foundation (you see why it is paramount to have a proper drainage system?) And what happens when they find moisture in the soil by your foundation? They will draw it, causing the soil around it to dry out and shrink, which will lead to settlement and along with it wall bowing.
The more direct way roots damage your foundation is when trees are so close to the house that the roots push directly against the foundation, causing further damage and bowed walls.
There is also the matter of hydrostatic pressure and improper drainage. A drainage system is something of a must around your home. It helps collect water and redirect it away from the foundation. When a proper drainage system hasn't been installed or was installed incorrectly, water will build up around the foundation, specially if you have a negative slope. This will not only make the soil become saturated with water, which we have discussed above, but it’ll reach a point where soil will no longer be able to take any more water, causing it the water to build up on the surface and the volume will start pushing against the walls, causing them to bow inward.
This is similar to the same principle of lateral pressure from heavy objects, which is one more reason for bowing walls. Heavy objects, like a heavy duty vehicles or construction vehicles parked alongside the foundation will start to push down on the soil. Think of it as a loaf of bread. What happens if you press down on it? It expands sideways against the bag. Same thing happens here; the heavy weight will make the soil start pushing against the foundation walls.
Age, wear and tear. As with all things in life, time is the ultimate test. Even well-built foundations will eventually be overrun by the forces of nature. As foundation ages it becomes more and more susceptible to damage, i.e. foundation issues, which will present itself, among other signs, in bowing walls.
As you can see there are many different reasons why you can have bowing walls in your property and while at their core they all relate to foundation issues, and will eventually have to be fixed pretty much in the same way, the reason why it is important to know for certain what the cause, or causes are, is so we can address them when repairing the foundation, thus ensuring it will not happen again.
So if you have bowing walls, you know who to call. We will conduct a thorough evaluation to find out not only the extent of the foundation damage, but also the source of it and address both, so that the cause and the symptoms alike become a thing of the past.
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