What does that crack in the side of your home, your concrete foundation or basement wall mean?Is your home slowly disintegrating as you live in it? Is there some major catastrophe about to happen? Are those cracks related to the moisture in your basement or under your home?Foundation settlement and movement typically in Missouri is caused by building on expansive clay, improperly compacted fill soils, or improper maintenance around foundations. This PDF series is designed to give you more information about cracks, settlement, bowed walls, and shifting slabs. See the complete series for more information about Foundation Repairs.

1. Foundation Problems In Columbia, Missouri
Our particular foundation problems in
and near Columbia, Missouri are due to
the types of soils we have. While the
glaciers long ago brought us mineral
wealth and our flat prairie land, they
also left sizeable clay deposits. It is the
clay that is one source of our problems,
as this can expand and contract -
causing extreme stress on any building
foundation or basements.
Another interesting scenario is the coal that has been mined (or not) below the surface. You can
see many of the old mining pits that several housing developments have built close to and on
top of. While these used to be on the city limits, expansion has taken over many of these areas,
especially as Nature has tended to reclaim their rocky surfaces with new growth over the years.
Finally, formerly undisturbed land that had been near creeks and run-off areas has been
developed extensively as the housing demand continued to grow. While early settlers could
afford to pitch their cabin on high, well-drained soil, our newer houses have been placed near
or right on top of natural drainage lines. And even though our new technologies and various
means of dealing with run-off have improved on historical problem areas, these moisture-
enabled areas can and do affect the security of our home foundations.
This series of PDFs are designed to give you more information about cracks, settlement, bowed
walls, and shifting slabs. See the links below for more information.
Settlement

2. What does that crack in the side of
your home, your concrete foundation
or basement wall mean?
Is your home slowly disintegrating as
you live in it? Is there some major
catastrophe about to happen? Are
those cracks related to the moisture in
your basement or under your home?
Foundation settlement and movement
typically in Missouri is caused by
building on expansive clay,
improperly compacted fill soils, or
improper maintenance around
foundations.
Almost like oil and vinegar, it isn't a good mix when water meets clay. Clay and water attract
each other instead of repelling. This is the beginning of the story that your cracks are trying to
tell you.
Soil Suction
Moisture can move from outside to under your foundation
through a property of soils known as suction. Soil suction
is similar to placing just a corner of a dry, compressed
sponge in contact with a puddle of water. In a short time,
the sponge has drawn water throughout itself and gotten
larger. While a water source is present, the sponge will
continue to absorb water until it is completely filled. Like
a sponge on a plate - if you stop adding water, the sponge
moves the water around inside so it's all uniformly damp,
but still can take more.
This is how water can move horizontally and vertically through the soils under your
foundation. As clayey soils draw water to themselves, they too grow in volume (swell or
heave) causing your foundation to move. The pressures are intense, since the clay has nowhere
to expand. Drying outside your foundation reverses the process. The moist soils will lose
volume (shrink) as soil moisture moves out from under your foundation causing the foundation
to settle. You may have seen this out in your yard, where the soil opens up cracks in the surface
during dry periods. Our clay soil is expanding and contracting every day and month out of the
year. Your foundation is taking this stress.

3. Shrinking and swelling soil motions can lead to damaging your foundation and structure.
Uniform changes in soil moisture are less damaging to your structure than localized changes.
We know the soil varies from location to location. Soil also changes with construction, as you
may have various soils and soil types added to fill a low spot or restore sod when a higher area
is removed.
The rest of this PDF series will tell you more about these causes and their solutions. For now,
do an inspection of your home and note the cracks present. Measure their length and any
noticeable gaps. This inspection should then be done after the next rain and regularly after that.
This is how you can find the stories your cracks are trying to tell you.
Related Sites From Columbia Foundation Repair
Site:
Foundation Repair Jefferson City, MO
Foundation Repair Fulton, MO Foundation Settlement
Crawl Space Repair Columbia, MO Settlement
Crawl Space Repair Jefferson City, MO Bowed Or Leaning Walls
Foundation Cracks
Also of Interest: Sinking Slab
Foundation Problem Causes
From Gibbons Basement Inc.: Soil Effects
Moisture Effects
Foundation Repair
Exterior Leaks
Causes Of Foundation Settlement
Other Drainage Issue
Foundation Settlement Solutions
Bowed or Leaning Basement Walls Foundation Repair Solutions
Resistance Piers Solutions for Foundation Settlement
Helical Piers Solutions for Sinking Slabs
New Construction Foundation Piers Solutions for Bowed Walls
Contact Us
Provided as a public service by Gibbons Basement, Inc.