When it comes to residential properties, home foundations and concrete repair services tend to be linked. While the foundation isn’t the only area of a given residential property that involves concrete and may require concrete lifting or leveling if issues are present, it’s a key such area in terms of how it impacts overall home value and comfort areas.
At Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC, our residential concrete lifting and leveling services cover a wide variety of areas, from walkways and driveways to patios and garage floors. Several of these areas may relate to your foundation in some cases, and a major factor in this determination is what type of foundation your home utilizes. In this two-part blog series, we’ll go over the four primary home foundation types out there in modern homes, their benefits and drawbacks, and how they relate to various concrete surfaces or areas on the property.
Basement Foundation
Common around the country, basement foundations involve a perimeter made up of concrete pillars meant to support the rest of the building. These pillars will generally be quite deep, and their strength is paramount – they will be supporting either cinder blocks or full concrete walls. These foundations come in full (entirely underground) and daylight (built on a slope, with some walls above-ground and others below) formats.
Basement foundations add space and square footage, but can be more expensive than other foundation types. Maintenance of the foundation and surrounding concrete areas is also vital: Keeping such areas sealed and properly contained will prevent water seeping through and leaking down onto concrete walls. If you do notice any moisture issues in the basement, these could be due to improper concrete sealing or other damage on the surface of the home – and you should call our pros for concrete repair right away if this is the case.
Concrete Slab Foundation
Also known in some circles as a slab-on-grade foundation, the concrete slab foundation involves a full solid slab of concrete that’s placed directly onto the ground, with the structure resting on top of it. These types are not as common in Utah – they are more frequently found in places without winters where the ground freezes, which can create shifting and cracking issues for the foundation.
Now, concrete slab foundations tend to be relatively affordable, while also providing great pest and mold protection. However, they are not great against flood or moisture risks, plus require cutting into the slab to fix plumbing problems – this is because water and drainage pipes are actually encased in the concrete itself. If you have such a foundation, it’s vital to ensure you have concrete repair experts like ours saved in your contacts in case an issue arises.
For more on the different types of home foundations out there and how each impacts concrete surfaces around the property, or to learn about our residential, commercial or municipal concrete lifting and leveling services, speak to the staff at Lift-Up Concrete Lifting LLC today.