How the Right Foundation Supports Your Home

How the Right Foundation Supports Your Home

The foundation of your home is one of the most important areas to think about when building your dream home. Sure you may want to look at kitchen cabinet designs and envision the type of paint you’ll use in the master bedroom, but when it comes to the foundation it is the most important part because that is what will make or break your home-literally! Having a solid foundation in place is what determines the stability of your home and everyone wants to be able to rest easy knowing that their home is strong and will last for many years to come. A lot of care goes into planning and pouring the perfect foundation making it a crucial part of the building process.

Benefits of A Solid Foundation

You can’t just sit a structure on a mound of dirt and expect it to be a solid and sturdy home. Any home that is just placed on the ground with no foundation is destined to fail. Having a good foundation not only bears the weight of the structure itself but guarantees that your home will remain stable. There are many other benefits even beyond stability alone that having the perfect foundation contributes to.

The first benefit of having a solid foundation is obviously stability. Having this stability gives peace of mind that your house is safe and will remain intact for years to come. Other than just the stability of your home, foundations are great for keeping moisture out of the property. Preventing moisture buildup from happening can prevent issues with mold and mildew which can quickly condemn a home if gone unnoticed. Not only can the growth of mold and mildew affect you health-wise, but it can seriously undermine the structural integrity of the house.

Another great benefit of having a strong foundation is to help protect your home from harmful weather conditions. This can range from anything from flooding to high winds as you never know what could happen. If a strong storm comes through and high winds catch a house that doesn’t have a strong foundation it can end in a similar way to the story of the three little pigs! Having this foundation in place keeps your house strong and sound without worry of wind “blowing the house down.” Even in the event that a serious flood was to happen, your possessions may not still be intact but you can rest easy knowing that your home will be.

Finally, another great benefit of having a structurally solid foundation is for insulation. A lot of homeowners may not think this to be a big deal because as we know heat rises so a lot of importance is put on the roof of the home, but your foundation still has its role to play. Heat can also be leached of a colder surface which in your home’s case is the earth underneath, Having a solid concrete foundation acts as a buffer to prevent this creating an insulated space that not only keeps your temperatures regulated but will help on energy bills as well preventing major fluctuations.

Types of Foundations Available

Generally speaking when you think of foundations you naturally gravitate to a picture of a concrete slab with a house built on it and while this is mostly true there is more that goes into it than meets the eye. There are 3 main types of foundation styles to choose from when building your home that each come with their own benefits.

Slab Foundation

A slab foundation is one of the most common types of foundations for most homes. A slab foundation is not only the most common but it requires the least prep work and is known to be the most budget-friendly of the 3. This foundation is achieved by pouring concrete footers 24 inches below the projected finish grade and then followed by at least two layers of concrete block laid on top of the footers. After the block is laid any internal piping is then installed followed by the addition of rock filler. After the filler is added, four inches of concrete is then poured on top. A slab foundation is popular not only because of the low price tag this style of the foundation has the lowest level of required maintenance as well.

Crawlspace Foundation

Crawlspace foundations are similar to slab foundations in the installation. The concrete footers are poured and then the block is added on top. This type of foundation is a few feet off the ground and can save on cost when compared to a basement foundation. This type of foundation can give you access to utilities like piping and wiring making for easier repairs as well as upgrades. One of the other great benefits of this type of foundation is that it will make for warmer floors because space underneath will be conditioned.

Basement Foundation

For the longest time, basement foundations were built primarily from cinderblocks but as time would pass we find that they were more prone to structural failure and leaks making them to lose popularity. Now, basement foundations consist of walls made of poured concrete which not only gives more structural integrity but also additional space for your home and protection against moisture. Basement foundations are an eight-foot hole, if not deeper, that ends in a concrete slab. Having this “extended foundation” anchors the property in the ground creating a structurally sound and strong home. Although the cost for a basement foundation can be less desirable than other foundations it does save money in other aspects such as adding additional square footage to the home that would be more expensive otherwise. This type of foundation also helps you with additional storm protection and easy access to repairs making it a foundation that you can truly do no wrong with.

Choosing the right foundation shouldn’t be a tedious thing to think about. Sure a lot of thought does need to go into it to make the right choice for your home, but it is really based on personal preference in what you think will be right for your home to suit your needs. Having the right foundation will keep your home safe and sound and help it to last for many years to come. No foundation is going to be viewed as being better than the last they all just depend on personal preference and budget, but rest assured, they will all give the great benefits of having a good foundation and keeping your home structurally sound!