Negative drainage causes more problems than too much dryness. When water ponds next to your home it is doing no good. The water may not set next to the structure long, but if it didn’t run off, and didn’t evaporate, it went under the house. Moisture travels by capillary action in these clay soils. That means the dry soil takes moisture from the wet soils. It’s like a paper towel, wet one end and the moisture travels to the dry areas. Well water does the same thing in clay soils. If it’s dryer under the foundation or slab than it is outside the foundation, it will be pulled under the footing and expand that soil often moving the building up.  This can be corrected. I know how it’s done.

Two things about free flowing water: it always takes the path of least resistance and it always flows down hill. Drainage should be simple, but I guess it isn’t. Many times we have had to tear out and replace drains because they have been installed incorrectly. They either become plugged, do not empty to the target or they are not installed with the proper gravity slop to run the water away from the home. Swales are a favorite of builders. These are the ditches with out edges between houses that are designed to flow to the street. Problem is, every time it rains small amounts of soil go the low area and slowly fill it up to the point that water ceases to flow as designed and ends up next to the house.

These are all solvable problems. It just takes the knowledge to deal with them. I have the knowledge and can pass it along to you.

These are but a few of the reasons you need an “expert” in your corner when dealing with real, perceived or potential foundation problems. For a few dollars, I can be that expert. I’ll re-assure you if your problem is not structural. I will show you how to prevent or stop problems with simple maintenance. If structural problems exist, I will explain your options and help you find a good contractor, with a good product, at a reasonable price.  We will also avoid “excess repairs”, which could save you thousands of dollars.