Construction & Contractors Blog
Trees can create shady spots in your garden, help make your home more private and generally enhance the way a property looks. Unfortunately, trees can also damage your home's foundation. It's not something that most people take the time to think about, but damage caused by trees is one of the most common reasons for foundation repair.
Given the expense and inconvenience associated with home foundation work—not to mention the risk of considerable property damage when your foundation is compromised—this is something you'll want to avoid. If you aren't convinced, here are just three ways trees can damage your home's foundation.
1. Soil Interference
Your home sits on its foundation to ensure support. However, the foundation itself needs to sit on something, and that something is soil. The ground beneath a foundation should be heavily compacted to ensure it can take the strain, but trees can interfere with this. As they grow, their roots spread out under the ground, which puts a lot of pressure on the surrounding soil. Sometimes, tree root intrusion will move soil enough to move whatever is resting on it. Extensive root systems can displace plenty of soil, which may then cause cracks in your foundation. Even worse, cracks in your foundation can then be penetrated by smaller tree roots, leading to further damage.
2. Moisture Demands
Most people understand that tree roots expand beneath soil and can potentially cause problems. What plenty of homeowners tend to forget is how a tree's moisture demands can affect their property. Larger trees can draw a huge amount of moisture from the soil each day. Unfortunately, removing that moisture from the soil reduces the soil's volume. That type of shrinkage can lead to foundation collapse. In fact, you might sometimes see houses tilting slightly towards surrounding trees—this is because the tree is drawing more moisture from that side.
3. Expansion and Shrinkage
Soil can move upwards when trees roots move in or shrink as trees take their moisture. Additionally, the roots themselves can expand and shrink depending on the weather. During periods of heavy rain, roots will expand as much as possible to absorb all the water they can. When the skies are clear and the ground is hot and dry, roots may shrink. If that shrinkage and expansion occur around your property, the constant soil movement can eventually damage the soil's structural integrity and put your home's foundation in jeopardy.
Share17 October 2018
If you're thinking about bringing elements of the outdoors into your home but you don't know how to go about it, you've come to the right place. I'm Betty, and I've been in the unfortunately predicament of having severe hay fever and allergies for much of my life. I got sick of loading myself up with anti-histamines just to experience the outdoors everyday, so I decided to look into home additions that would bring that feeling inside where I was safe from pollen. I spent a long time researching solariums, pools, and other constructions, and now I have the home—and life—of my dreams. And now I'm sharing the tips and ideas I've learned with you!
