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This is a collaborative post.
You may have noticed a small crack in one of your walls and shrugged it off as a minor inconvenience. However, if you have a crack or a leak that is ignored and brushed under the carpet, you could end up with damp, mould and potentially some serious structural damage. With that in mind, it’s of the utmost importance to check your home regularly for such damage and take the appropriate steps to prevent them from happening in the first place.
A lot of the time, cracks and leaks are caused by movement of the foundations of the building, so here are some top tips from a pile foundations company on how to successfully avoid them:
- As mentioned above, it’s a good idea to inspect your property on a regularly basis to check for damage, or potential damage. It’s wise to start at the top, on the roof, and work your way down. If you noticed any missing or damaged roof tiles, be sure to replace them, as roof tiles are designed to keep rain out.
- It’s also worth checking your gutters as they might have become clogged up with leaves and other debris. If they have, the blockage might prevent rain water from draining away from your property. In circumstances where water is not being drained away properly and the ground and soil becomes too moist, the foundations of your building might shift, causing cracks in the house above. The same rule applies when the ground becomes too dry, during hotter months.
- Maintain the nearby trees and keep them watered. If you have an old, large tree near to your home, the root system might have become so extensive that it starts to cause problems for the structure of your building.
- Monitor the local area for upcoming construction projects and speak to a professional about how it might interfere with your own building. You can then take the appropriate measures to reduce the damage as much as possible.