How Does Frost Heave Affect My Foundation?

Winters in Kansas City, MO can be unforgiving on both the homeowners and the foundations of their homes. Part of the reason it’s so important to waterproof your foundation is so that it doesn’t get affected by frost heave, which will be more severe the more groundwater there is around a foundation when winter comes. When water turns into ice, it expands by about 9%, so when all the groundwater surrounding a foundation freezes, the expanding ice displaces the soil and damages the foundation walls. As the ice expands, it puts pressure on the soil and the basement to the point where it even lifts the house slightly. As the house gets separated from the soil layer underneath, the soil itself gets displaced all winter long.

When winter is over and the ice melts, the house gets placed back down against a layer of soil that is no longer even, causing foundation settling. As for the structure of the foundation, as the groundwater freezes against the concrete, the pressure breaks apart the concrete and creates micro-tears. The concrete’s internal structure is affected too, since any moisture that was inside the concrete will have frozen and expanded, slowly tearing up the wall over time. When the ice and snow melt, all those micro-tears only make it easier for the groundwater to seep through and cause basement leaks.

There’s nothing we can do about the way the soil and ice react to temperature changes, but we can minimize the damage as much as we can. Drainage systems like BasementGutter™ are designed to collect the moisture from the surrounding groundwater. With less water to freeze during the winter, your foundation stays safe and structurally sound. For crawl spaces affected by frost heave, any damaged posts and floor joists can be supported with crawl space support jacks to stop sagging floors.