Is Replacement the Only Option for Fixing Expansive Soils?

When you’ve learned that you have expansive soil around your home, you may dread the possibility of having to replace all of it. However, replacement doesn’t have to be the only option for your expansive soil problems. 

• Enhancing Your Support Structure 

If you can enhance your building’s support structure, you may be able to avoid problems with expansive soil without having to replace any of it at all. Methods of enhancing your support structure are varied and typically work best with basement walls, which tend to bear the most weight from expansive soils. 

Wall anchors and braces, for example, can be used to support walls that have started to bow as the result of excessive lateral pressure from saturated soil or underground water sources. These support systems tend to be installed after the damage has started to show. However, you could instead focus on preventing hydrostatic pressure from building in the first place. 

• Removing Water Problems 

Expansive soils expand because of excessive saturation, usually during storms or periods of extreme weather. Therefore, if you’re able to remove many of the reasons that you’re having water with the soil, you may be able to help with many of your expansive soil problems. That may include plumbing and runoff changes. 

Hydrostatic pressure is another huge reason that expansive soils can be so damaging and it is affected by the water content of the soil. However, there are many ways you may be able to avoid issues with hydrostatic pressure. For example, you can install a perimeter drain that can help alleviate some of the water problems more effectively.