Expansive Soils Wreak Havoc on Bellevue Home’s Foundation Walls

Your foundation walls are under constant pressure from the soil that surrounds the foundation of your Bellevue home. Expansive soil causes hydrostatic pressure that exerts more force than you may think, and even increases as the soil soaks in water and begins to expand. There are many factors that determine how much pressure threatens the stability of your foundation: soil type, the moisture content of the soil, and the depth of your foundation.

Foundation walls are perfectly designed to handle vertical loads and to hold up the weight of your home. However, they’re not great at dealing with lateral forces. Over time, and with enough pressure, your foundation walls may bow, crack, buckle, or tilt into your home, or even fail completely. This is why it’s important to call a foundation repair team as soon as you notice any of these signs on your Bellevue home caused by expansive soils

How Virgin Foundation Soils and Backfill Soils Can Affect Foundation Walls

With new home construction, contractors must first excavate the soil to pour the foundation. The stable, hard-packed soil is removed during the construction process. After the foundation and framing are done, they will fill this space back in with that dug-up soil.

This backfill soil is much more loose and more porous than virgin soil, which means it can absorb much more moisture. As the soil takes on water, it swells and puts tremendous hydrostatic pressure on foundation walls, causing a need for foundation crack repair on your Bellevue home.

dry soil

Causes of Soil Expansion in Bellevue

Soil expansion is generally caused by one or more of the following:

  • Frost heave
  • Hydrostatic pressure
  • Wet, expansive clay soils

In each of these cases, moisture is the culprit for compromising the foundation of your home. Soils will expand when they’re wet and shrink when they’re dry. Cold weather may cause the water in the soil to freeze, resulting in further expansion. And clay soils are heavier and more expansive than other soils. All this expansion and contraction creates movement which causes your house to settle, and ultimately results in damage.

Foundation Repair in Bellevue

Matvey Foundation Repair is one of the most trusted names for foundation wall crack repair in Bellevue, and we will take good care of you and your home. Reach out to us today to set up your free estimate!