There is a saying in the UK, ‘our house is our castle’, so it makes sense that we take good care of it.
It is important to keep an eye on your home to check for any issues that may be slowly creeping into the foundations. Cracks and creases in your walls, brickwork, floors or ceilings could be a sign that your house is subsiding and requires underpinning.
What Is Subsidence
Subsidence can occur for a number of different reasons, but mainly it happens when the subsoil draws away from your foundations. As the soil draws back it leaves a cavity in which the building can subside into. This can often be confused for settlement, where the weight of the building itself is responsible for displacing the subsoil, or heaving, where expanding soil pushes the building upwards.
Subsidence can be caused from old mine workings or other large-scale excavations underneath the building, but most commonly it occurs because of faulty drains or tree-roots that suck the moisture from the soil or by drought and changes to the water table.
Signs of Subsidence
The most obvious signs that will be evident to the homeowner are cracks in the walls. This doesn’t mean all cracks indicate that there is subsidence – a recently plastered wall may show small cracks, but these are safe and are simply a product of the plastering rather than something more nefarious.
It is when the cracks become more substantial, especially on the outside walls when you should be worried. These cracks are most likely to occur around the doors and windows of the property. You may also notice doors and windows stick as they are starting to pull away from the surrounding walls, and in some extreme cases, the house can be visibly leaning to one side.
Contact Rhino Piling today if you think your home is subsiding. We can get to work right away on underpinning and piling in the Cheshire area, to prevent any further damage to your home.
