A listing home is something we all dread, and the result is much worse than glasses sliding off tables and having to watch T.V. with your head on a tilt – subsidence can actually cause serious damage.
Subsidence is caused by the downward movement of the ground beneath the building’s foundations. As the ground moves away from the foundations the house can fall into the resulting space causing varying degrees of damage, with some instances of subsidence incurring massive costs.
What causes the downward movement of the ground beneath the foundations?
- Clay Soil
In the UK, all clay soil is created by the deposition of tiny rock particles along the beds of historic rivers, which ultimately locks a certain amount of moisture in their matrix. This moisture will stay locked up inside the clay for decades, even after it has been removed from the riverbed’s wet environment. When the clay dries out, through a long hot summer for instance, it shrinks. Follow this with a winter of heavy rainfall, the clay absorbs moisture again, and expands.
- Expansion
The shrinking and expanding cycle happening year after year generally goes unnoticed. But during extended periods of drought, the cycle can be disrupted. Without the necessary amount of water entering the clay and expanding it back into the space, large areas can be created for foundations to fall into.
- Tree Roots
Trees can cause problems above ground, but it is below the surface where they can do the most damage. In times of drought, roots will branch out further in search of water. These roots can drain water from the clay already dried out by a lack of rain.
- Uneven Ground
Ground levels can be disrupted and made uneven by a number of different things. Mine workings create unstable ground surfaces that can be detrimental to properties at surface level. Even if mines are at a great depth or far away from an affected site, they can still have catastrophic impacts.
Call Rhino Piling today if your home is subsiding. We provide piling in Manchester, as well as the surrounding areas.
