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Causes Of Foundation Damage
The Anatomy of a Crawl Space
The Anatomy of a Crawl Space
The Anatomy of a Crawl Space
A crawl space foundation is essentially a shallow basement that lifts your home off the ground, creating a protective buffer between the soil and your floor system. Understanding its "anatomy" is the best way to diagnose where structural or moisture problems begin.
Damaged Beam or Girder
The Anatomy of a Crawl Space
The Anatomy of a Crawl Space
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A beam (also called a girder) is the spine of your foundation. A damaged foundation beam is a structural failure in one of the primary horizontal supports of a building. Depending on your home’s construction, these beams are responsible for distributing the weight of the entire structure down to the footings or piers.
Damaged Floor Joists
The Anatomy of a Crawl Space
Damaged Floor Joists
While foundation beams or girders are the "spine" of your foundation, floor joists are the "ribs." They are a series of smaller horizontal members that support your flooring (sub-flooring) and transfer its weight to the main foundation beams or rim joists. When floor joists are damaged, the issues are usually localized to specific rooms rather than the entire structure.
Damaged Rim Joist
Damaged Brick and CMU Piers
Damaged Floor Joists
The rim joist (also called a header, sill, or band joist) is the "perimeter guard" of your floor system. While floor joists run across the house, the rim joist sits perpendicular to them, capping the ends and resting directly on the foundation wall or sill plate. If the floor joists are the "ribs," the rim joist is the outer ring that supports the outer walls and keeps everything aligned, and prevents the joists from shifting.
Damaged Brick and CMU Piers
Damaged Brick and CMU Piers
Damaged Brick and CMU Piers
In a crawl space, foundation piers are the interior and exterior concrete block (CMU) or brick pillars that support the main carrying beam and rim joists. The piers are the supports that stop the beams and rim joists from sagging. When a pier fails, the center and exterior walls of your house begin to sink, even if the other sections of your flooring remain perfectly level.
Foundation Settlement
Damaged Brick and CMU Piers
Damaged Brick and CMU Piers
Crawl space settlement occurs when the vertical supports (piers or curtain walls) of your home are damaged or sink into the ground. Damaged beams, floor joists, or rim joists (which is a material failure) can also cause settlement.
Bouncy Floors When Walking
Bouncy Floors When Walking
Bouncy Floors When Walking
When a floor "bounces" or vibrates as you walk across it, it’s often referred to in the industry as floor deflection. Essentially, your floor is acting like a trampoline because the structural system underneath lacks the necessary stiffness to remain rigid under the weight of a moving person. Installing sisters (fastening new joists to the sides of the bouncy ones) or a supplemental beam and set of piers below the mid-span of the joists to cut the "span" in half are commonly used to eliminate bounce or vibration.
Water and Termite Damage
Bouncy Floors When Walking
Bouncy Floors When Walking
In a crawl space, water and termites are the "silent partners" of structural failure. They often work in tandem. Water softens wood and creates the humid environment termites crave, making your foundation a prime target. While water doesn't just cause "wetness," it changes the cellular structure of the wood framing. Subterranean termites (the most common type found in crawl spaces) live in the soil and travel into your home to feed on the cellulose in the wood.