Slide 14 of 19
Notes:
- What causes cracking?
- Figure shows a crack up and a crack down
Crack up: Expansion
Crack down: Settlement
- Expansive soil: Cracks wider at the top than the bottom. Best retrofit is to deepen the footings.
- Soil settlement: Cracks wider at the bottom than at the top. Keep roof and surface water away from footings.
- Solutions for controlling watering are the same as for expansive soils
- What are the solutions?
- Geotechnical engineers should be consulted
- Expansive soil problems are best treated with deepened footings
- Expansive soil and soil settlement require management of adjacent watering with underpinning, roof gutters with downspouts to yard drains and new concrete paving
- Smaller cracks can be repaired with various epoxies or cementitious mortars
