When you’re looking to protect your home from foundation slippage or water damage, foundational piers are the way to go. That said, piers can be extensive additions to any household. You’ll need to do what you can to take care of your piers if you want them to continue doing their job over time.
What does pier maintenance involve, and when is it best to reach out for professional guidance?
Do Your Piers Need Maintaining?
Contractors install foundation piers to support a sinking foundation or to limit the possibility of future foundation damage. But do those piers need maintenance in the long run?
Whether or not they do depends on you and your home. If you don’t invest in any additional waterproofing solutions, there may come a time when you need to have your piers reinstalled or supported. There are steps you can take to ensure your piers have a long and healthy life – and that you limit your repair costs in the long run.
Your Home Pier Maintenance Checklist
As mentioned, contractors install piers beneath your home. More often than not, they’ll dig down several feet below your foundation, and the piers are driven several more feet into the ground to properly stabilize and potentially lift your foundation.
While you won’t always be able to dig down and check on your piers yourself, there are some steps you can take around the house to ensure your piers have a long and successful life.
Pair Up Your Piers
While your piers can do a lot of the heavy lifting around your home on their own, they can still use a little help now and again. One of the best ways for you to protect and maintain your piers is to pair them with waterproofing solutions and other home support measures. One such measure includes a strong drainage system. When you maintain a drainage system around your home, you ensure that water is driven away from your piers and out toward your lawn or street. When you deny water the opportunity to come into contact with your piers, you prevent unnecessary water damage and hydrostatic pressure build-up.
Properly Position Your Gutters
You can also better maintain your piers by reworking the waterproofing measures you already have in place around your home. Your gutters and downspouts, for example, do direct water away from your perimeter, but only when appropriately positioned. After you have piers installed, make sure your gutters are clean and your downspouts direct water out toward your lawn instead of back toward your home.
Waterproof The Rest of Your Foundation
When you want to protect your home and piers from water damage, one of the best things you can do is waterproof your foundation. Protect your basement and your piers by having interior drainage and a sump pump installed in your basement. When you take steps to actively drive water away from your home, you ensure your piers endure as little hydrostatic pressure as possible.
Have Your Foundation And Crawl Space Inspected Regularly
While piers permanently stabilize your foundation where they are installed, having them doesn’t guarantee other areas of your home won’t endure problems and need foundation repairs sometime in the future. With that in mind, it’s important to schedule annual foundation inspections with your local foundation and basement contractors. These inspections will let you stay on top of any developing damage in your home and will let you act against that damage before it can worsen.
Note that it’s important not only for the professionals in the DC area to inspect your piers but to inspect your crawl space and basement as well. These spaces can be your early warning systems, should something go wrong with the waterproofing measures you already have installed.
Get In Touch With The Professionals
It is possible to try and maintain your piers on your own time. However, if you notice your foundation starting to slip or signs of water damage returning to your home, you’ll want to get in touch with the professionals. Talk to the contractors who installed your piers and invite them back out to your home to determine what’s gone wrong. These professionals can provide you with a free quote on potential services, should your piers or other areas need repairs.
Think your home may need a protective boost? Reach out for pier maintenance today.
