There are many differences that you noticed when your daughter make the decision to travel 12 hours south for college. From the midwest, foundation problems with housing typically have to do with cracks in cinder blocks or poured walls. In fact, residential foundation repairs in the midwest often have to do with ground that was not properly prepared. In the south, however, everyone in your family was quick to notice a completely different kind of foundation: pier and beam. This type of foundation consists of joists that are generally spaced approximately 18 inches apart and appears to create a basis for the home to be floating just a few inches, or sometimes a foot, above the ground.
Because of the closeness to sea level, there are many kinds of foundations that simply would not be effective in some parts of the south. In fact, while there are many midwesterners who take basements for granted, these are not common at all in many parts of the south. Instead pear and beam foundations are actually created so that there is literally a crawl space underneath any home.
Expert Soil Analysis and Drainage Solutions Are Important Parts of the Best Foundations
Foundation problems can cause serious damage to a home or a business. For this reason, both residential and commercial foundation repairs are important parts of making sure that a home maintains, and sometimes increases, its value. When you realize that the subfloor in a pier and beam foundation is at minimum, one half inch plywood, which supports the house it can initially be confusing to understand if you are from a place where this kind of foundation problem is never used.
Regional considerations often determine the kind of foundation that works best. Most homes in Texas that were built less than 50 years ago, for instance, have a slab foundation. Newer buildings, however, are often pier and beam foundations, allowing access to the piping and electricity that runs underneath the home. With as many as 60 different soil types throughout Texas, it should come as no surprise that their is often a specific kind of foundation for the area where you live.
