Drainage & Foundation Damage

What Kind of Role Does Landscape Drainage Play?

I often hear that drainage improvements alone can effectively take care of moisture accumulation and heave. While I agree that drainage improvements are beneficial, alone they may in the short run be less effective, and in the long run may not be enough.

Fact: Drainage plays a major role in foundation failure.

We believe in drainage improvements as a preventative measure when it comes to foundation problems. It does little good (in fact it may be counterproductive) to collect all of the roof water and dump it in a concentrated location at the base of the house. Surface drainage in modern housing is not sufficient to properly drain, because the lots are too small and too flat to properly drain. Hard piping is required to properly drain the water from the roof.

When you have a typical foundation dome heave, with the center of the slab as the high point, it is already more moist at the center of the foundation dome heave than the edges, as moisture accumulates in the middle. What happens in the short run with a house in this condition when you dry out the edges more with drainage improvements alone? It will dry out the edges MORE.

If you have heave in the middle of a foundation slab, you need to effect change at that location…. the middle. That is why when we install the MoistureLevel Smart Foundation System, we install the suction pit as close the high point as we can, where we can affect the most change.

We also advise all Homeowners to install proper drainage improvements to aid in the long-term moisture infiltration reduction. Along with the MoistureLevel system they make a great combination to address a foundation heave problem.

For more information on foundation movement, take a look at my free ebook, 'Which way is my foundation moving?' by clicking below.