Maintaining the Structural Integrity
Home Improvement

How to Maximize Your Home’s Beauty By Maintaining the Structural Integrity

As you look at interesting ways to make your home more beautiful, you may be neglecting an important part of the process: maintaining the structural integrity of your home. Structural integrity should be at least as important to you as external beauty because structural integrity can have a real impact on your safety. Consider these important elements of home health before you move on to beautifying the outside.

Home Health Checklist
Home Health Checklist Created By: JES

Structural Integrity

Maintaining the structural integrity of your home is extremely important, but your foundation may be lacking. If you’re noticing any of these signs, it may be a warning sign of foundational issues:

  • Nail pops
  • Wall and floor gaps
  • Uneven floors
  • Drywall cracks
  • Sticking doors or windows
  • Bowed basement walls
  • Flood damage
  • Cracked chimney
  • Sinking foundation
  • Foundation settlement
  • Vertical, horizontal, or stair-step cracks
  • Cracked bricks
  • Cracked block foundation
  • Concrete cracks

When you ignore foundation problems, you can cause very serious problems that can follow your home for years. In fact, it can make you lose up to 30% of your home’s value, which is important if you ever plan to sell your home. Plus, that damage can have a real impact on you and your family members’ safety.

Basement Integrity

The basement is a common place to have structural concerns. If you’re starting to note any of these problems, it may be a sign of basement integrity issues:

  • Poor drainage
  • Musty basement smell
  • Leaking water heater
  • Leaking basement windows
  • Leaking in basement cove
  • Sump pump issues
  • Swelling or warped doors
  • Water stains on walls or floors
  • Efflorescence
  • Wet walls
  • Wet floors
  • Wet carpet
  • Wet drywall
  • Condensation on windows or doors
See also  4 Home Improvement Projects that Help Your Neighbors Too

Why does it matter if you’re having issues with your basement health? It matters because of the way in which your basement has an impact on other home systems. Basement problems can very quickly turn into foundation problems, which can wreak havoc on your home’s structure. Plus, moisture concerns are common in basements, and those can cause allergies and asthma in home residents.

Crawl Space Integrity

Even if you don’t have a basement, chances are you have a crawl space. If you’re noticing any of these warning signs, you may have a problem in your crawl space:

  • Standing water
  • Floor joist issues
  • Wood rot
  • Condensation
  • Wet insulation
  • Foundation cracks
  • Open crawl space vents
  • High indoor humidity
  • Sagging floors
  • Mold in your crawl space
  • Unpleasant odors or poor air quality
  • Rodent or bug issues
  • High electric bills

Crawl space problems can raise a variety of additional issues. It’s very common for crawl spaces to have moisture and water problems, and those problems can severely affect the rest of your home as well. If you have unhealthy air or pests in your crawl space, that can also rise up through the home, leading to very unhealthy air across the entirety of the home and exacerbating allergies.

Home Concrete Integrity

Many people have concrete slabs in their home. If you have sinking, uneven, or cracking concrete slabs in any of these areas, you may have some problems:

  • Patio
  • Garage
  • Driveway
  • Basement
  • Sidewalk
  • Pool deck

Anyone who has sinking and uneven concrete slabs runs the risk of causing a tripping hazard, which can cause injuries. It could even be an insurance liability, especially if you use your home for business. When you fix concrete slabs early, you’re more likely to avoid foundation problems that could arise from it in the future.

Conclusion

These are all important things to think about if you want to make sure you’re managing your home’s health. Whether you’re concerned about an element of your home’s structural integrity or you just want to make sure everything’s alright, you may want to consider calling an expert to learn more about your home health options. It’s important to put plenty of time and thought into your home’s health because that’s part of what makes your home so beautiful.

Facebook Comments

sweety

I believe in creativity and try to express the same with my words. I enjoy writing and keeping myself in touch with the books.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.