Geotechnical Drilling Winter Park Why is My House Sinking and Cracking and What Can I Learn with Geotechnical Drilling?
Winter Park geotechnical drilling firms occasionally receive calls from property owners who have noticed that their home has recently started sinking, sloping and cracking, both in the walls and . It’s also common to receive reports of “sticking” or even jammed doors.
There are a few different issues that can result in this type of damage and it’s common to call in a firm to perform geotechnical drilling. Winter Park residents can gain significant insight into the cause of the problem and how it can be remedied.
How Can I Benefit from Geotechnical Drilling?
Winter Park geotechnical drilling technicians will work with an engineer to determine the ideal drilling sites, which can be used to extract sub-surface samples using various methods. This can reveal greater insight into your situation.
One possibility is a poorly-constructed (or a very old and deteriorating) foundation, which is crumbling and failing in a manner that causes shifting in the structure. This situation can often be identified by an experienced engineer and subsequently repaired without the need to perform geotechnical drilling.
Another potential cause involves poor quality earth, with relatively loose and moist sub-surface layers. This instability most often results in areas with sandy soil and poor water drainage over a broad area. As a result, the entire home – foundation and all – may begin sink. If the sinking occurs unevenly, cracking can arise in the home’s walls and foundation.
Geotechnical drilling technicians can identify this problem by analyzing soil samples and geotechnical test results. The remedy will vary depending upon the exact nature of the situation. In some cases, modifying the drainage in the area can help prevent further degradation. In other cases, it may be necessary to modify the home to maintain structural stability.
It’s also possible that a homeowner could see cracked walls, cracks in the foundation and other signs of movement and shifting, such as “sticky” doors, resulting from sinking and shifting that’s connected to an underground void. In Florida, the limestone bedrock is prone to dissolution when exposed to mild acids that are commonly found in the sub-surface layers. This can result in an underground cavity that can be identified through geotechnical drilling operations.
In some cases, a small cavity has collapsed, resulting in the structure’s shifts. In other cases, a small amount of shifting may foreshadow a major, catastrophic collapse that would result in a sinkhole. In this case, it’s possible to drill down into the bedrock, placing stabilization rods in the stone and connecting those rods to the structure’s foundation for support, even if the ground falls away.
*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Amdrill Inc*
