Improper yard grading can lead directly to foundation flooding and damage, putting your home in jeopardy. The land around your home should help collect moisture and route it away from your foundation walls toward natural drainage sources that can manage the excess moisture. Whether it wasn’t graded properly when first constructed or the soil has settled over time, you need an experienced Pittsburgh excavating contractor who can regrade your yard for better moisture management.
Making the Grade
When your home was being constructed, the area where your foundation sits was excavated, either to create the space for your basement or to connect utilities. The soil was then compacted to provide a firm footing for your basement, slab, or crawlspace. Once the foundation was constructed or laid, backfilling was done to eliminate voids and yard grading was done to channel water away from the foundation.
The grading directly next to your walls plays the largest role in preventing foundation flooding and should drop approximately one inch per foot as you move away from the home for the first five to ten feet. Most Pittsburgh excavating companies can handle that, but there’s more to managing moisture than that. Poor landscape grading elsewhere in the yard can prevent drainage, which leads to oversaturated soil that can’t move water away from the home, even with proper yard grading near the foundation.
The Dangers of Poor Yard Grading
Damage to Your Foundation
- Cracks – Concrete is a porous material. Pressure can force water from saturated soil into these pores, where it starts to erode the concrete, eventually leading to wall and floor cracks. Worse, if the weight of the soil and water pressing against the outside of your foundation gets heavy enough, pressure cracks can begin to form, robbing your walls and floors of their structural integrity.
- Bowing or Leaning Walls – As walls crack, they can begin to bow inward, pushed by the pressure surrounding them. Uneven pressure from poor yard grading and preparation can also pull walls away from each other at corners or away from the floor. It can even begin to push the slabs that make up your walls inward, causing them to lean more and more while leaving the home above them less supported.
- Wood Rot – The wood supports (as well as wallboard, plaster, and many other construction materials) in your basement can become inundated with moisture and begin to rot. This not only ruins the material itself but also creates the perfect environment for pests to thrive.
- Mold and Mildew – These do more than just smell bad and look gross. Mold and mildew feed off the organic material they anchor to, destroying it. The spores they release help them spread to other areas, but they can also cause a range of health issues in humans and pets, including respiratory difficulties, nerve issues, and more.
- Flooding – Whether water pours in through cracks or gaps, presses through pores, or backs up through your floor drain, poor yard grading can lead to foundation flooding that damages the structures of your home and any personal property you have in your basement.
Damage to Your Property
- Flooding – The most visible and biggest immediate danger of poor yard grading is flooding around your property. This can be wet patches, standing puddles, or sodden ground.
- Ruined Gardens—Waterlogged soil kills plants, whether they’re flowers or food crops. The same conditions that lead to foundation flooding and weaken your home’s support can leave tree roots without the anchor they need for stability, rob plants of nutrients, and carry away precious topsoil.
- Cracked, Heaving, or Sinking Sidewalks and Drives – As the moisture cycle in your soil shifts from dry to oversaturated and back, voids start to develop. This weakens the support for your drive and sidewalk, creating uneven areas that sink or crack. During the winter months, freezing temperatures can cause any moisture trapped in these voids to swell, heaving your slabs up sharply and cracking them in the process.
- Secondary Structure Damages – The same issues from poor yard grading that damage your home, driveway, or sidewalk can also wreak havoc on accessory structures. Gazebos, sheds, and awnings can all find their support shifting, putting more stress throughout their structures and damaging them.
- Damaged Pipes and Sewer Lines – Sodden soil is heavy soil, which puts more pressure on the pipes and lines underground your home relies on for water and sanitation. As the moisture cycle continues to create voids, this can leave them unsupported, potentially leading to a water or sewer line break that worsens the issue and leads to the need for a Pittsburgh excavation contractor and big water or sewer line repair bills.
What You Can Do About Poor Yard Grading
While most homeowners may be able to take care of “spot” fixes on otherwise properly graded yards, you’ll need a Pittsburgh excavating contractor for larger corrections. We not only have the experience to get the job done right but also to spot risks that may not be causing you any issues yet. That way, you can get your yard grading done right all at once without the need to regrade in a couple of years. Many of our yard grading jobs are done in a single day, leaving a yard better prepared to manage surface moisture with new grass already planted for a beautiful lawn.
Working With Excavation Professionals for Yard Grading
When you schedule a free foundation and property inspection, one of our specialists will visit your property, look at any damage to the basement caused by foundation flooding, check the current grading next to the foundation and across the property, and talk with you about your home’s biggest needs. Then, they’ll provide a tailored quote that covers yard grading, foundation repairs, and any additional waterproofing that can help future-proof your property against excess moisture. We want you to know all your options, each laid out in plain language with clear, honest estimates.
We’re proud of the reputation we’ve earned restoring and protecting foundations throughout Western Pennsylvania. There’s no cost or obligation to take the first step toward the peace of mind that comes from knowing your home is on a stable foundation. Schedule a visit from A.M. Wall Anchor & Waterproofing today.