Transcript: Thanks for stopping by Concrete Repairman. What you are viewing is a floor heave fracture on an interior floor in a bedroom. And this is a keyway joint, right here running that direction and this is a separate crack, so we consider this as a triangulated fracture. Triangulated fractures means that, there's an elevation here, and elevation there and an elevation there, three elevations on the exterior floor. There are vertical breaks on this side of the this home, and also over here next to the patio area in this master bedroom. When the foundation wall goes down, based on the evidence of the vertical fractures on this side of the home, because of the rain water saturation near the foundation. This means that the foundation wall is going down and broke. This floor is poured independently and is non monolithic but, it does have outward pressures north south east and west, and will follow the foundation wall down with it causing these floor heaves. It's not necessarily the case of “expansive soil” pushing up, causing these floor heaves. All you have to do simply at home, a technique that's widely used is, just take a hammer and start tapping near these cracks, and see if you hear a hollow sound. A hollow sound means, that it's lifting and doing exactly what I just said the foundation walls going down. If it were “expansive soil,” if your home moves enough, then it will break water lines and cause interior water underneath your floor slab. Just simply take a hammer tap on the crack, sounds hollow? It's not likely expansive soil, pretty simple. When this foundation goes down, it's also going to cause, in the ceiling, and there's a lot stress here in this roof structure. If this continues, it will rip the roof wide open! Before this gets to that type of structural damage, you definitely need six inch aluminum seamless rain gutters with four-foot downspout extensions all the way around these homes here in Arizona. This wall is an exterior perimeter wall sitting on top of perimeter footing, and this is an interior wall sitting on top of an interior floor. Where the interior wall, and the perimeter wall meet, you get “shearing,” separation. That means that the outside wall is moving down. For more information about expansive soils interior floor crack heaving, grinding, floor leveling and stitching in AZ, please contact James at 602-418-2970 thanks for watching have a great day! Please comment if you have any questions. Thank you. Poor soil conditions in the excavated area cause compaction and can make it difficult to dig out foundation depths that are deeper than the top of the soil. Subsoil cracks are formed when the base of the foundation is deeper than the top of the soil. The loose soil and compacted soil meet at the foundation and will cause foundation heave. A foundation inspection is required before any excavation begins to prevent heaving and cracks in the future. In order to prevent or reduce the likelihood of foundation heave, every owner should take steps to improve soil conditions. Before digging, owners should remove soil from the excavation. This will help decrease the likelihood of foundation heave. Additionally, it is important to use good quality clay soil mix when excavating. Clay soils are stronger and require less compaction. By using high quality soils, the property owner ensures a sound foundation. After removing the old soil, good quality clay soils will be necessary for foundation repair. This should be done before excavating is begun. It is best to consult with a qualified foundation specialist to determine the best clay soils to use. Quality soil will need to be added to the foundation excavation site, after soil has been removed and for the remainder of the excavation process. Foundation engineers recommend adding a 10 percent grade to provide extra support to the new foundation structure. To help add to the strength of the soil, the grade should be evenly distributed throughout the site. Using the appropriate soil will also allow the new foundation to drain properly. If proper drainage is not provided, foundation heave will likely occur. Too much expansion or contraction of the foundation can result in foundation heave.
