How Do Bowing Walls Affect My Home?
Bowing walls are a result of hydrostatic pressure, which is when groundwater accumulates next to your Savannah home’s foundation walls and exerts an extreme amount of pressure on it. The walls of your foundation are part of what holds up the rest of your home, so if they are structurally compromised, the rest of your home will be as well. As the wall bows inward, the concrete blocks or bricks begin to detach themselves from the mortar joints, effectively breaking the wall. The groundwater that was pushing up against the wall begins to leak through, and, suddenly, it’s not just an uneven wall you have to worry about. A flooded crawl space or basement means humidity, which is an entire problem on its own.
Mold starts to grow in your crawl space or basement, which can be dangerous for your health as the spores circulate through your home. Speaking of circulation, the humid, moldy air of the crawl space can influence the temperature of the rest of your home and raise your energy bills as your HVAC system attempts to fight it off. Mold in your crawl space or basement also leads to wood rot, which affects the floor joists and causes bouncy, sagging floors. All these issues are just byproducts of the leaking that comes from a buckling wall. If it sounds tedious and expensive, then you might not be happy to know that it can be a lot worse.
If the problem is allowed to develop further, then the upstairs portion of the home will be affected significantly. Since one of the main support structures (the wall) is failing, the house begins to break in different places. Cracks along the drywall, ceiling, tile floors, and window frames will begin to show up as the foundation wall buckles. Doors and windows will jam upon usage as the frames break and distort, and your floor will become uneven. To avoid all these issues, the moment you notice bowing walls, you need to call your local experts for a repair solution.