subject: 5 Reasons To Hire An Underground Leak Detection Service For Your Room Addition [print this page] A room addition can be one of the best investments to make to your home. Curb appeal is increased, living space grows and new design features are available to the home that youve already grown to love. Whether its a brand new kitchen, newlywed master bedroom or bouncy baby nursery, a room addition can be an affordable way to expand your living space needs without having to pick up and move to a new location. But before you begin any bigor small home addition, its imperative that you have an underground leak detection service check the area youre going to build on before you break ground. If you dont, you might get stuck with one (or all) of these five problems.
Underground Utilities
Whether youre adding on to double your living space or youre just adding a small room, you can bet that if you plan on digging into the ground more than just a few inches, youre asking for trouble. Underground utilities like electrical, plumbing, phone and cable lines can all be buried just inches below the surfaceeven though theyre not supposed to be. Call before you dig to locate all utility lines to prevent serious damages to underground utilities.
Sinkholes
You certainly dont want to build on top of a sinkhole. And just because your area isnt prone to sinkholes, doesnt mean they cant happen. Sinkholes can form from landscaping, plumbing leaks or even droughts, in any location. This can easily ensure disaster strikes once the heavy foundation is placed on these unstable underground nightmares. Be sure to hire Southern Leak Detection to check for sinkholes before you build your room addition. Weve been in business in the greater Birmingham area for over 18 years and have seen it all. Give us a call today for a consultation of all your underground detection needs for your new room addition.
Unstable Soil Structure
Room additions often are added onto areas of ground that have pockets and deposits of unstable soil. This can occur due to a wide variety of maladies including irrigation leaks, past grading attempts or rotting landscaping materials. Before you break ground, be sure you dont need to make more serious excavations to remove unstable soils in the area.
Soil Compaction
When room additions are built on areas where additional soil is brought into the area before the slab is poured, youll need to make sure that the soil has been brought to full compaction. Underground leak detection specialists do more than just look for leaks. Checking for proper soil compaction ensures that your room addition doesnt sink into the surrounding soils due to poor soil compaction. Be sure to have a soil compaction test performed before you pour a slab when bringing in fill dirt for your new room addition.
Water Table Depths
In some locations, water tables can be dramatically higher than in othersand just in a few feet of one another. Building on an excessively wet location can be a disaster waiting to happen for your new room addition. Water can enter the structure, sinkholes can form and slabs can shift and crack. Be sure to call an underground leak detection company before you begin any home improvement project if you have water table problems in your area.
