Foundation Shifting due to Freeze-Thaw CyclesĬontrary to popular belief, clay soil can crack due to fluctuations in the soil water content during any season. Besides leading to new cracks, repeated expansion and contraction of your concrete foundation could cause existing cracks to grow larger and deeper. When these stresses are high enough, they result in cracking. Because the cooler section of the foundation contracts more than the warmer section, tensile stresses often develop between the frozen and warmer areas of concrete. Typically, the exterior perimeter of a foundation cools and freezes rapidly, while the middle area underneath the home remains warmer. Cracks due to the Thermal Expansion and Contraction of ConcreteĮxtremely cold weather is known to cause significant temperature fluctuations within a concrete foundation. Because this expansion can create a great deal of pressure underneath your home, it could lead to an upheaval movement, which may cause cracks to develop in your foundation, slab, walls, floors, and ceilings. As a result, underlying soil layers freeze and expand at deeper depths, even below your foundation. The longer the cold weather sticks around, the more it permeates the soil. If the cold weather returns, the water trapped in the soil will refreeze and expand, causing the soil to expand as well. As soon as the weather warms up, the melting snow and ice will start to saturate deeper soil layers. When the temperature drops below 32☏ after a snowfall or freezing rain, the soil freezes on top, turning the present moisture and water into ice. Cracks Caused by Frost HeaveĪlthough frost heave rarely happens in Texas, repeated freeze-thaw cycles could cause this condition to occur in any area characterized by mild winters. To understand how the February snowstorm and cold outbreak might have impacted your foundation, let’s take a look at some of the adverse effects that freezing temperatures and snowfall can have on a house foundation. That’s because low temperatures along with occasional snowfall, freezing rain, and ice can irreversibly affect your foundation and cause extensive structural damage throughout your home. But cold weather can still be very detrimental to your home. Because mild temperatures tend to dominate Texas during the winter, potential freezing and thawing aren’t typically considered a great threat to our Houston homes.
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