Foundation Types

Without thinking too hardly, on average, we all know that every home has a foundation; every home needs a foundation. We just really haven’t given much thought to the many types of foundations and how a contractor may determine which is best for your home. We all know what we want in a home, like a finished basement, but we don’t typically take into account the foundation type.

House Hunting Program

Planning on buying a home? Speak to us about our house hunting program; we’ll do the leg work for you.

No worries, we’ll give you some insight so when your contractor starts talking, you’ll know whether or not you want a heat pump or central air and the type of foundations he/ she may recommend. You’ll also know what foundation you prefer so you can add that as a part of your criteria when you’re house hunting.

What is a Home Foundation?

A home’s foundation is typically made of concrete and anchors the home to the ground, holding it in place. It is the lowest, widest, load bearing structure in the entire home because it needs to be spread across the entire square footage of the home and be strong enough to manage the weight of the structure that is placed upon it. Every structure we see from bridges to sky scrapers, have foundations.

Concrete Slab Foundations

This is the most common foundation type for modern homes, and the most affordable. It may not be ideal for colder cities in North Carolina living though; this is because slab foundations work best for warmer climates as the foundation may crack if the ground freezes, during winter. The ground freezing will burst pipes that have been sealed into the foundation, when it was being constructed.

Basement Foundations

This foundation type will cost you a ‘pretty penny’ as they are traditionally very costly to construct. They give you added square footage but, especially in the Carolina climate, basements tend to develop flooding and issues with mold if they aren’t cared for properly.

Crawl Space Foundations

Crawl space foundations have all the good things of having a basement foundation, there is ventilation under the home that keeps it cool in the warm months but it still has the issue of moisture getting trapped underneath the home and causing issues. The utilities that may run under your home are however easier to repair, in the event, any of them get damaged. Another con of having a crawl space foundation is the loss of heat during the cold months; because of the space between the ground and the home, this can cause the home to lose heat during those cold months when us Carolinians really want to keep the heat.

Have questions?

If you have questions regarding what we do, go ahead and get those answered.

The Residential Buyer

It is always our privilege here at The Residential Buyer to inform our readers so they can make educated decisions, about their home purchase, sale or upgrade. Because, let’s face it, we all can’t be real estate experts, then who would make the gourmet dishes and service our cars; then we end up with a world filled with bad food and broken down cars, because our chefs and mechanics are now real estate experts instead.

We’ll carry the burden of being your real estate experts. Ask us about any one of the services we offer or tell us what you’d like to see us write on next.

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