Is My Basement Floor My Foundation

Let us assume there is a staircase from the main floor inside the house that leads into the basement.

Is my basement floor my foundation.

If your basement floor is cracking you might not know what you can do to fix it especially if you re a homeowner without a lot of experience in home repair. You see my basement space was crude and unfinished. A professionally installed owens corning basement system could run as much as 30 000 but keep in mind that they finish the entire basement to above grade quality including installing flooring. You may have a plumbing leak or flood.

Homes with dirt floors in the basement are more common than we realize. Basement wall and floor cracks. There may be water outside your basement foundation from poor grading heavy rain or groundwater. Regardless of the reason hydrostatic pressure can push the moisture into your basement.

The ground can settle in a finished or unfinished basement. Hello michael and thanks for your question. When the soil around the foundation is not compacted properly or is of poor quality then the weight of the foundation or structure above it can push down causing settlement sinking and shifting. However as the slope descends one or more sides of the foundation are exposed and can have large windows and doors to bring in daylight.

The square footage that once seemed so ample was now shrinking before my eyes. I could hardly appreciate my basement in its gray perpetually moist state even if it was the foundation of my dream house. Built against a slope the daylight basement has one or more sides that are completely embedded in the ground from floor to ceiling. Rising groundwater causes hydrostatic pressure and that causes soil to push on your basement walls and floor.

Also assume there are windows in the foundation below the floor plate so natural light enters the basement. Cracks are a common issue and not all cracks are a sign of something serious. Lastly the water needs to be able to get through the walls into your basement crawl space or foundation. At least that was true until my family began to grow.

When your basement floor starts to settle you will notice a gap between the wall and the ceiling or by the baseboard and the floor or a support post and the ceiling. If left alone your basement floor cracks will continue to grow creating. If your basement is in the way and there are structural deficiencies or cracks in the concrete then your basement becomes the path of least resistance and the groundwater goes there. Basement floor cracks indicate that you have house settling problems which can damage your home s foundation.