What Is Expansive Soil?

Expansive soil is soil that is heavily made up of absorbent materials like clay. They are incredibly unstable and likely to damage any structure that rests on them, but they are not the most common issue in North Carolina.  

Expansive Soil is Changeable  

Expansive soils are incredibly changeable and that’s what makes them so damaging. Properties that rest on expansive soils are more likely to deal with issues like frost heave, bowing walls, and foundation settlement. This is partly because of the way they swell when wet, putting excessive pressure on any structure that is adjacent to them, but it is also about the way they shrink when they are dehydrated.  

This process of shrinking is what is most likely to cause a concrete floor to sink into the ground. When expansive soil shrinks, it can be almost half in size, and it will start to crack in certain places. This will leave large sections of a property without support and lead to a process of settlement for your foundation and the floor that it supports.  

Loose Soil is Weak  

Loose soil is prevalent in Winston-Salem, NC. This looser soil that sometimes contains sand is incredibly prone to being washed away by heavy rain and runoff. This soil is far more likely to shift and move underneath a property’s foundation or even the driveway. This will leave voids under a surface.  

When these voids form, a property will begin to suffer as a result of a lack of support. The inevitable outcome is some form of sinking or settlement, but sometimes a property can start to shift its position because the foundation starts to slip. When this happens, the foundation of a property will need to be re-stabilized before the other damage can be repaired fully.