Texas is prone to a variety of climate challenges, but one surprising issue pops up more in the Lone Star State than most of the country. Texan homeowners often find that their homes suffer problems with the foundation, which can cause notable concerns for the rest of the house. Learn more about the foundation issues most likely to affect your Texas homestead and how you can get help.

1. Weather Impacts

Texas has an unpredictable weather cycle, but the climate is prone to extremes. You might have hot or cool conditions crop up unexpectedly, and the air could be dry or humid without any correlation to previous experiences. As uncomfortable as weather extremes might be for the people living there, building foundations can suffer just as much.

The torrential rains can cause floods that might erode your foundation, which means you'll have to reinforce barriers between the house's supports and the outside elements. Droughts cause problems of their own, like forcing tree roots in unusual directions to seek out water. These searching root systems can disrupt building foundations, and they're much harder to guard against.

2. Expansive Clay Soil 

The soil on which your home rests has a considerable effect on the stability of your foundation. Because Texas has a well-earned reputation for expansive clay soil - perfect for farming, not so perfect for building on - your foundation will feel the effects of the changing seasons as the soil expands with moisture and contracts with dry heat.

You can't do much to change the composition of the dirt around your house. All you can do is pay attention to the weather and look out for soil heaving and unsupported pockets under your foundation, which will cause visible cracks and cause your home to grow unstable at a faster rate than anyone would prefer. 

3. Drainage Systems

If you thought the only danger of water damage came from the environment, think again. The drainage system for your home's plumbing can have catastrophic consequences if it doesn't work well with the foundation style. Even if the contractors put both together well originally, the temperamental climate can cause the drainage system to stop cooperating and cause foundation issues.

Slab foundations, which are common in Texas, usually have water pipes embedded in the concrete, which puts both systems in danger. If the pipes freeze, they'll expand and possibly crack the foundation, while if the concrete has to settle or bends in another way, it'll damage the water system for the whole house. 

Pier and beam foundations, the other most common style in Texas, give you crawl-space access to the pipes and electric systems. However, you still run risks of foundation damage if you fail to ventilate that space correctly. Anything from mold and rot to small animals can sneak in if you don't insulate and guard the area well, all of which will cause problems from the ground up. 

4. Population Constrictions

Texas has a lot of land with low amounts of expanding clay in the soil, which would help most foundations last a little longer. The problem is, the cities with high concentrations of homes happen to rest upon the worst ground for building. If you live in a Texan city, then you've joined the myriads of people who will have more foundation trouble than the rest of the country.

Fortunately, a lot of foundation issues mean that foundation repair companies get to be very good at what they do. If you need your home's base fixed, look no further than Bonilla Foundation Repair, a company dedicated to serving its customers with reliable repairs. Get in touch today to see how Bonilla can make your home's base safe once again.