One example of how Climate Change can affect a house depending on sub- soil type and how a soil test can provide the information you should be aware of when building, buying a house or land site.

If you live in Australia, you would be aware of worsening drought and super bushfires affecting our nation.   This is due to several factors which include the pressure on inland water supplies, the lack of rainfall, the drying of the Australian bushland, global climate change and natural earth cycles such as El Niño and La Niña to mention a few.  The resulting combination of all these factors is that we are getting drier and our global mean temperature is gradually rising.    

Source: 1 ABC News and BOM

This means that the foundations underlying many houses are also getting drier.   In Melbourne, Victoria and many suburbs, house foundations rest on clay soils that unfortunately shrink and swell according to the amount of moisture that is available.  During normal annual cycles this doesn’t present too much of a problem as moisture loss doesn’t penetrate too deep into the clays and regular cycles ensure the moisture content doesn’t deviate too much, but because we are experiencing more abnormal drier conditions for longer periods, the clay soils are beginning to loose their constant levels of moisture, consequently drying more and moving more as a they dry.  Some clays surface movement can move as much 75mm and can really wreak havoc with foundations if not properly engineered to withstand such conditions.  Similarly, an inundation of rain can have a swelling affect.  In many cases, engineers didn’t anticipate the underlying moisture abnormality to effect shallow foundations to the extent that we are beginning to see during a building’s expected lifetime, which the design life is taken to be 50 years according to

AS2870-2011 Residential Slabs and Footings Standards.  Buildings under normal climatic conditions will generally produce minor cracking and slight movement that may affect a door closure or window movement but will generally revert back to the original position once a normal regular seasonal climatic change takes place, but during abnormally drier conditions, extreme cracking can result internally and externally and foundations become exposed to differential foundation movement.  As we continue to dry out and as the global climatic conditions become hotter and water resources deplete, the cracking and movement of shallow house foundations may become the new norm, and expensive engineering solutions maybe required to permanently correct the issue.   When building or buying an existing house, or potential site, a soil test included as part of the conditions of sale, will confirm the soil type and profile which gives the buyer incite and due diligence to make an informed decision, or prepare for prevailing conditions.  Our soil testingservice includes this information at no extra cost.  So, if you need a soil test in Melbourne suburbs down to the Mornington Peninsula, Philip Island or anywhere between, give Chris a call 0400 372 763.