Frost heave around Coeur d'Alene
the ground crosses freezing and back on about 95 days a year.
the ground crosses freezing and back on about 95 days a year
Coeur d'Alene records about 95 days a year where the temperature crosses freezing between night and day, and each of those cycles works existing cracks a little wider.
Why this matters for a footing
A footing is designed for a soil that stays roughly the same size. When the ground beneath one part of the house changes volume and the ground beneath another part does not, the house is asked to bridge the difference, and concrete is not good at that.
Coeur d'Alene averages 735 mm of rain a year, and it is the swing between the wet and dry parts of that total, not the total itself, that moves a footing.
What you can do without spending much
- Get roof water away from the wall - extensions on downspouts are the cheapest intervention there is
- Keep the soil moisture around the perimeter even rather than swinging wet to bone dry
- Watch tree roots close to the footing, which draw moisture out of one side only
- Mark and date crack ends, then photograph them each season
Housing age tells you what the original footing detail is likely to be.