What Does Your Home Sit On?

Do you ever walk onto your lawn and wonder what is below the "ground?" Your home rests upon many different layers of soil, each with different thicknesses and abilities to hold the weight of your home. they were formed or deposited there thousands and thousands of years ago when the earth was formed. Some layers were carried and deposited by water, some by wind, and some by glaciers. Some layers may have been put under your home by your home builder, who commonly moves soil to create flat, buildable lots of land.

 

Soil layers get stronger with depth. Near the surface you will find the 

shallow layer that is organic, making it easy for plants and other vegetation 

to grow. Below the top layer, you may find layers of sandy, silty or clayey 

soils, depending upon wher you live and how the soil got there. Deep below 

these layers is a soil of layer of bedrock, which is rock or very stable, dense soil.

 

 

Not only do different soils have different properties, they also look different.

 

Two common soil types are sand and clay. Sand-Moisture does not have a big effect on sandy soil. When it rains, the water usually passes through the sand very quickly. When sand gets wet it doesn't expand in size, and when it is dry it doesn't sink. Clay-the problem soil! When clay is wet, it holds onto the water and expands in size. When it is dry, it shrinks.