Is Your Home On Solid Ground?

Conducting a soil analysis provides a clear understanding of the differences in soil and the extensive damage that occurs over the years of foundation failure. Soil analyses are typically used whenever repairs or renovations are occurring that require the property to be thoroughly examined to determine how extensive the foundation repair is. There are numerous advantages to having a soil analysis done for both residential and commercial foundation repair that could prevent costly damages.

What Is A Soil Analysis?

A soil analysis is performed by commercial labs that offer extensive testing, targeting particular groups of compounds and minerals. They allow scientific information to be revealed about the composition of elements the soil is comprised of. Laboratory tests, foundation repair, typically check for plant nutrients in 3 categories: Major nutrients, Secondary nutrients, and Minor nutrients—soil analysis.

How Can A Soil Analysis Prevent Property Damage?

Soil analysis is usually a requirement for building permits to check if a foundation repair is needed. During construction a soil engineer is required to do more extensive testing to ensure the subsurface soil conditions are compatible with the initial investigation to modify if necessary. The ability of soil testing allows homeowners and business owners alike to understand the potential dangers of their foundation. Many aren’t prepared to deal with the hazardous lifestyle of living on a hillside that cause intense winter rains.

Fertilizers are an important factor when determining to try to prevent foundation failure—soil testing provides essential information on what base fertilizer is best for your property. Choosing to under-fertilize can seem to be a cost-effective idea, but it’s extremely detrimental for your property’s foundation in the long-run and can be far more costly than effectively fertilizing.

Soil testing monitors pH and nutrient levels in turf and landscape soils.

Soil analysis helps the customization of fertility programs.

Soil testing promotes a healthy and flourishing landscape.

What Are The Advantages Of Soil Testing?

Soil provides an abundance of resources that are required for a healthy landscape or a sustainable small garden. Soil testing provides essential information to understand the elements within your soil and which fertilizer is potentially best for your soil combination. The difference between deciding to test your soil and leaving it untreated could potentially lead to costly repairs, like drainage services or other severe property damage that ultimately takes away from property value. Testing your soil is especially if you’re thinking about the following:

Growing a garden: An extensive soil analysis will provide comprehensive data about your property to know the best sections to plant in. Understanding the density in certain nutrients in your garden allows you to yield the best vegetables—finding potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium in your soil is optimal for planting a garden.

Farming:Similar to testing a garden, farming requires testing the soil for safety purposes to ensure you’re growing a healthy harvest. The importance of soil testing in crop production is imperative to providing safe foods and abiding by regulations and standards for farming—the nutrients provided that would be lost from dangerous chemicals.

Playing area: If you’re thinking about constructing a playing area for children, as a parent it’s best to take preventive measures through soil testing to ensure the area is free of hazardous amounts of things like arsenic and lead that can cause potentially fatal impairments and even death, depending on the period of exposure and the level of toxicity in the soil.

How To Test Your Soil

There a home soil kits available at nearly all garden centers that come equipped with vials and tablets to test the soil effectively, and a chart to interpret the results accurately. To prepare a soil sample to send for a soil analysis make sure to have a clean bucket, gardening trowel, and a clean plastic container to ensure the sample isn’t mixed with another substance.

Thoroughly clean the tools.

Dig five holes at least 6-8 inches deep in the planting area

Take ½-inch soil along the side of the hole and place it in the bucket, repeat this step 5 times.

Be sure to collect the samples from different areas that are growing similar plants.

Thoroughly mix the soil in the bucket and carefully spread it onto a newspaper to dry. After drying completely, collect a pint for the sample.