The Basement Active Zone and Why You Need to Know What It Is

When a person hears the word active zone, they think it is a place that has the most activity. They think it is a living room that has constant traffic going through it throught the day. They think it is a kitchen where you cook meals at. They think it is a bedroom where they sleep for hours at a time. These are all common sense answers, but when it comes to house termanology it is all wrong.

What is the active zone

The active zone is all around the outside of your foundation. It is the wedge where the ground was excavated when your foundation was first becoming possible. Then a concrete footer was placed into the ground. Then the floor of your basement was poured on top of the footer. Last the walls of your basement are poured. Once these three steps are accomplished the construction crew will start to fill the whole back in and compact the dirt as tight as possible. The dirt that has been compacted is the active zone for your house.

Why is this important?

The active zone is one of the most important parts of your basement. The dirt that has been compacted as tightly as possible is constantly putting pressure on the wall of your house.

When it starts to rain, the water that comes down can sometimes find a way through the dirt that has been compacted, this is because it has been disturbed and is not as tight as soil that has not been dug up. When the water filters through the holes in the ground, it then rushes into a footing drain, located on the outside of the footer. After several different storms pass through the area, a footing drain can start to clog up with mud. When the drain clogs there is no place for the water to go. It is then sitting in the ground and starting to increase in the amount of water. With all the water sitting against the wall and creating hydrostatic pressure. When this pressure builds up for so long it can start to apply pressure on the wall. When the pressure builds high enough the wall can start to crack and water will flow into your basement causing all kinds of problems for people.

This is why the active zone is so crucial. If one thing goes wrong it can have a slippery slope effect. One problem can lead to many more and if one problem does start it will never get better on its own. You need to take action as soon as possible, before the problem evolves into something much worse.