Monument Foundation and Basement Repair

Foundation Concerns in Monument's Snowier Climate

Monument sits about 20 miles north of Colorado Springs on I-25, up near the Palmer Divide. At around 7,000 feet, it gets noticeably more snow than the city to the south, and that snow sits on the ground longer. When it melts, a lot of water soaks into the soil right next to basement walls, often in spring when the ground is still partly frozen and drains poorly.

Many Monument homes are newer and built on large, wooded lots. That brings its own set of foundation questions. Trees close to the house can dry out soil in summer and shade it in winter, so one side of a foundation may stay wetter or colder than the other. Long driveways, sloped lots and walkout basements are common too, and the grading around them does not always send water away from the walls. Septic fields, wells and long utility runs on rural-style lots also affect where we can dig, so we plan around them from the start.

Even a younger home can show movement. Backfill around a new foundation settles in the first several seasons, which can create low spots where meltwater pools against the wall. We see cracks at window wells, damp corners in finished basements and slabs that have shifted in garages. Catching those early is usually simpler and less costly than waiting for the problem to grow. Common fixes include crack injection, window well drains, regrading the backfill and extending downspouts well past the foundation. For homes on the north side of the Divide, a little drainage work now can save a lot of trouble after the next big snow year.