Winterizing & Summerizing for Snowbirds
This subject comes up often so here is the result of the best reference the archives turned up. It's at: Winterizing house, 10/17/02. cyminn wrote: I don't worry about the heat, but if you do, the...
Forum Discussion
Fizz wrote:rerod wrote:
Ive been told the frost heave could damage the foundation of a home if you turn your heat off.
Never heard of that before, ever.
I have a cottage that we don't use in Winter anymore. We shut down at the end of October and go back early April.
It has no heat all winter, never had a problem, it gets to -30C more often than not. It's been 35 yrs now.
Frost heave is a very real issue, but not one you can make a ‘blanket statement’ over.
There are so many factors involved, full sun, full shade, sun on just one area, dry soil, sand, clay, etc, etc. that can make a huge affect on the whole process.
The frost heave issue arises when there’s a constant freeze / thaw cycle with damp soil, the moisture causes expansion of the soil, the next thaw cycle causes more moisture to fill the voids and the next freeze cycle causes more expansion.
It mostly affects foundations that are more exposed to the atmosphere, like piers or shallow ‘rat walls’.
