Soil testing… An expensive yet necessary evil…

Well, that’s how we often view it, right? But what is soil testing? Do we actually know why we need to have our soil tested before we can start building anything on our land?

Soil testing is a requirement, whether you’re building a house or a commercial building. If you have bought a house and land package the block will have been soil tested.

Why Soil Testing is so Important?

First of all, the local council won’t allow you to build anything in Australia without soil testing. This is fundamental to every build.

We need soil testing to identify what type of subsoil is present in your house and land package block. It will eventually give you an idea whether your foundations are suitable. Soil testing is actually a preventive measure. It is required so that every construction has suitable foundations and proper engineering.

Engineers and builders or contractors will have a better idea of what type of subsoil is present. And they will act accordingly in building an appropriate foundation for the structure. You see, catastrophes could have been prevented, had older buildings been soil tested prior to building.

Soil testing also allows contractors to see if the soil type will pose a danger to the foundations. It’s especially needed during drought years. As the subsoil dries out, the structure of the subsoil expands and contracts. These movements can occur in the house’s foundations.

One likelihood why a house’s foundation gets damaged over time is because of the high amounts of iron sulfides. Iron sulfides can alter and damage both concrete and metal over time.

So, why soil testing, you ask? In other words, it provides necessary information on what you’re really building on. It will also dictate what the foundations need in the way of engineering.