What You Need to Know About Frost Quakes and Frost Heave in Illinois

Did you hear some loud booms or notice small shaking in your home when the temperatures bottomed out in Illinois recently? It's likely you experienced a frost quake.

What Is a Frost Quake?

While I was cozied up on the couch watching a Christmas movie on Saturday night I heard a couple loud bangs that completely freaked me out.

At first I panicked and thought a water pipe burst in the brutal cold or that one of my sleeping children had fallen violently out of bed. I ran around checking all the pipes and children and then I remembered one important thing...it was probably a frost quake.

READ MORE: 4 Crucial Car Checks for IL Drivers This Winter

If you've never heard the term frost quake or cryoseism before, here's a simple explanation:

When the ground is wet and temperatures plunge suddenly, the moisture in the soil freezes and expands. The expansion causes the ground, or your home's foundation, to shift which can cause loud cracks or booms that sound like an explosion, a gunshot, or something crashing into your house.

Frost quakes can sound really scary, but thankfully, their bark is usually far worse than their bite.

Can Homes Be Damaged by Frost Quakes?

In the grand scheme of winter things, frost quakes aren't the ones we need to worry about the most, because they aren't usually powerful enough to cause major damage. Frost heaving, though? That's a problem. Especially for our driveways, roads, and sidewalks.

According to an article from Barrier Waterproofing Systems:

Moisture in the earth expands as the ground freezes, causing the concrete foundation above to heave. When the earth thaws, the soil shrinks, causing settling in the upper foundation. The freeze-thaw cycle can also generate upward suction during the winter, causing more water to accumulate near the foundation and placing additional strain on the concrete. These problems might cause the foundation to sag, sink, and crack.

 How To Prevent Frost Heave and Frost Quake Damage

Unfortunately, we can't prevent the weather from continually freezing and thawing during winter in Illinois, but we can help ease a little of the strain on our home's foundation by:

• Improving water drainage around our home
• Insulating foundation walls and pipes
• Sealing leaks and existing cracks
• Replacing the soil around the foundation so it's more porous.

Illinois is set to warm up over the next few days, but you can bet that temps will bottom out again sooner rather than later. Better prepare your home, and your nerves, for more frost quakes and frost heaves ahead.