It is very cold out. The hazards of freezing pipes is widely known and most-likely precautions should have been taken months ago. But sub-zero temperatures affect your foundation as well.
In these temperatures, the soil around your foundation freezes, and when it freezes it pushes up against your foundation walls and can cause additional foundation cracks and movement. Especially in winters like this where there is no snow. Snow actually insulates the soil so it doesn't freeze as deep. So with these temperatures and no snow, we are going to have a deep deep freeze which is going to cause more foundations to crack.
On very cold and windy days you may feel like your house is never warm. In fact, you may feel drafts coming in from every where. Look first at in your basement. you may have tie rods that are leaking air. Those are the little metal rods that go through your foundation, they look like dimples. Also, foundation cracks and pipe penetrations can leak air, along with around bulkheads. All these little bits of air that are coming in can add up to having a window open. If you can address those, you are going to help your home to be a little bit warmer.
You can protect your house in a hard freeze like this, you cannot cheap out on heating your house, keep the heat where it should be. If there are areas that you know of that are prone to freezing, you may want to open up your faucet and let the water drip, also you can open up your cabinets under the sink or vanity to allow the warm air under there to help stop your pipes from freezing.
For more information or tips, contact A1 Foundation Crack Repair.