Texas Engineers Talk About Roots and Foundation Repair
Given the amount of concrete foundation repair that happens in the Lone Star State, the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers has published a set of guidelines for the evaluation and repair of residential foundations.
The document includes a couple of paragraphs regarding the effects of trees and shrubs near the foundation: (more…)
Tree Roots & Foundation Damage Part Deux
While some Texas concrete foundation repair companies tell us that trees living too close to the house can cause major foundation problems there is a pretty famous garden and landscape expert in the Dallas area who begs to differ.
I’ve heard him say as much on his radio show and the following represents a typical Q&A: (more…)
Foundation Repair and Tree Roots
It doesn’t take a genius to see that tree roots can do bad things to sidewalks. Like turn a section of one into a skateboard ramp.
These are photos of oak tree vs. sidewalks in my neighborhood.
In some cases, the tree roots are winning. In other stretches of the sidewalks you can see slumping as the soil underneath erodes or settles.
The question is can tree roots do damage like this to the concrete slab foundation of your house? There seems to be a debate. (more…)
The Soaker Hose Samba For Your House Foundation
It’s that time of year again in Texas where the heat becomes relentless and the sun sucks moisture out of the soil faster than I can drain a Shiner Bock.
It’s not a bad idea to have the soaker hoses running around your concrete slab foundation if it sits on elastic clay soil like mine does.
Twenty five years ago I was a young disc jocky spinning tunes on the radio in St. Louis. Hats off to you if you remember KLSQ. I landed a new gig that brought me to Dallas.
Upon learning that I was moving to Texas, one of my soon to be ex-coworkers said, “I hear that when you buy a house, you’ll need to water your foundation.” (more…)
Local Man Gets Foundation Repair
His name is Dennis and he lives down the street from me. I was coming back from an errand and drove past his house.
All the tell-tale signs of a concrete foundation repair job in progress were there. Piles of dirt, piles of pilings, piles of caps.
I went home, grabbed my digital camera, walked back down the street and knocked on Dennis’ door to get the story. (more…)