root barriers
Foundation Repair and the Drought-5 Tips for Homeowners
Droughts are hard on the home foundation, no question about it.
I was looking at a map from the US National Weather Service that showed almost a third of the country in drought conditions that range from “excessively dry” to “exceptional drought.” Not good.
And to make matters worse, many areas included in the drought also have homes built on shrink/swell heavy clay soils. That means when the soils dry out, house foundations start moving, usually dropping.
Things the homeowner will start to notice are cracks in the sheet rock inside and in brick veneers outside. Doors and windows that don’t work the way they used to and are supposed to, and in the worst cases, floors starting to slope.
It’s happening again at my house too.
Extended dry conditions like this provide plenty of work for foundation repair companies, but what about the homeowner?
Here are 5 Foundation Repair Issues To Be Aware Of
Replacing Lost Moisture Under the Foundation
Another thing Tom the Contractor suggested for reversing the loss of moisture under my slab foundation after the root barriers were installed was to rehydrate the soil. That’s a fancy word for squirting water into the dirt under the house.
One of his crew went all around the foundation with machine similar to a power washer with a plunger attachment. A garden hose was attached and the plunger was pushed a good three feet deep into the soil every 24 inches or so. A valve on the handle controlled the flow of water.
Between the rehydration treatment and a better soaker hose configuration we are getting moisture back into that clay soil.
UPDATE: This was probably not needed given the slab leak that was discovered a few years later.
Installing Root Barriers
The structural engineer who inspected my concrete slab foundation recommended tree root barriers be installed to stop foundation settlement due to loss of moisture in the clay soil that my home sits on. The thinking is that trees can suck a lot of water from under a foundation and contribute to the shrinking of clay soils which in turn causes differential movement of the slab. You see the results with cracks in sheet rock, separation of trim, doors and windows that stick or uneven floors. You know, bad stuff in the house.
Yesterday the contractor and his merry band of shovelers and ax wielders arrived, took out shrubs and put in root barriers. Please indulge me and read about it here. Thanks.