Wednesday, October 7, 2015

How to Water the foundation of your house



Watering the foundation of the house is one of the major causes of foundation problems. It is important to understand what happens to the soils under the house when you water and when you dont. When watering the foundation we need to know how far away from the house, how much water to use, and what happens when you don't water at all.


how far away from the house should I water my foundation?
You should water the soils around the foundation and put soaker hoses or drip lines two feet away from the house. Do not water the foundation directly this can create a soils shift under the house and create expensive foundation repair problems. The soils should slope away from the house if you have cracked soils and soils separating from the foundation you should fill them with top soils and make sure the soils are sloping away from the house.


how much water to use on the soils around the house?
After you make sure the soils slope away from the house, you should keep the soils moist, and never soak the soils. Yes, I understand that a soaker hose was recommended, but that is just the name of the hose. The right technique for your foundation maintenance is to water enough to keep the grass green. If you have too much water you can risk the fact that the soils can swell and push the house up. The problem with pushing the house with water is that the problem becomes a lot worst.


what happens when you don't water at all?
When you don't water at all the house can drop because the moist from under the house escapes through the cracked soils. Because the soils are mostly clay when the moist escapes the soils tempt to shrink.