While it is found in many areas of the United States, much of Texas is home to expansive soil. Many homes in the Dallas Fort Worth area are built on this expansive soil that is heavy with clay. While this soil seems pretty sturdy, it comes with a unique issue when it comes to foundations. When the clay is wet, it swells. When the clay is dry, it shrinks. This is why on some hot Texas summer days, you can actually see the soil pulling away from your foundation. What does this mean for your foundation?
What the swelling and shrinking of expansive soil means is that shifting is a regular occurrence. Any shifting is bad news for a foundation, which is why we try to limit it as much as possible. In the wet seasons, drainage solutions are employed to keep the soil nearest your foundation from becoming too swollen with water. However, too few consider the shrinking in summer a problem.
In truth, if you see the soil pulling away from your foundation during the dry season, it is not necessarily something you should panic about. It is, however, something you should do something about. Just like you employ drainage in the wet seasons, you should employ moisture when the soil is too dry. If you do actually see the soil pulling away, it is recommended that you water the foundation with a hose to introduce some more moisture. This helps limit the extreme shifting that can happen as the soil switches from dry to wet.
Do you have a home built on expansive soil? It may not mean you have foundation problems yet, but you do need to monitor your foundation more closely than other homeowner’s might. Contact us today to see what Steady House Foundation Repair can do to keep your home on a steady foundation.