Foundation/House shift

eldemac · Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:49 pm

Hi,

I am in North Central Texas and every year we deal with extremely hot temperatures. The ground cracks and my house apparently shifts to where I have trouble opening and closing the front door. Right now it takes both hands and all my weight to get it closed.

Would a soaker hose underneath the house help with this issue?

Thanks in advance!

Linda · Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:12 am

I did that year before last when it was so dry. Just started this week watering again but I'm having to water deck too my screen door want close. The people from the north and east will tell you to make sure you are level. I just leveled again in the spring so I know it is from the dry and cracking ground we have here in this part of TX. Funny story - I just had shoulder surgery and I came home from rehab tried to open door and I had shut it so hard could not get it open. I had to call my daughter to come over just so she could lean into it and get it open. Nice day to sit on front porch and wait to get into house at 105 and in the sun. Lucky my neighbor has well so I use his water for this at least that leaves $$ for 400. electric bill.

Linda

Greg · Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:51 am

Hi & welcome. Well I guess that must be a reverse frost heave that we have here in the winters.
The only real solution we have here is below frost line footers, I honestly have no idea if a deep footer system would work for you or not. Perhaps others in you area willhave some ideas. Greg

Yanita · Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:52 am

Hi,

Well I am not from your area, LOL, I am in the south east. Anyways I would never recommend watering underneath your home. There are numerous post that give info as to what water evaporation does/can do to the underneath of your home.

Is the door binding in the frame? Or are the striker plates not lining up? Do you have blocking underneath your exterior doors?

I am thinking this is more of a foundation problem than anything. Does your home sit on blocks?

Yanita

eldemac · Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:46 pm

It is on blocks, but this is a seasonal issue. I've been here 8 years and it happens every summer. The extreme heat dries out the ground to where it cracks. Today it is 101 degrees and tomorrow it will be 105. Even with constant watering, if I could afford that and we weren't having to conserve water, there would still be cracking in the ground. It's just what happens here every year and is normal for the type of dirt we have.

I was wondering if there would be issues with water under the house, but with a soaker hose it would only be for an hour or so a day and it would go directly into the ground, it wouldn't be sitting there.

eldemac · Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:11 pm

Linda wrote:I did that year before last when it was so dry. Just started this week watering again but I'm having to water deck too my screen door want close. The people from the north and east will tell you to make sure you are level. I just leveled again in the spring so I know it is from the dry and cracking ground we have here in this part of TX. Funny story - I just had shoulder surgery and I came home from rehab tried to open door and I had shut it so hard could not get it open. I had to call my daughter to come over just so she could lean into it and get it open. Nice day to sit on front porch and wait to get into house at 105 and in the sun. Lucky my neighbor has well so I use his water for this at least that leaves $$ for 400. electric bill.

Linda

Hi, Linda!

Did it help much when you watered? And did you use a soaker hose or how are handling this problem?

Thanks

Linda · Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:43 am

I used a soaker hose and like you said can only use water at limited times so you can't get that much water down there to cause harm. It is all going into to the land it is not going to make a puddle. You could climb under in 30 min. and it would be so dry you never knew that water had been there. This year I'm just putting it on the outside of skirting can't get under the house with just one arm working. Those look like small cracks to some we have in our yard.
Just so everyone knows this is an area specific problem. You can drive 100 or so miles from here in any direction and you will not find this problem. The land we have in this part of Tx has no sand in it it is just hard clay like soil. It will not hold water that is why we have a hard time with flash flooding the land just will not hold water. There is not a stick built home that the foundation is not cracking or has already cracked and been fixed with piers. I would say maybe it is like Greg said we have reverse frost heave but I don't know how far down you would have to pour to keep this from happening. Like I said there is not a house in this area that is not cracking.
Sorry for such long post just trying to explain. I have lived here in this area 58 years and never lived in house that didn't have this problem. From May till Sept. we just have to live with it.

Linda

PS hows the water at Lavon? Joe Pool is still up.

steve · Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:33 am

I built quite a few houses in Texas on GUMBO soil which dries out so bad you need to water it to reduce chance of foundation cracking.
You are correct in using a soaker hose to water the area around your slab. It also helps to remove 3' wide x 2' deep area around your slab and fill with gravel/sand mix. This disapates some of the pressure.

Yanita · Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:18 am

Hi,

I am not disputing the issue here, only about EVAPORATING water into the underbelly of the home. The picture posted clearly shows the issue with the land.

I would however suggest that you put a moisture barrier under your home, 6 mil plastic that covers at least 80% of the ground area.

You could then put your soaker hose under the plastic, this would keep the evaporating moisture under the plastic back into the ground and not to the underbelly of your home.

Yanita