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The question is, do I get gutters or do I take this one time treatment (from company ads I've heard on local TV) that will support the slab on this clay soil? I'd prefer to not have to clean gutters, myself, but that's me...
If this is just at outside of slab then its called stabilizing and is not like reams thru put the salb., You still want to control flooding especially at edges next to slab. That is why even during draught you want to place watering about 18 inches from slab edge.If done when slab was poured they would ahve unreamed the slab to prescibed depth thruout the slab at just at edges.
My first question would be-
Is there anything wrong with the slab now?
How old is the slab? If it's not that old it maybe a PTC (Post-Tension Cable) slab. And I certainly wouldn't want some jack-leg outfit screwing with something that ain't broke!
Cleaning gutters is a Helluva lot cheaper than having to repair a slab- welcome to home ownership.
Be penny wise, and not pound foolish!
Before anybody can give you any kind of answer you're going to need to give up more info. Where is the house? What is the PI of the soil? What manner are they going to "treat" the foundation- piers, mud injection,? Most often an engineer will require guttering to carry away any water from the foundation but that also includes drainage issues around the house. There needs to be at least a one foot drop from the slab out ten feet or expect issues. You'll also need to water the foundation in the summer time. Soaker hoses are yer friend. In most areas 2 hours per side of slab per week gets it. You can control how dry it gets under the slab by watering but you can't always control how wet it gets, as in some of our downpours here. Look at the clay soils in Texas as a big sponge. When it dries, it shrinks. When it gets wet it swells. By watering you are limiting the shrinkage/movement. In high PI soil areas in Texas you can have up to 16" of vertical displacement or in easier terms, your house can be moving up and down from the driest to the wettest periods up to 16". In high PI areas you'll also note that the streets are more like roller coasters and in a lot of areas the curbs are no longer straight and it looks like a drunk monkey put the street in. It's due to the expansion and contraction of the clay soils. Imagine what it's doing under yer house. But not all foundation systems are created equal. Make sure to research any system before buying off on one. AVOID the steel ones as the acids in our soils turns the steel to mush in a few years.
Now just what are they offering and what warranty?
My first question would be-
Is there anything wrong with the slab now?
How old is the slab? If it's not that old it maybe a PTC (Post-Tension Cable) slab. And I certainly wouldn't want some jack-leg outfit screwing with something that ain't broke!
Cleaning gutters is a Helluva lot cheaper than having to repair a slab- welcome to home ownership.
Be penny wise, and not pound foolish!
It's about fourteen years old. So far, no problems, but the wife is concerned. She want's to get gutters in a bad way because she is concerned that sprinklers will damage the slab.
Before anybody can give you any kind of answer you're going to need to give up more info. Where is the house? What is the PI of the soil? What manner are they going to "treat" the foundation- piers, mud injection,? Most often an engineer will require guttering to carry away any water from the foundation but that also includes drainage issues around the house. There needs to be at least a one foot drop from the slab out ten feet or expect issues. You'll also need to water the foundation in the summer time. Soaker hoses are yer friend. In most areas 2 hours per side of slab per week gets it. You can control how dry it gets under the slab by watering but you can't always control how wet it gets, as in some of our downpours here. Look at the clay soils in Texas as a big sponge. When it dries, it shrinks. When it gets wet it swells. By watering you are limiting the shrinkage/movement. In high PI soil areas in Texas you can have up to 16" of vertical displacement or in easier terms, your house can be moving up and down from the driest to the wettest periods up to 16". In high PI areas you'll also note that the streets are more like roller coasters and in a lot of areas the curbs are no longer straight and it looks like a drunk monkey put the street in. It's due to the expansion and contraction of the clay soils. Imagine what it's doing under yer house. But not all foundation systems are created equal. Make sure to research any system before buying off on one. AVOID the steel ones as the acids in our soils turns the steel to mush in a few years.
Now just what are they offering and what warranty?
First, can you define "PI" for me? All this is new to me. I can tell you that this clay is relatively hard. If there is a weed, there is no tool I have that can dig it out...
With gutters, we'd probably need to re-do the whole yard, especially in the back yard because it tends to cause a small lake. The front yard tends to flow the water out to the street. The sides are level. And, as I said in another note, the house is thirteen years old. So far, no problems, except for a couple of damaged sprinkler heads.
Texas has several soil types from sand to clay to rock
But generally, in your particular instance I'm sure you're referring to the clay- we called it "Black Gumbo" in E. TX.
Texas has several soil types from sand to clay to rock
But generally, in your particular instance I'm sure you're referring to the clay- we called it "Black Gumbo" in E. TX.
I've done A LOT of digging in it, by hand and machine, and called it many more things than that none of which can be placed in this thread!
Texas has several soil types from sand to clay to rock
But generally, in your particular instance I'm sure you're referring to the clay- we called it "Black Gumbo" in E. TX.
I'm in the Texas Panhandle. It seems to me there are various types of soil in the city as well as in farm land. This clay is pretty tough stuff. There is no way in "heck" that I could use a tool to get rid of a weed, for example.
Looks to me like if there are "ground gutters" so to speak, then we might need them going front and back, but especially the back due to the fact that going to the back fence, it may need to be slanted away from the back of the house. No problem with the front of the house. There are a couple of spots in the front that may need some fill dirt. And I'm guessing the same kind of soil should go there as the stuff in the front yard.
I've done A LOT of digging in it, by hand and machine, and called it many more things than that none of which can be placed in this thread!
LOL! I had a lot of those names for it also.
I buried one of these to the axles one time in that stuff-
It had to sit there for two months before we could get it out!
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