House Foundation Question

[jshallen]

North Raleigh has chimney foundation issues lol

There are pockets of cary with bad soils just like any other area in the triangle. I can tell you which ones are the worst but it may hurt some egos

[J. Trent Hicks]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

Clay soil affects old homes, new homes, and middle-aged homes, all around the Triangle.

As the engineer I had out last summer explained it, the expansion and contraction of the clay during the extreme drought of 2007 opened a lot of cracks that had never been seen before.

Excellent post, Mike!

The soil problem in this area is in the amount of CHANGE in the moisture content of the clay. If you can maintain a constant moisture reading, your footings and foundation will be stable. Either keep it wet or keep it dry, but keep it within an acceptable range to accommodate expansion and contraction.

As crazy as this may sound, we have had success in creating planting beds around the perimeter of homes and provide either rain barrel drip lines/underground irrigation/or strategically placed soaker hoses to keep your plantings and foundation happy in dry months.

[jshallen]

As crazy as this may sound, we have had success in creating planting beds around the perimeter of homes and provide either rain barrel drip lines/underground irrigation/or strategically placed soaker hoses to keep your plantings and foundation happy in dry months.


this is what they do in texas and oklahoma...the only places with more expansive clay than NC. some people even have drip systems in the crawlspace.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by jshallen

As crazy as this may sound, we have had success in creating planting beds around the perimeter of homes and provide either rain barrel drip lines/underground irrigation/or strategically placed soaker hoses to keep your plantings and foundation happy in dry months.


this is what they do in texas and oklahoma...the only places with more expansive clay than NC. some people even have drip systems in the crawlspace.

I moved here from Portland and lived in an old house. We wanted to keep water away from the foundation as much as possible. So this idea of soaker hoses has me baffled. I know .... different place so different rules.

But can you explain how to keep your foundation happy in dry months? Do I just need to run an under ground soaker line from my rain barrel to my shrubs by my foundation? And what exactly does this do for my foundation?

Thanks for the info.

[J. Trent Hicks]

The goal is to keep the moisture content of the soil around the footings/foundation as consistent as possible. Extremes in moisture either too wet or too dry causes soil expansion and contraction and creates movement. By keeping the moisture levels constant, movement is minimized.