Foundation watering is important for most homeowners. But in Texas, it’s absolutely essential. The summers in this state (especially in Corpus Christi) can be hot and dry, which can take a toll on your foundation. When the soil inside your home doesn’t get enough water, it will dry out (which will affect your foundation). It can put your home’s structural integrity at risk. Some parts of Texas see as much as a 15% shrinkage in soil, which can affect a homeowner’s foundation watering schedule. If you live in any of these areas, you could easily water your foundation on a daily basis.
How Foundation Watering Works
Some homeowners never had to worry about watering their foundations until they moved to states like Texas, but it’s an important consideration because your home’s surrounding soil needs to be stable. Otherwise, it can threaten the integrity of your foundation and increase the risk of damage (which can lead to a large repair expense).
While every foundation is built to be sturdy and well-balanced, it does need support from the soil. The State of Texas (especially Corpus Christi) experiences frequent droughts that can be a major hazard for your foundation. And like many areas of the state, Corpus Christi has clay soil (which makes foundations more susceptible to serious problems).
Dry soil doesn’t offer enough support for your foundation. If there isn’t enough ground support, it will sink unevenly. This issue will put stress on your foundation, but the problems don’t stop when the drought ends because the first rainstorms can flood parts of your home. So, you can see how dry, hot weather can have serious financial consequences when it comes to your home’s foundation. It’s much cheaper to have an irrigation system in place before these problems come up instead of having to deal with them later on.
Questions to Ask Before Watering Your Foundation
To make sure you understand how to water your foundation, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the daily temperature highs in my area?
- What kind of watering system will I be using on my foundation?
- What kind of soil is surrounding my foundation?
- Do I have a watering schedule for other seasons as well?
Be sure to speak to a professional for more information.
Helpful Tips for Watering Your Foundation
Here are some tips on how you can start watering your foundation:
- Pick the Right Time — You should water your foundation when you can see your yard starting to dry up. There should be no gap between the soil and your foundation, which happens when the soil gets too dry.
- Ensure Proper Drainage — An important part of watering your foundation is to make sure the area around your foundation has enough drainage. You want to offset any dryness in the soil, but you don’t want to create muddy (or even soggy) conditions in the soil.
- Grow More Plants — Aside from directly watering your foundation, you can take other steps to improve soil conditions around your foundation by adding some landscaping. This can include planting some shrubs and flowers around your home. Not only do they provide some much-needed shade during the summer months (which can counter the effects of evaporation in the soil), but it will also make it less likely for the soil to erode.
- Use a Drip Hose — You can water your foundation by hand, but it’s not the most ideal solution. You should think about using a drip hose, because it can help you to be consistent and systematic about your foundation watering schedule. Make sure you connect this system to your outdoor faucet with an automatic on/off timer, but drip hoses also have a slower rate of release. So, you may need to water your foundation between 20 and 45 minutes (depending on the soil conditions and water release rate).
Watering your foundation isn’t hard, and you can do it either actively or passively (depending on your equipment and skills). Regardless of your approach, your goal is to moisten the soil around and under your home so it can continue to support the foundation. Keeping it maintained is an important job, but it doesn’t have to be a hard one.
If you’re looking for one of the best places for foundation repair in Corpus Christi to help you answer questions about watering your foundation, be sure to reach out to Streem Foundation Repair. We have a team of people who would be happy to speak with you about your specific needs!