For the first time in a long time, (my wife would say first time ever) I (David) have been bitten by the gardening bug. Now if you know me you also know that I do not consider myself to have a green thumb. Still I am trying to raise some vegetables in containers in my back yard. Nothing major, just a few tomato plants and the like.
What’s interesting is all the material I am reading tells me that plants love rain water much more than tap water because it does not contain chlorine and it is naturally soft. All over the Web I am seeing information on how to capture and store rainwater for later use. This has me constantly looking at the skies wondering when it is going to rain. I would love to collect some rainwater if only it would rain, even a little bit. Consequently, I have come face to face with the fact that Texas is in a drought, a fact that I suppose I always knew but I never really gave much thought to since I have an automatic sprinkler system to keep my yard green. But, since I would like to water my plants with rain water I am beginning to realize the severity of the drought we are experiencing.
I started doing some research. Here is some of what I found out. March of this year was the driest March on record in the state of Texas since records have been kept, and 98% of the state is under moderate to exceptional (the most severe level) drought conditions. What’s worse the forecast is for the drought conditions are predicted to persist or intensify. In other words it’s dry and likely to stay that way for a while. Here is a website where you can find additional information on drought conditions throughout the US. http://www.drought.gov/portal/server.pt/community/forecasting/209.
So, what does that have to do with your home? Extremely dry weather can have a negative effect on more that your yard and plants. It can have a negative effect on your home’s foundation. The reason is the type of soil we have here on the gulf coast has a high clay content. Referred to as an “active soil”, when this type of soil gets wet it expands and when it dries out it contracts. This shrinking and swelling cycle can raise and lower your home’s foundation which over time can cause it to fail. (Side note: It’s also not very good for growing vegetables.)
There are things that you can do to help prevent foundation problems. Marc Frelich, owner of Eagle Engineering and Inspections, is a Registered Professional Engineer whom many of our clients use to inspect homes and foundations. He recommends the following basic steps to properly maintain your foundation:
1. Provide a landscape watering program to supplement the natural rainfall in order to maintain optimal soil moisture levels around the residence. Since adding water to the soil adjacent to the foundation every day during the summer months can become a very tedious task, an automated landscape watering program can be very beneficial.
2. Keep large roots from beneath the foundation. Trees are very thirsty.
3. Maintain a positive drainage pattern around the entire residence. Make sure soils around the foundation are sloped away from the edge of the slab, and that rain gutter discharge or other concentrated flows do not pond or erode soil around the foundation. A slope of at least four inches in the first six feet away from the foundation is recommended.
Additional information about foundation performance and maintenance can be found here http://www.foundationperformance.org/Projects/FPA-SC-07-0.pdf.
In the case of foundation maintenance, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having a foundation repaired can be very expensive. In addition, a cracked slab can cause other problems such as plumbing leaks, increasing the cost of repairs. So turn those sprinklers on and keep those foundations watered. One last hint: Keep the spray from the sprinklers directed away from the bricks. Because of the minerals in the water, over time the spray it will leave a white residue that cannot be removed. This is particularly a problem for dark colored brick.
Blog Contribution by David Rozier-The RozierTeam
Broker Associate, MBA, ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR
281-395-0680
