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Many people think and believe that since the hot days of summer are here that watering is a futile attempt to save the green grass in the yard. And since water, like most everything else, appears to be increasing in price, most decide to save their hard earned dollars and put the money back in their pockets until the cooler weather arrives. After all, all we have to loose is the green grass…..right? WRONG!!!! As you can see in the attached pictures, when the watering stops, the ground around your house becomes as dry as a desert and begins to shrink, crack, and pull away from the one thing that your home is built on…“The Foundation”. Even though you may save the money on watering the grass in one pocket, it’s leaving your other pocket with interest attached, to pay for foundation repairs due to loosing its support around the exterior from not watering.

To help avoid problems with your foundation, I recommend that you set up a regular watering regiment with soaker hoses around you home, year round. I know that some people say, “that’s okay, I have a sprinkler system and don’t need to waste money on soaker hoses.” This is one of the largest mistakes you can make as a homeowner. When watering with a lawn sprinkler system, you typically only have each circuit on about 15 to 20 minutes, which only soaks about 1 inch into the ground. With soaker hoses, you place the hoses at least 12 to 36 inches away from the foundation, completely around the exterior of you home on the grass or dirt, and turn the hoses on for several hours since they only ooze from the hose wall. By doing this, the water soaks 6 to 12 inches into the ground and toward the foundation. Check the ground after 1 hour and see how the water has wicked it’s way over toward the foundation. After the ground is moist completely to the foundation all of the way around the house, turn off the water until you notice that the ground is beginning to dry out again in 3 or 4 days.

Follow this watering regiment year round to help keep the soil from cracking and pulling away from the foundation. If left un-touched, foundation issues will most certainly prevail. If you have any questions regarding this or any other issues on your home, please feel free to contact us today!