Expansive Soil And Foundation Cracks Video
VIDEO SUMMARY
When the soil starts to dry out, the clay soil will contract, creating large cracks in the ground. This can spell big problems for your foundation if you have a shallow foundation on a garage or room addition or if your house is built on a slab. These soil settlement cracks indicate that the soil is extremely dry. This can lead to the cracks in your foundation.
To cure this, the soil down about two feet needs to receive water. The water has to get down to the bottom soil quickly. Use an auger to drill holes 2 feet on center and 2 feet from the house all around the house. This will allow rain or garden hose water to travel down into the soil without getting side tracked by the grass and flowers.
Once the holes are drilled, fill them with grounded small, pea gravel. Fill the hole all the way with the gravel. Use your garden hose to fill the hole with water. You will be amazed at how much water the hole will hold.
These holes and gravel will get the water down into the soil and get it moisture. This reduced the ground shrinkage and helps prevent those foundation cracks.
COMMENTS
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Joseph Oddei 07 Oct 2008, 04:05
i think this is a laudable idea but what about swelling as water gets into
it. Can it affect the foundation? or shd there be limit to water ingress
that should be based on its natural moisture content, which should be
determined during ground investigation? thanks
Mike Bernard 07 Oct 2009, 16:44
please do not recommend to people to "wet" the expansive clay beneath their
home. This is antiquated thinking, and does not work. Instead, FIX the
clay with an ion-exchange fluid, injected into the clay. it will rob the
clay of its electrical charge, permanently. The clay will not attract
water, and movement will stop. THEN permanent repairs can be made. We
have been manufacturing this technology for 40 years.
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