Send rain away from the house
- Soil ought to tilt outward from all four walls. Where a trench has formed against the slab, top it up, stopping short of the first brick course.
- Fit gutters if you have none, and clean them before hurricane season.
- Lengthen each downspout until it empties well clear of the wall, on a downhill patch.
- Do not let bed edging, walks or a neighbour's fill dam water against the slab.
- Route the air conditioner's condensate drain away from the wall.
Watering during drought
When clay dries it shrinks from the slab, and a gap appears along the foundation. Slow watering near the edge keeps the soil from drying out completely. Most people lay a soaker hose a little way off the concrete and run it until the earth is moist, never soupy. Water all sides, not only the one with the crack.
Corpus Christi's drought rules treat foundations separately from lawns. Under the city's Stage 1 rules, soaker hoses and drip tubing are permitted for foundations one day weekly, on the day assigned to your address, and a hand-held hose with a shut-off nozzle may be used any day before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Tighter stages cut this back, and the stage changes with reservoir levels, so glance at the banner on the city website ahead of programming any timer.
On the sandy soils of Flour Bluff, the islands, Aransas Pass and Rockport, watering the foundation does little. Drainage is the part that matters there.
Trees and beds
Big oaks and palms drink heavily. In clay, the flank of the house nearest the trunk parches ahead of the others. You do not have to remove a healthy tree. Water the soil between tree and house during dry spells, and ask an arborist about a root barrier if an inspection ties movement to the tree.
Removing a big tree has its own effect: the clay it kept dry rewets and swells over the following seasons. Mention any tree taken out in recent years when you speak with a foundation company.
Pier and beam houses
- Keep crawl space vents open and clear of soil and plants.
- Make sure no water stands under the house after rain.
- Fix plumbing drips promptly. Damp timber rots.
- Look under the house once a year for fallen shims, leaning piers or sagging insulation.
Keep a simple record
Twice a year, at the end of summer and the end of spring, walk the house with your phone. Photograph each known crack beside a ruler, note which doors bind, and check how far the earth has pulled back from the concrete. Pencil a short line and the date at the tip of any crack you are watching.
A log that marches one way, wider every visit, is your cue to phone. A log that breathes in and out with the weather but ends each year where it began is reassuring news.
Ready for someone to measure the house?
Dial the number and say what you have noticed. A foundation repair firm covering your part of the Coastal Bend answers, books a visit, and afterward sends its report and price under its own name. That firm is a separate business from this website.
Wall, ceiling or floor shifting while you watch? Gas in the air? Get everybody outdoors, then phone 911 or the gas utility.
House foundations only
Call (361) 217-1905Corpus Christi Foundation Repairs refers callers and repairs nothing itself. Calls may be recorded. Details: referral disclosure.