The weather is scorching, the ground is shrinking and foundations are cracking.
Sounds about right for Texas.
Although there have been sporadic showers from time to time, nobody's home foundation is being spared by relentless heat and the dry soil. You would be wise to spend some money on water, to prevent expensive problems in the future.
"The soil shrinks just like a sponge would," said Genaro Silva, owner of Expert Foundation Repair. "Just like a sponge when it gets real, real dry, as soon as there's a bunch of water in its presence it just sucks up all the water immediately and expands so that that you get that contraction and that expansion real quick and you're going to have a lot of issues with the piers moving and the beams moving." It all puts pressure on the foundation and the walls and the cracks start.
Watering the foundation is a Texas trick that dates back generations. Yet many don't do it right.
"When the soil shrinks away from the perimeter, do not pour water with a hose down the crack." Silva warns. "That goes right to the piers and it softens the soil in the piers and it causes the house to drop.
Still, no matter how many keep their foundations watered, there will be problems. While it can be welcome work for foundation workers, it's also presenting headaches. The foundation repair business is subject to the same labor-shortage problems as other industries. Poaching seasoned workers is hardly unheard of as the scorching summer drags on.
"A lot of these construction sites have fencing, not to keep people away from the materials, but to keep other contractors from getting on the site and trying to lure away your workers."
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