My Own Homes Foundation - Texas

[imported_John Smith]

Looks like my own home is starting to become a casualty of our Houston drought. I have one door to a closet that wont close now, some cracked floor tiles in the general vicinity, and a very small crack in the ceiling, as well as a diagonal crack above a door frame that is tight, and ~2" in length.

I have started watering my foundation (post tensioned slab) with a soaker hose for the past few weeks.

What do you think my chances are of the house returning to its original position with some soaking and (hopefully rain, forecast at 3 to 4" possibly this weekend).

I have a water bed (Austin Powers - Yeah Baby) in the room where the movement is visible. Any chance this could be contributing? I think so, but was interested in others opinions. For what its worth, my home doesnt have gutters, however it does have pretty good grading. Built in later 70's.

[Randy Mayo]

The Texas drought has taken place over several months so 100's if not 1000's of gallons of water has evaporated from under and around your foundation. Total reversal, if possible, will take a significant amount of time and water. To answer your question about the water bed. The answer is it could be a factor. I would suggest you draw a plan view of your foundation and accurately map out all the cracks and floor elevations. This information will help you decide if the foundation settlement in under the slab or in a specific area. Armed with this information an engineer and/or an experienced foundation contractor could point you in the right direction.

[imported_John Smith]

Thanks Randy. Im guessing 1000s of gallons. It has been extremely dry this year. As bad as I ever remember it. My driveway is really looking bad.

The attached photos are of a new home I did in the Woodlands at its one year anniversary. The couple that bought it did it right (except for hiring phase inspections) and had a very reputable PE that is considered a subject matter expert on foundations (published articles and such). Their house had foundation issues ~6 months after they bought it. They used my report to get the builder to hire another PE to evaluate the foundation. End result, they ended up putting gutters on the house which seemed to eliminate the problem. Builder ended up doing the repair work to the floor tiles, sheetrock etc.

Im still leaning towards the water bed as causing or at least contributing to the differential settlement. Mucho weight.

[Rick Hurst]

A waterbed exerts about the same amount of weight in pounds per square inch as a refrigerator. So thats not your problem.

If you have only been watering with a soaker hoses for only the past few weeks, then I'd say there's your problem lies. You can't wait till there is a issue to start a watering program.

rick