Watering the foundation? Halp!

[Knoxtnhorn 5991]

So as some may recall from the Realtor thread from Shaggy, my wife, kids, and I moved back to Dallas (Rowlett) this past summer.  The house we purchased had a near-perfect inspection.  One of the inspector's notes stated something about watering the foundation.  Assuming this mostly just meant during times of drought, I kind of ignored the recommendation.  Several months later - and a few cracks along the ceiling and walls - and here I am. 

Quick note.  We do have a lifetime warranty on the foundation and had a guy from the company come by and take a look.  He said that there was nothing out of the ordinary per the cracks.  We've since painted over them.

Sorry for the tl;dr.  So my question is, what, exactly am I supposed to do as a homeowner in this area when it comes to watering the foundation?  In TN, this was never a suggestion or issue.  I did a couple of google searches and came across one suggestion (from a foundation company website) that instructed one to water the foundation 2 hours a day; five days a week.  That sounds a tad excessive.  But, again, I'm coming from a position of complete ignorance on the subject.

I was going to surround the house with "soaker hoses" as that seems to be an obvious step.  But, assuming I get them set up, how often do I water and for how long?

Thanks in advance.

[Chilly Water 415]

If you see a gap between the soil and your foundation, you need to water. Last summer I ran them for about 4-6 hours 1-2 times per week

[Jkwellborn 6704]

Damn, I’m just glad to see you got out of the ghetto.

[woohorn 1131]

What type of foundation? Is soil there heavy clay?

[William_Cannon 86]

What type of foundation? Is soil there heavy clay?

This. You need to know what the soil is like to know how much expansion and contraction to expect with changes in moisture content.

[AngryBevo 20]

Watering might be a bit much but not by a whole lot, the goal being to keep the dirt around the foundation constant.  Those wall cracks are going to pop back up if all you did was paint it.

[baboso 6056]

Rowlett is dense black clay.

[thunderlounge 7854]

I was using soaker hoses around mine as well, with heavy clay. It works, but you end up having to replace the hoses fairly often if you don’t have landscaping all the way around. 

I’m considering switching over to micro sprinklers, as I can bury the main line to keep it out of the sun. I can also use a length of pvc in the ground to hold each sprinkler, which would allow for the 1/4” connection to stay out of the sun as well.

Not sure if this is what I’ll end up doing, but it’s certainly high on the list of options right now. 

 

Another option would be a full sprinkler system, but that seems like overkill and unless you set up a specific foundation zone then you’ll overwater a lot of stuff in the process.

 

If your problem is severe then you would need to water a lot (and often) until it is back to normal. If you can start from a normal position then it shouldn’t take near as much to keep it there. 

 

[Catpfish 618]

My sprinkler system has a separate foundation zone tied to a moisture sensor.  I think I have a minimum moisture content of 19%.  Once it drop belows that, the sensor will allow the sprinkler system to water via the buried drip lines.  I have two drip lines buried 2 feet out from the slab and then 1' and 2' down.

[RD3 64]

Can you just take a leak outside and you're cool?  Asking for a friend.

[Catpfish 618]

Just have to work your way around the foundation to keep it somewhat uniform.  Really sucks if you have to walk into the wind.

[Pom 14]

Pretty much all North Texas soils move, Rowlett is one of the worst.  If a neighborhood has mail boxes out by the curb that are encased in brick and the brick is leaning, keep moving.