Dry Conditions Can Leave Homes On Unstable Foundations

Dry Soil Conditions Can Lead to Settlement

Reprint

Drought years lead to extra settling, cracks in walls

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —The dry weather conditions are causing serious problems with some homes in the Kansas City area.

Dry and clay soil gets even drier during droughts and the lack of moisture is causing an excess of problems.

“It was pretty obvious when someone walked into the room that there was a problem,” said resident Cindy Geir.”The door was just hard to open and close, and some of the windows wouldn’t open anymore.”

Small cracks and other problems inside the home can mean some major repairs outside.

The foundation in Cindy Geir’s home sank up to three inches.

While it may seem like a small amount, the price tag for fixing the problem isn’t.

“You’re probably in the $5,000 range and up,” said Mark Phillips of Arrow  Foundation Repair.

“Because the drought has really just continued,” he said. “It’s really been like this the last two years, just because we haven’t had a lot of moisture, and that includes snow, so, therefore, the ground is still pretty dry.”

When it’s this dry, soil pulls away from the foundation and causes the home to lose stability and sink.

While some experts recommend watering around the foundation to help prevent it from happening, it won’t take care of all of the problems.

“It will alleviate and get the clay soils into a neutral mode, but inevitably, we’re going to get into a drought again, and you’re probably going to be right back to the same problem,” said Phillips.

He said one thing people can do is keep their eyes open for cracked drywall or sticking doors and windows. Sometimes catching the problem early can mean saving a lot of money.

Arrow Foundation Repair said it usually sees about 100 repairs per year, but that number has risen over the past two years.