Seldom will someone compliment your home by noting how beautiful your foundation is, or how secure it looks. Most accolades result from you home’s exterior or the landscaping you have put in place. “I love your yard!” is probably much more common than “My! How firm your foundation is!” Well, let’s chat about landscaping tips.
Yet, this very same landscaping may be threatening to cause substantial damage to your home’s foundation. To keep this from happening, there are several things you need to check so that your trees and flowerbeds don’t wreak havoc on the stability of your foundation.
Let’s talk about your flowerbeds. The most common problem with beds is the management of the flow of water. Your beds should slope away from your foundation. If the highest point of your flowerbed is not right next to your foundation, then water is probably pooling near your foundation. This can eventually erode the soil away from your foundation. The highest point of the bed should be 3-4 inches below the slab, next to your foundation and sloping away from it.
Water management of your shrubbery and flowerbeds around your foundation also requires that you make sure you have enough water in the ground. You really don’t want all your water running away from your foundation all the time. Some water is good, especially if it keeps the soil under your foundation consistent. To ensure this, it is helpful to keep mulch on your beds. Dirt gets impacted and becomes hard. Mulch allows some water to run off but it also retains water that seeps into the ground underneath your foundation—without causing erosion. So, keeping your beds covered with mulch contributes to the care of your foundation.
Trees are another landscaping challenge to your foundation. Some varieties take up a lot of water. Trees less than 20-30 feet from your home should be removed in order to avoid damage. Those that are more than 20-30 feet out should be regularly and well-watered. This includes during the winter months. (Many homeowners forget the importance of watering year-round.) If water is scarce, the tree roots will seek out and drink up any available water, including the water in the soil under your foundation. This causes ground shrinkage over long periods, and ground shrinking and swelling due to inconsistent moisture levels is a primary cause of foundation damage.
Long, slow watering of trees encourages the roots to grow deep rather than out. Most trees have extensive root systems that could cause a foundation to buckle if the roots move concrete out of the way in search of water to drink. The general rule of thumb is that large and threatening roots reach to about half the radius of the canopy of the tree. (Smaller roots will extend to the full width of the canopy, but they are not likely to disturb your foundation.) In other words, if the branches of the tree reach out 20 feet from the trunk, then large roots that could cause damage are expanding underground to about 10 feet from the tree trunk. If you plant trees with large canopies 20-30 feet from your foundation, you might consider a root barricade. (A root barricade may prevent tree roots from removing moisture from the soil in the immediate vicinity of the home’s foundation.)
Landscaping is meant to enhance your home. So, make it beautiful and welcoming, but don’t let beauty be costly! Learn more about landscaping tips. Take care of your foundation, too!
Dawson Foundation Repair is different from other foundation repair companies. We want you – the homeowner – to know the difference between low quality and high quality foundation repair methods. And we don’t use Mandatory Arbitration clauses in contracts to strip homeowners of their legal rights. You get a good deal with us. Call us today.