How Summer Weather Can Affect Foundations

In North Texas, it is common to expect at least 3 months in which temperatures climb into the triple digits. Even if the weather is below 100 degrees, temperatures this hot can have a large impact on your home’s foundation, as well as the soil surrounding it. Add to this a lack of rainfall that is common in the summer months, and you could be looking at some potentially large problems to your home’s foundation.

Luckily, Texas homeowners have many ways to combat the effects of the summer heat on their foundation. It is important to learn how hot, dry weather affects your home so that you can take preventative action. Rather than let the elements damage your home further, take action during the summer so that you can avoid many of the common foundation issues that plague so many Texans.

Hot Weather Causes Cracks In Your Foundation

Most homes have a foundation that is made of either concrete slab or pier and beam. These materials can withstand many years of wear and tear, but unfortunately, one variable that is harder to control is the weather. Hot and dry weather acts to evaporate all of the moisture from your foundation, and over the course of the season, this can lead to cracking in your concrete or beams. When cracks occur, this leaves your foundation unsupported, and in turn, it slowly starts to sink. This process can repeat over time, and your home will continue to sink each time until it finds a place to resettle. Due to this process, you may find parts of your home tilting in whatever direction the foundation is sinking.

Dry Summers Cause Soil To Shrink

Hot weather can also have a profound effect on the soil that surrounds your home, leading to similar consequences. Especially in drought-like conditions common during the summer, your soil will rapidly dry out and shrink as is loses moisture, causing foundation issues. As the soil that surrounds your foundation shrinks, this causes large gaps to form underneath your house, which exposes more of your foundation to airflow. In turn, this increased airflow causes more soil to dry out, potentially leading to the cracking of your foundation. Even if the actual foundation remains undamaged, the gaps forming in dried up soil will still cause your foundation to sink, leading to more of the same problems described above. The soil type of your home has some bearing on how fast it will dry out, but this problem can affect all soils eventually.

How To Protect Your Home From Summer Weather

Luckily, there are steps that you can take to protect against heat-related damage that can reduce the chance your home suffers a foundation problem. For homeowners with concrete slab foundations, it is important to keep the foundation moist by watering it. Using a sprinkling system can help to ensure that you cover most of the perimeter of your home’s foundation and keep it from getting too dry. If you have a pier and beam foundation, watering can still help you to saturate the soil, limiting the chance of foundation collapse caused by dry soil. When watering, be sure to only do 10-20 minutes at a time, separated by many hours in order to give the ground proper time to saturate. Watering too much too fast could cause water to leak down into the foundation, causing other forms of damage to your home.

Many homeowners opt-out of watering during the summer months to save on costs. However, doing just a little bit of watering every day could save you costly damages to your home in the future, making it worth the small increase on your water bill. Be sure to know your city’s water restrictions if they exist, as this could affect the amount that you should water. City pages for Fort Worth as well as organizations such as Save Dallas Water are great places to check to understand water restrictions.

When To Schedule A Foundation Repair

Despite your best efforts, your home’s foundation could still end up needing repair after many months of hot, dry weather. Be sure to look out for the warning signs that your home may have a foundation problem, such as cracks along the walls of your home’s interior or exterior, or other subtle signs such as doors sticking in their frames.

If you notice these signs in your home, then it may be time to consider a foundation repair. Pinnacle Foundation Repair can help you with your foundation repair by diagnosing and solving your foundation issues. We offer a variety of different services for homeowners in the DFW area, no matter what type of foundation your home has. Contact us today to schedule a free inspection if you think you may have a foundation issue. We will assess your home’s situation and if we find that work is necessary, we provide all customers with a fair estimate of what services would cost you. We also provide homeowners with multiple financing options so that they can pay whichever way they like.