watering the house

[indigo_rose99]

You may have heard about the drought and horrible heat in Texas. If you are interested, I can show you in some lovely graphs that yes, this year is hotter faster than most of the last few years. August came in June. And by "by last few years" I mean since 1997. That is how far back my data set goes.

So our lawn is dead. We have not even bothered with trying to water it or keep it alive. Since the Time of Heat started, we have mowed it… twice. Maybe. It is a lovely shade of yellow that our orange cat blends into perfectly.

But now I have a new concern. The house. I was listening to an NPR show a while back about foundation problems. The expert said that drought is one of the biggest causes of foundation problems. Basically, the drought dries out the dirt. The dirt gets cracks and moves. The movement causes foundation problems. Or something like that. He recommended watering your house foundation during really dry periods to keep the dirt more flexible around the house.

This week I Googled "how to water your house." There were lots of comments about it is not really necessary…. Unless it is a terrible drought. And you live in exactly the kind of ground I live on. *sigh* And you should only really worry if the dirt starts pulling away from the foundation at least an inch.

I measured. The dirt is 2 inches from the house. I could stick my hand down there. I started watering the foundation every morning for the past three mornings. Today we laid out soaker hoses (also recommended) 12 inches from the house. WIth the watering restrictions, it is going to be a… pain.  30 minutes of soaking at least 2 days a week. *sigh*

So I am watering my house like it was a delicate newly planted tree.

My neighbor is mowing his lawn as I type this. It is 9:30pm at night and completely dark outside. I am surprised he is willing to do it when it is still so hot. Waiting until dark? Not the surprising part.

Comments

[reedrover]

Thanks for the education. This is not something I have ever considered.

[thebroomecloset.livejournal.com]

My sister who lives in Irving (DFW area) has had to water her foundation at times over the years. And has had to have a lot of work done adding additional concrete piers to try to keep the house from shifting and settling as much and repairing tile floors that crack with the shifting and settling. Doesn't sounds like any fun at all.