Foundations

[jtrabona]

In the drying out of the current drought,  I've noticed cracks in the plaster due to movement.  I went under the house, and the floor piers are good, but the ground is incredibly dry under the house,and there are cracks about 15-20mm in size

I've read that because things are dry, and it's clay, BTW,  that I should put a soaker hose under the house and water it a bit, but another builder said this would be wrong because the clay might cause more issues.

Opening this question for discussion,  and advice?

[Jason]

Hi @jtrabona,

Welcome to Workshop. It's great you could join us. I trust that you will receive lots of helpful advice and inspiration for your projects from our community members. Please feel free to post whenever you need a hand or have a new project to share. 

I'm sure this is a common problem, particularly at the moment with such dry conditions around the country. It will be good to read other opinions from community members. Let me tag a few members for you who might like to kick off the discussion with their thoughts and/or experience: @2Belindas, @ProjectPete, @PJA, @Brad and @LePallet.

Thanks for joining in the discussion,

Jason

[MartyH]

Interesting topic. 

I think a soaker hose would be the wrong approach, as you would be creating an area that is always moist and termites would love it. Do you have timber footings @jtrabona?

[greygardener]

Do you have any trees next to your house @jtrabona. If you were watering your foundations regularly then the trees could send out roots towards your foundations as they seek out the water. Could cause more issues...

[RenoQueen]

Do you know what it was like under the house before the drought @jtrabona?

How old is the house?

And how significant are your cracks?