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Subscribe to RSSSettling soil in drought stricken Indiana causes problems for home owners. WTHR's Jennie Runevitch reports.
As if shriveled crops, dead fish, water rationing and brown lawns aren't bad enough, some residents across the Midwest and South are seeing the drought in their own homes as foundations shift in dried-up soil.
Sometimes they'll even hear the shift.
"We will get calls where homeowners hear a loud pop," John Clark, general manager at Indiana Foundation Service, told NBC News. "They'll explain that they've heard the house move."
Adding insult to injury, insurers typically consider such damage an "act of God" and thus homeowners are on the hook for funding repairs.
Clark said drought-repair business in and around Indianapolis is booming, with calls almost doubling in the last month and his crews doing about 10 home repairs a week.
Competitors are just as busy.
"I've never seen it to this magnitude, this early in the season" said Tim Combs, vice president at Helitech, a foundation and waterproofing specialist based in St. Louis, Mo. "I've been at Helitech for 19 years, and this is the driest ever."
Between 60 and 70 percent of Helitech's customer calls involve foundation repairs, Combs told NBC News, when typically it's half foundations and half waterproofing this time of year.
The problem is everywhere Helitech operates -- Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. "The drought is so widespread that it's really balanced" as far as repair work, he said.
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Some homeowners report new cracks, Combs said, while others say small cracks have gotten worse with the dry spell.
The foundation damage is on top of drought problems that include lost corn and soy crops, fish killed by low oxygen levels in lakes and rivers, and water rationing in some cities.
In Illinois, NBC affiliate WEEK-TV reported Wednesday that the drought is causing home damage in the Peoria area.
Severe drought in Arkansas is causing home foundations to shift and crack. WTHR's Josh Berry
Similar foundation issues exist in Little Rock, Ark, NBC affiliate KARK-TV reported Monday.
Clark earlier told NBC affiliate WTHR-TV that foundation repairs tied to dry soil can cost anywhere from $1,000 up to $40,000.
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Homeowners should look for "doors that are sticking, windows that stick and drywall cracks," Clark said.
As for prevention, WTHR noted that some experts suggest a sprinkler around a home's foundation -- as long as no cracks currently exist.
Related: Drought widens, outlook grim through October
Another approach is to water under an exposed slab area to beef up the soil.
"On shallow footings, crawl spaces, footings that might be under a slab of some sort you can actually water with a water hose and it can help that expansive soil swell and preserve that footing from settling," Jeff Tharp, a specialist at Helitech, told WEEK.
In Indianapolis, however, that's not on option: the drought has led to a ban on watering lawns this summer.
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Excuse me. Your foundation is not a lawn. You CAN water it...
Soaker Hoses 8 to 12 inches around the foundation works best. soak at night and have less imediate evapaoration before the water gets deep down.
mojo7,
We've had water rationing twice since I moved here in 1994, once a well failure and once a drought. In each case, only proven rainwater or gray water was allowed for anny form of ground application. Swimming pools required a permit, which required a cover when not in use. Plus sewerage is tied to water use, essentially we pay 5x the price of water for every ccf. A history of short-sighted administrations that never the needs beyond their administrations, much less 20 or 30 years later led to no surface drainage plan or an adequate treatment plant for sewerage. Now we pay $1.50/mo. per residence (possibly up to $10 in the future) just on the basis that if it rains, water drains from our roof.
mojo7, you are correct I work for a structural engineer, and that's what he tells people who call. Expansive soils like clay need the moisture. Unless you have a pocketful of money to spend on helical piers they run around $2,000-$2,500 ea. in S. GA.
$500+ a pier is the going rate here in Texas. Takes two just to do a front door and three to do the front of a garage. Do the math, gets expensive real quick.
Obama created these new jobs so unemployment is now 7.4%.......
Wonder how this will affect fracking and ground water?
"Insurance will not cover it cause of an act of God" Yep another way to soak the homeowners and rain on their parade! Sorry!
exactly, why do people buy insurance? For these exact reasons. To say a lack of rain is an act of god is BS. At what point is a drought an act of god? 3 inches less than normal rainfall? 4 inches? 5 inches? Who determines this? And of course this assumes there is a god. These act of god clauses should be barred from insurance contracts.
Hey genius, there isn't an insurance company in this country that uses act of God as a denial. You either have a covered peril or you don't! Here is an idea, put as much effort into reading your policy as you do "jailhouse attorneying" and you may learn something!
Too much rain, wind, drought, smoke, fire, etc. etc.......................ALL are acts of God.......sorry not covered our CEO needs a bigger yacht.
ZT, It was stated in the article! Try moving your lips or using your finger when you read! It sometimes helps with comprehension!
Insurance companies use act of god all the time ZT, you are definitely incorrect.
Zachary Turner a little advice that you should consider. Don't make a condescending remark attacking someone unless you yourself know the facts, otherwise you risk alerting the rest of the world just how ignorant you are.
Late last year a buddy of mine had ordered something online and payed extra for the expedited same day shipment as it was an accessory to a big party being planned a week later. A snowstorm prevented it from being shipped out on time, and his package didn't show up for two weeks. The carrier refused to reemburse the priority shipping fee for the product citing they were not responsible for "an act of God" causing the delay and back-up in their logistics network.
What "GOD"?
I think someone should sue their insurance company to force them to prove that god did it.
At the very least...it might result in less archaically childish wording.
Thats why I don't bother with $1,000 + a year home insurance, they wiggle out of everything.
I cannot stress how important it is to read your ins. policy. Ask your agent about everything you can think of and act on it. Pretty soon property insurance will be a luxury, trust me.
Stonepipe you are correct, try getting insurance in FL you have to have property owners insurance, wind insurance, flood insurance and since we are between Apalachicola National forest & Tate's Hell state forest we have to have fire insurance and we don't even live there full time. It's nuts!
Your house lives there full time
and an empty house is more vulnerable to damage
Another solution is to install gray water diverters, so that water from baths, showers, dishwashers, sinks and washing machines can go into the soil for plant and soil renewal. Most lawn grasses will go dormant during hot, dry periods; this may not be attractive but is cheaper and environmentally better than drawing down the water table we depend upon. However, many ornamental trees and other plants cannot withstand prolonger dry periods. Likewise, as the article points out, shrunken, crumbling soil cannot support building loads. Unfortunately, math and physics demonstrate that southern and western exposures will suffer the longest and deepest drying. This means uneven settling which causes the cracks and warpage to which the article alluded.
One may discount this as normal cyclic climate activity, or as 'an act of God' or recognise this as a consequence of global warming. Global warming, in and of itself, may be a cyclic event (witness the Ice Age). However, those who would deny current and past human influence are like those Congressmen who sought to deny the Dustbowl of the 1930's just as the black cloud enveloped Washington, DC, blotting out the sun. The cloud eventually covered much of the East Coast, soil from Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, and parts of Missouri and Iowa. Caused by extensive plowing of prairie soil just before a drought.
"Martha, NBCNews just gave me a great idea for a business that we can start to solve our unemployment problems...."
Critical times hard to deal with, will be here.
From wheat belt to desert in one generation.
Boy, howdy, we never saw that one coming- nobody told us that was even a possibility.
It sure is a good thing the oil and coal industries were so honest, so patriotic, and so generous with their record profits, or we never would have beat Gore.
(Meanwhile, back at the executive water cooler):Hey, I know, let's destroy all the ground water by fracking- we'll produce enough natural gas to accelerate global warming, and in twenty years, we'll be able to sell what little clean water is left for more than we sell gasoline!
if it came down to watering the area around my foundation to save repair cost, or honoring the ban I'd take my chances
Get you a few soaker hoses & surround your foundation, run it at night.
Those in areas where dewfall occurs may wish to consider this, if you have room. First: place simple, shallow french drains (even soaker hose under a little gravel will do) in proximity to the foundations. Lay plastic sheeting under the house to reduce evaporative water loss. Then use this approach to collect and retain airborne water: http://www.appropedia.org/Dew_collection_roof_retrofit
Be sure to lay plastic (you can cover it with river stone to make it more attractive) over the french drains as well- and also be sure to provide a way to divert water flow from your roof away from them in rainy months to avoid fungal and dry-rot issues. Installing a cistern to take advantage of the wet season is also great- if you can dig it or have someone else do that for you.
Too bad our country can't take the excess rain water from one part and pipe it over to other parts that really need it badly. I hate seeing it always go out to the oceans or gulf. I know, crazy dumb idea. Just always hate to see the flooding and lives lost every year in some areas at times while other parts suffer from lack of water so much.
Where I lived in a desert area once, we used to collect the rain in 55 gallon drums and used that to water the plants outside. We also kept a large pot in the bathroom, when it came time to showering, we collected what came out of the shower head that wasn't warm enough or ready. That way no water was wasted.
"An act of God?!" And people don't think insurance companies need to be regulated?
Why have homeowners insurance? Just be careful and hope for the best.
In order to prevent my house from settling I installed sky hooks. Pretty simple concept & seems to work. I drilled a 4x10 ledger into the face of my foundation with tapcon fasteners. Then I ran heavy cables from the ledger up to the sky hooks, which of course never move & are very stable. It keeps the whole house from settling.
SRS - many if not most communities here have a ban on outside watering. They don't care if it's your lawn, your foundation or if you're washing your dog - there is no outside use of water. People should be aware of how a ban is worded in their community to avoid getting fined.
"See! Drought is a good thing. It helps creates private sector jobs!"
- Mitt Romney
We never had a drought like this 4 years ago when Bush was president. Just now under obama ths has happen.
your an idiot if you beleive that tripe
Who and where is god than??
Just fill up your entire basement with water as it will "counter pressure" any outside pressure and shifting points. All will then be well. lol
All I can say is............
Insurance company: Act of God / nature, and we ain't covering it !
Welcome to Irving, Texas. The entire city is built on a soil that is mostly dense, dark clay! If not watered, what does clay do in hot, dry weather? It contracts. Welcome to the joys of home ownership. Soaker hoses are your best bet.
I think I have a rather simple solution to watering the plants or foundations during a watering ban.
If a person has basement then I would find the "Gray water" sewer pipe which is usually a 2 inch PVC pipe and I would install a diverting "Y" (or a "T") in the drain system so you could collect all the used gray water from taking showers, washing dishes, hands etc. Most people might be surprised by the amount of water an average homeowner uses in just a day! A 33 gallon plastic garbage can or something like that would be used to collect the gray water for future use when needed.
A shut off valve for the 2" PVC line could even be put into the system for when you want to collect gray water, A small water pump could even be installed close to the barrel (garbage can) so the water could be pumped to where its needed as in, plants, foundations etc. Really its quite simple to set up and a self help book (or internet search) would show most people how to do this easily. As long as you don't break any local laws, as in building codes in your area you should be fine.
If you don't have basement it gets a bit harder but still something could be rigged up to collect gray water from sinks pretty easily, even pail under the sink with the sink drain disconnected would work as long as you pay attention to water level in the pail. At least by doing these things you would be saving your foundation from very expensive repairs which I think would easily off set the costs involved.
Depending on how large of a family you have would also be factor in how much water you could save up for outside needs.
I hope this helps someone as it has to be hard to be such a situation where you damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Good luck all.
Think of the impact on the economy and employment if "made in USA" products were used doing the repairs vs imported products.
If we, the 99% American People, can rid our selves of the corrupt Republican OIL corporate MONARCHY we could ALREADY be using MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRICAL ENERGY for home & autos! We sure as hell wouldn't be worrying about a drought right now! Too many airplanes, too many vehicles operating on fossil fuels! We need to switch to dirigibles for plane travel and change to MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRICAL MOTORS for home & autos if we are ever going to SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT!
It's 100% NON-POLLUTANT, NO FOSSIL FUEL REQUIRED, EXTREMELY CHEAP to install, operate and maintain! There are 3 viable patents for this form of energy by Howard Johnson in our U.S. Patent Office! They wouldn't be there if they didn't work! There are people who are already using this form of energy for their home electricity. Troy Reed, an electrician from Tulsa, OK has been developing a MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRICAL MOTOR for automobiles! What the hell are we waiting for...an environmental disaster! It's happening RIGHT NOW! It's time to take our government back from these corrupt Republican corporates whose ONLY CONCERN is their CAPITALISTIC GREED with ZERO CONTROL OVER IT in our government because they have INFILTRATED our Democratic government with their "HAND-PICKED" political puppets like exlax ETCH-A-SKETCH, John Bonehead and the rest of their political puppets who have STOLEN our American way of life and with their MONARCHY have MADE SLAVES OF US!
99% American People, let's take our country back! Vote 100% STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, the lives you save MAY be YOURS & your CHILDREN! And, if this Democratic regime can't work for us because of the Republican Congress, we'll INSTALL a TRUE DEMOCRATIC government that WILL WORK FOR US! BELIEVE IT!!