Prevention
So how do you prevent movement from occurring? Well it is physically impossible to remove all movement from occurring to any structure. But we can do the best we can with what is given to us.
The number one source of problems is the soil that the structures are built on. If that soil has a high plasticity index, then the more swelling & shrinking it will have. The swelling & shrinking is caused by too much water or the lack of water. In this part of Texas we have been experiencing an extended drought. Every year it gets drier, with random downpours. When we get too much water all at once, then we get runoff, and hardly any good saturation. So how do we control this phenomena?
Most of us do not know what the soil moisture level was when our houses or other structures were built. So how much water do we add or not add? There is no exact science, but here is what we do know...
1. Too much water will kill your vegetation & cause your supporting soil to heave (lift up) or lose load-bearing capacity, which all of these things are not good.
2. Too little water will brown or wilt your vegetation & then cause