DALLAS — It's been a long stretch of excessively hot temperatures with no rain in North Texas. Residents may be noticing doors sticking, windows that aren't closing right or maybe even cracks in the sheetrock or brick.
"This is going to be in the record books as one of the longest spells," said Tony Stokley, a certified structural technician with Brown Foundation Repair. He said call volumes are high as temperatures remain above 100 degrees. They had nearly a dozen crews out on calls on Monday morning.
"When you get these kind of crazy heats, the grounds tend to shift a lot, causing these heavy structures to settle down when we lose moisture," said Stokley.
Typically, the west side of a house is where there is the most sun throughout the day. If the clay starts to lose moisture, a gap can begin to form, pulling the soil away from the house.
Stokley said preventative measures are important. His recommendation is a soaker hose be placed around the perimeter, 12 to 18 inches off the beam.
He said, "When you're in these kinds of heats, it's typically recommended by most engineers that you water [the foundation] for about 20 to 30 minutes at a time, a couple of times a day. So, in the morning hours before the sun comes up and in the evening when the sun goes down. If you try to do it in the heat of the day, it's going to lose to evaporation."
While prevention is good, it won't fix an existing problem. "There is no such thing as making up for lost time," Stokley said.
He believes it's important for homeowners to call a foundation company as soon as they see a problem. As the oldest foundation company in the DFW area, Brown Foundation Repair has seen it all.
A small foundation issue will only get worse if it isn't addressed.
In North Texas, Stokley said, "You've either experienced a foundation problem or you are going to."
With the change in seasons and heavily clay-based soils, homes are bound to move.