Cracks in your walls or bricks got you puzzled? Maybe your doors aren’t shutting the way they used to, or you’ve spotted gaps where there weren’t any before. It feels like your house is rolling around under your feet, and you’re wondering if the ground itself is working against you. Spoiler alert: it probably is . . . welcome to Texas, y’all!
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’ve been helping Central Texas homeowners deal with foundation problems for 40+ years now. Living and working right here means we know firsthand what our soil is like, how it behaves, and what it does to homes, and can *fill* you in on the *nitty gritty* details – yeah, that was like 2 dirt jokes in one sentence!
In this article, we’ll break down what’s going on with our infamous expansive clay soils, why they affect houses so much, and what you can (and can’t) do about it. Plus, we’ll share a little geological history about how southeast Texas ended up with such clay-heavy dirt in the first place.
What’s So Special About the Dirt in Texas?
The delightful soil under your house isn’t like any ol’ dirt. Much of Texas, especially in the southeast and Gulf Coast Plain areas, is full of expansive clay soil. This type of soil acts like a sponge. When it rains, it soaks up water and swells. When it dries out, it shrinks and pulls away.
On top of that, the somewhat extreme alternating moisture levels in the soil make this movement an annual party on your property . . . and not the fun kind, the destructive kind.
The recurring swelling and shrinking of the soil literally makes the ground move. Even when it moves back, it doesn’t go back exactly where it was before. Since your foundation is sitting right on top of this soil, the movement gets transferred to your house.
Over time, the cycles of seasonal settlement and rebounding can lead to cosmetic and functional issues like cracks in walls, doors and windows sticking, or uneven floors revealing structural shifts in your home i.e. foundation settlement that can sometimes turn into *problems*.
Why Is There So Much of This Kind of Soil in This Area?
Why is this type of soil here and why is there so much of it?? Ok, here’s a li’l geology lesson for ya . . . millions of years ago, much of southeast Texas was covered by shallow seas and river deltas. Evidence of sea life and sediment has been found, sometimes several hundred miles from today’s Gulf Coast.
These calm sea waters and slow-moving rivers deposited layers and layers of fine particles, especially clay. Over time, these sediments built up into the soils we have today.
But there’s more; several natural forces shaped the ground beneath us here in good Central Texas. Here’s the summary of everything:
- Ancient seas and shifting shorelines left behind thick layers of clay-rich sediment.
- Large rivers like the Brazos and Trinity carried fine particles and spread them across the coastal plain.
- Warm, wet climate conditions sped up the breakdown of rocks into clay minerals.
- Ongoing land subsidence *aka sinking or settling* in the Gulf Coast region acted like a giant sediment trap, collecting even more clay over time.
The end result? Our part of Texas became a giant clay bowl, and we’re still living with the situation today.
It’s like we’re livin’ in one giant, slimy, river bottom, or a dried up river bottom when there’s a drought. . . . ya know?
Why Does The Soil Affect My House So Much (More Than Larger Buildings)?
Your house is relatively light compared to big commercial buildings. Larger structures are designed with deeper, heavier foundations that can handle soil movement better. Residential homes, on the other hand, typically sit on shallow slab-on-grade or pier-and-beam foundations.
That means your home is more likely to feel every little *swell and shrink* of the soil. The constant push and pull puts stress on the foundation, which then shows up as unsightly or even structural problems inside your home.
If every home were built with a commercial-grade foundation, they would be too expensive for many and not always necessary. So the trade-off for affordable homes ends up being houses that sometimes can’t withstand the soil movement.
Is Foundation Movement Normal for This Area?
Yes, it’s very normal in our part of Texas for homes to experience foundation movement or settlement. Just about every home here experiences some level of shifting due to expansive clay. If you’ve noticed cracks or recurring sticky doors, you’re not alone, and your neighbors are probably dealing with it too.
The good news is that it doesn’t mean your home is totally falling apart. Not all foundation settlement turns into problems, and not all foundation problems are emergencies. It just means the soil is doing what Texas soil does.
Can Soil Movement Be Fixed or Stopped?
There’s really no way to stop expansive clay soil from swelling and shrinking. That’s just what it does, and fighting nature isn’t usually fruitful. P.S. Some folks have tried to invent chemical soil stabilizers in an attempt to mitigate this problem . . . but that’s a whole other topic that we won’t get into right now, so let’s stay focused, people!
Despite the fact that there’s no reliable way to fully stop soil movement, there are ways to better manage the effects and keep your home more stable, and that’s with . . . drum roll please . . . foundation repair.
Think of foundation repair as a post-construction remedy to deepen and widen the footprint of your home, making it better able to withstand expansive clay forces. Bigger buildings and commercial structures have this sort of stuff put in initially, whereas residential homes end up having to add it later when needed.
Some of the more common foundation repair methods in Texas include concrete pressed pilings, steel push piers, and helical piers. We choose drilled bell-bottom piers. Each of these can work in certain situations or for a period of time, but each comes with some drawbacks.
Some techniques don’t always reach truly stable soil, since their depth depends on soil moisture levels at installation time. Others are made of short, segmented cylinders that don’t provide a wide base or connected stability. And some aren’t the best match for heavy Texas clays and may be better suited to different types of terrain. Some are only meant to last for 20 years or so, while others are meant to last a lifetime.
In other words, there are several techniques available to repair a slab foundation, and you should definitely explore your options. Each has its place, but not all of them stand up to the unique challenges of expansive clay equally. That’s why understanding the repair methods and then choosing the best one to meet your needs matters so much.
What Else Does Foundation Repair Do To Handle The Soil?
You’ve learned that Texas soils, especially the clay-heavy kind we have around here, are the root cause of many foundation problems. The swelling and shrinking of this dirt puts stress on your home, and it’s something nearly every homeowner in our region can face.
At Anchor, we use drilled bell-bottom piers, a method developed to handle expansive soil behavior. The bell-shaped monolithic design resists the constant swelling and shrinking of clay better than segmented or shallow systems (and definitely better than your original slab foundation) giving your home long-term stability, while you gain peace of mind.
If you want to dive deeper into how foundation repair works, check out our article that covers What Is Foundation Repair? The Top 3 Goals for Your Home. It’s the next step in understanding what fixing your foundation really means.
