What to do about Soil Erosion Surrounding your Foundation
Soil erosion is an event that occurs by wind, rain, and snow breaking up the soil particles. This causes the soil to just deteriorate and be gone. This erosion often occurs near a home’s foundation. When gutters and downspouts aren’t connected properly or are damaged, they don’t lead the water away from the foundation as it should— which is a gutter’s main job. This water instead runs down next to the house and pools in the ground by your foundation. This can cause soil erosion and break up your foundation at the same time. Eventually, you’ll have wet walls and flooring in your basement from water getting through.
The first thing you can do, as touched on before, is to make sure your gutters are working properly. You don’t want them to be pulled away from the house, have missing brackets, poor fittings, bent, clogged, or rusted. The gutters should all be in good working order. You should also have gutter ramps or tubing at the bottom to help lead the water away. This is all going to take that water that would be sinking and pooling next to your foundation and instead, dispersing it into the rest of your yard, away from your home.
Drains.
Now, let’s say your gutters are all set and still the dirt around your foundation becomes saturated and heavy. A great way to solve this problem is by adding in a French drain. A French drain is typically laid out by professionals. It is tubing that goes into the ground around the perimeter of your foundation and redirects the water that would be collecting inside your soil.
Yard slope.
If your home is at the bottom of a hill all the water is going to be running right towards you. If your yard is sloped with the house in a hole or level, consider sloping the area to allow water to drain away from you. A 3-5% slope is recommended.
Landscaping.
If your soil is eroding, try freshening it up and adding landscaping in too. Bushes, trees, and flowers will all help with the soil by sucking up the water and adding nutrients back into the soil. If the soil is already arising, you may have to add fertilizer or top soil to help the plants at first, but soon they’ll take control and be able to help with the problem. Plants’ root systems also help to hold the dirt in and together, which will stop the diminishing of the dirt.
If you don’t want to have plants or care for them, you can instead lay down plastic flower bedding and fill the area with rocks or wood chips. The plastic bedding will protect the soil underneath while also keeping any weeds from popping up between whatever you lay down. If you decide to use rocks or wood chips keep in mind you’ll want an edge to keep everything in. Wood chips also eventually break down and deteriorate as well, but thankfully it’s a cheap source of garden filler and can add a new touch to your home’s landscaping while protecting the soil underneath.
Helping your basement.
If you’re still struggling with a wet foundation, you may have to hire a professional to seal it for you. This will range in cost depending on how large the foundation is and if they need to make any repairs to existing concrete.
We're Here to help!
If you want to speak with a professional regarding soil erosion, foundation issues, or flooding, it is never a bad time to call. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call us at (574) 584-3640. Yoder Home Services is located in Goshen, Indiana and mainly services Elkhart County and the surrounding areas. We offer several different home repair services, such as waterproofing, foundation repair, and mold damage remediation. You can also schedule an appointment where we’d be happy to answer any and all questions.
