Foundation watering if changing from grass to hardscape…
I live in the Dallas area, and my house was just built in 2020 on clay soil with post tension slab. Sprinkler system was installed by the builder. The builder and the foundation engineer company left paperwork about the importance of keeping consistent moisture around the foundation because of expansive clay soil; not too wet (muddy), and not to dry (cracking). If I replace the grass on the side of my house with hard scape like stones or decomposed granite, do I leave the sprinklers in so the ground continues to get watered for the sake of the foundation? I’m thinking yes, otherwise I would have to manually water around the foundation.
Any other pitfalls I need to be aware of if I do this? thanks in advance for any feedback I can get on this.
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I am in Georgia with heavy clay soils and a landscaper by trade. I am not a builder nor am I an expert in concrete. But my thought process on the situation would be that after 2 years the concrete should be fully cured. We had a builder that we worked for who would run sprinklers on the newly poured walls for several days after the forms were removed to slow the curing process and prevent cracking/shrinking. Also with a soils background, I would think that by having hard scape along the foundation you will have less evaporation from the sun. I would guess you would be fine to remove the sprinklers, after all they are not keeping the center of your slab moist as the water is going to predominately move vertically/down thru the soil instead of horizontally. But I’m sure there are others more knowledgeable than me.
thanks for your feedback!
I suspect the soils in the Dallas area are different than those elsewhere, and the construction method chosen which relies on soil moisture maintenance is also unique.
You likely want to contact the foundation engineer company for recommendations for moisture maintenance that is consistent with your new hardscaping.
the amount of water needed for soil stability should be a lot less than that needed for live landscaping.
You likely can modify the sprinkler system to provide what is needed for stability, and save a lot of money on water.
thanks for the suggestions. I will contact the foundation engineer to see what they have to say