How Can I Deal with Unstable Soil?

Unstable soil is hard to control and rectify, but there are a few things that you can do to mitigate the effects it is having on your property and foundation. First, you can take measures to strengthen its ability to stay together. Secondly, you can take steps to stabilize the amount of moisture in the earth around your home.   

• Stability   

Improving the stability and strength of your soil can be difficult if you are not well-versed in landscaping and gardening. As such, we recommend that you contact a professional to get their insight and advice. It could even be helpful to have a sample of your soil analyzed to show just what is in it.   

Once you understand what you have, you can take measures to improve its ability to deal with stress and stay together in the face of saturation and dehydration. The most effective way to do this is to plant a mixture of flowers, bushes, and trees; the complex root systems formed will not only increase the soil’s capacity to deal with water but will also help it to bind together.   

• Moisture Management   

Managing the amount of water that is in your soil at any given time is another effective way to deal with unstable ground and protect your property. This takes two forms: drainage and hydration. First, you should make sure that you have effective drains, gutters, and downspouts on your property. These should funnel excess water away from your perimeter and out to the street in heavy rain.   

Secondly, having a water-efficient sprinkler system in place to ward off extreme dehydration in the driest months of the year is an excellent idea. While these will no doubt be banned when a severe drought happens, regular water up to this point will minimize the extent of dehydration to some level.