(WICHITA, Kan.) — Recent rains have helped, but this summer's drought has kept foundation and basement repair companies busy. From basement walls to sinking driveways and sidewalks, the drought is pushing concrete to its limit.
"Because of the dry weather and soil shrinking up we have some areas we've never worked on before that are now settling," said Jeb Fairchild with AAA Basement and Foundation. He says the drought is keeping him busier than ever. Not only does he have new jobs, but jobs he's going back to jobs he did earlier this summer that are suffering because of the weather.
"We're getting anywhere from 5 to 35 calls a day." And of those calls, he says 80% are because of the dry weather.
Fairchild spends a lot of time mud-jacking driveways and sidewalks. His crew drills holes in the cement and pumps up the slabs. He says concrete is dropping more this summer for two reasons. First the lack of rain but also many people stopped watering all together making the ground shrink that much more.
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Drought causing concrete issues
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Fairchild is also seeing foundation issues. "It shrinks up and starts pulling away from the foundation and it starts pulling away from the concrete slabs," he said. The rain has helped, but his company and others like his will be busy for weeks to come.
He says if the soil around your foundation starts to pull away from your house, you need to water it. A soaker hose is considered best.
