This may be a dumb question, but does a drip line need to be around the entire perimeter of the house? We are getting one installed in our 30+ yr old house and I assumed it would just go wherever we don't have concrete adjacent to the house (so skip where driveway and patio/pool are). Is that correct or do they need to cut thru those areas and go completely around the house? TIA!

Drip lines are to keep the soil moist so it is not drying, cracking and pulling away from the foundation which is a sign that the soil in general is too dry to for the overall strength of the foundation. Where the drive way is you don't need to saw cut thru but extend the line down the side of the driveway a bit. You certainly don't want to over water and cause problems. Basically water enough to prevent dry cracks but not more than.

I'm lost.. where I live, drip lines are used in flower beds around the house..
OP is asking about a drip line around foundation.. not for landscaping?

A simple Google search will help. One of the first articles you may find is actually from Texas A&M AgriLife. It is thought to help with the settling of the foundation over time. Of course you do not want to over water...

BrazosDog02 said:

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We install gutters to get water away from the house.

We put in drip lines to get water near the house.

??

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The key is even and very slow moisture.

mAgnoliAg said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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We install gutters to get water away from the house.

We put in drip lines to get water near the house.

??

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The key is even and very slow moisture.

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Well if the OP has a 30 year old home with no foundation issues they might just be throwing money away.

My house is 50 years old and has exterior piers that were placed in 2000 or so by previous owners. I don't know for sure, but there was lots of gravel and river rock around the home perimeter so I suspect this was a French drain type solution to help move moisture away from the home.

The next set of owners buried soaker hoses around the left, right, and front of the home. This coupled with crummy drainage(flower beds 4-5" higher than the foundation trapping water next to the slab) was causing the edges to lift. Got to work with my shovel and wheel barrow to fix the drainage and turned off the soaker hoses and things are now settling back down where they should be.

OP hasn't come back so maybe they have issues that a soaker/drip solution can fix. I just wondered if they were having issues because I hate to see someone spend money on something for no benefit or that might actually cause problems.

Soaker hoses are awful and make it worse. Too much flow and it's not even (less water at end of line). Unless you're talking about brown pressure regulated drip, but even then most installers use too high of a flow rate.

No you don't need to cut through the concrete.

Yes they are very useful when there are watering restrictions due to drought and you cannot water often with regular spray heads.

Please - call a Landscape Architect to advise on your goals and this application, as it affects both garden & foundations supported by very volatile soils; search here for someone licensed
https://www.tbae.state.tx.us/PublicInformation/SearchIndividual
Profession: Landscape Architect (each time a new zip is searched)
Zips: 77845, 77840, 77802

AgCWby90CS48 said:

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Even constant moisture is the key.
Drought causes cracks in soil and pulling away from foundation and thereby decreasing support to foundation. Yes, dirt expanding and contracting can damage a foundation, especially bad in clay areas as clay contracts and expands more than most types of soils. An even constant amount of moisture helps support the foundation.

Gutters prevent too much water at one time washing away the soil. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses, if used correctly maintain a constant level of moisture to prevent cracking of soils and thereby foundations.

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Sorry for disappearing. Newborn at home so things are a bit crazy. We have not seen any damage but the soil has separated from the slab a bit in some areas. We went ahead and got the drip line because my husband thinks it will prevent future issues.

The licensed irrigator that installed it set it for 55 mins twice a week. Does this seem reasonable?

yes, I run my soaker hoses about 15 minutes first thing in the morning every day, so yes, but check on those days it runs to make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on.

mel07ag said:

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Sorry for disappearing. Newborn at home so things are a bit crazy. We have not seen any damage but the soil has separated from the slab a bit in some areas. We went ahead and got the drip line because my husband thinks it will prevent future issues.

The licensed irrigator that installed it set it for 55 mins twice a week. Does this seem reasonable?

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Sound reasonable for some times of the year, depending on your exact yard layout and conditions. You need to pay attention to them running for 55 minutes and check if water is running out to the street or pooling in areas or anything like that. If so you might need to dial it back to 30.

Keep in mind that conditions change throughout the year. You don't need them in the winter at all. Once they are needed, you will generally ramp up the time and frequency as conditions get hotter and dryer.

Irrigation in general, is not a set it and forget it type thing around here.

One zone or 2 zones? Lower the time and run more frequently than 2 days. No restrictions on drip and it doesn't use much water at all.

Still need to run it in the winter just not as frequent. Remember this isn't your landscape we are talking about.

mAgnoliAg said:

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Still need to run it in the winter just not as frequent. Remember this isn't your landscape we are talking about.

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No you do not. An inch of rain I the winter lasts for a month generally. There isn't near as much evaporation in the winter. Doubt me? Wait a few weeks after a good rain event in the winter and go out and dig down a few inches. The soil will still be moist. In the summer the heat dries thing out fast. Hence the inch a week guideline. So things dry out super fast. Drip lines and soakers fight that evaporation, they don't replace rain. Using them is the winter is a complete waste of water and money and worst case, could put too much moisture down.

Foundation drip is meant to slowly push even moisture in the seasonally expansive soils underneath the foundation where rain never reaches. Rain and above ground irrigation don't reach deep soils underneath the foundation.

mAgnoliAg said:

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Rain and above ground irrigation don't reach deep soils underneath the foundation.

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You are wrong, but I guess we can agree to disagree.

Soil moisture increase in the wetter seasons. Despite grading, the rainy cool seasons increase the moisture under your foundation even though the rain does not hit it directly. The moisture seeps under the foundation. Drip lines are located outside the perimeter of the foundation. They don't push water under the foundation. They simply soak the soil slowly around the foundation. It "soaks' both inward and outward. Rain does the same thing, MUCH more effectively than any irrigation system.

Again, drip lines fight evaporation and dry conditions by slowly adding moisture close to the foundation. Evaporation and dry conditions are generally not problems in the winter. Even a long dry month in the winter is not going to be a problem.

The goal for a healthy foundation is maintaining consistent moisture levels around the footprint of the foundation and consistent moisture levels throughout the year despite drastically different weather conditions. Your foundation moves and a major factor in it moving is moisture levels. You are simply trying to control and limit the amount of movement caused by moisture variations. You have grading away from the foundation and gutters to keep excessive water from pooling against the foundation in the winter/wet seasons - ie control moisture when moisture is high. You have irrigation to add water in dry / hot seasons. Above ground sprays absolutely do help add water to your foundation. They are just nor as efficient as drip lines and they are subject to strict watering restrictions that have become necessary in North Texas due to lack of planning, population explosion and lack of reservoirs. So drip lines and soakers are a great idea

But, hey, if you want to waste water and money by running your sprinklers and drips in the winter, go for it. You probably won't hurt anything. It amazes me how many people I see watering incorrectly and way more than they need to. It is a huge problem in North Texas where we don't have near enough water supply.

"Soil moisture increase in the wetter seasons. Despite grading, the rainy cool seasons increase the moisture under your foundation even though the rain does not hit it directly. The moisture seeps under the foundation"

It depends on the structural pad under the foundation. The base material used for the pad does not absorb water like the surrounding soil. Commercial pads extend out a minimum of 5' beyond the foundation perimeter to take surrounding movement out of the equation. Maintaining a constant moisture of the surrounding soils to keep them from pulling away from the foundation and thereby decreasing support of the foundation is key. The moisture level rule of thumb is water what you would to keep flowers and grass thriving without water runoff.

This is pretty common in the DFW area with our expansive clay soil. For those that seem bewildered by this.

Thanks, everyone! We are located in DFW. I'll keep an eye on it the days it runs and see if it needs adjusting

Bumping this thread to further discuss the below comment.

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Are you having foundation issues? I don't really see a need for a drip system if you have a 30yo home with no foundation performance issues. I'm fact, introducing lots of new moisture may cause movement that you don't want...

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I bought my 1979 (40 years old now) house 4 years ago in Plano (north Dallas suburb). I had the foundation inspected by a structural engineer as part of the inspection. The report stated the last foundation assessment was done in 2008. This 2015 report stated the southwest corner of the house was 3 & 1/4" off and 10 pins were put in to raise that side house. The same structural engineer came out after the repair and approve the work. There was an old soaker hose foundation watering system in place that was deteriorated and probably not used for years prior to me buying the house. I never got around to replacing it though. Seeing that from 2008 to 2015, the foundation moved requiring this repair. In 2008 the house was 30 years old. Therefore, I would conclude that at least in the Dallas area (clay soil), the age of house does not infer that the foundation is settled and not need to be watered in the future. Any feedback? I'm about to put in quality (not soaker hoses) foundation watering system and would like to confirm it's necessity prior to investing the time/money. I have not seen any foundation issues since correcting it in 2015 but don't want to see it in the future due to improper foundation maintenance.

PlanoAg98 said:

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Bumping this thread to further discuss the below comment.

Quote:

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Are you having foundation issues? I don't really see a need for a drip system if you have a 30yo home with no foundation performance issues. I'm fact, introducing lots of new moisture may cause movement that you don't want...

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I bought my 1979 (40 years old now) house 4 years ago in Plano (north Dallas suburb). I had the foundation inspected by a structural engineer as part of the inspection. The report stated the last foundation assessment was done in 2008. This 2015 report stated the southwest corner of the house was 3 & 1/4" off and 10 pins were put in to raise that side house. The same structural engineer came out after the repair and approve the work. There was an old soaker hose foundation watering system in place that was deteriorated and probably not used for years prior to me buying the house. I never got around to replacing it though. Seeing that from 2008 to 2015, the foundation moved requiring this repair. In 2008 the house was 30 years old. Therefore, I would conclude that at least in the Dallas area (clay soil), the age of house does not infer that the foundation is settled and not need to be watered in the future. Any feedback? I'm about to put in quality (not soaker hoses) foundation watering system and would like to confirm it's necessity prior to investing the time/money. I have not seen any foundation issues since correcting it in 2015 but don't want to see it in the future due to improper foundation maintenance.

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Did you end up installing this system? Also in Plano.

I'm in the process of it. It's mostly a filler job when I have time in between other projects. I've got about 1/2 of the perimeter of the house done. I have a 3200 one story house so there's a lot of perimeter.

PlanoAg98 said:

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I'm in the process of it. It's mostly a filler job when I have time in between other projects. I've got about 1/2 of the perimeter of the house done. I have a 3200 one story house so there's a lot of perimeter.

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What exactly are you having put in?

It's 1/2 inch PVC with breaks (Ts) every 2 feet. The grey tubing will eventually be buried just slightly under the mulch with the T slightly above. On top of each T I am either going to push a mushroom bubbler or an end cap with a small hole. The above ground design was to allow me to trouble shoot future problems easily. Mulch only exists along the front of the house. The flower beds are 2-4" Colorado river rock around the remainder of the house which makes for easier concealment without worrying about blockage. The lines start at a faucet with dual outlet timer at the front of the house right near the sprinkler box. Half of the house goes off to the right and the other half off to the left. The hope is that the single faucet can power enough water pressure for it's half of the house perimeter. I have very good water pressure. The long term plan is once I have them working well off timer, I'll tie each line into an available zone within the sprinkler box. Therefore I can control it along with all other irrigation zones.

I ended up scrapping the PVC solution and ended up using drip tubing.




I have the tubing running 18 inches away from the brick all the way around the house except at the driveway and back patio. When I bought my house 5 years ago, I had the foundation level in one corner of the house as recommended by the structural engineer. However, I never put down any type of foundation watering system until now. Now that I have been using it, I'm noticing some cracks that I had not seen before.

I'm assuming this is just the foundation settling again with the new addition of the constant moisture?