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Joe Winter, Honesty Foundation (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\nHOUSTON \u2013 Houston homeowners, you water your plants \u2014 but did you know you should also be watering the foundation of your home?<\/p>\n
Joe Winter wants you to start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems crazy, right? Water your foundation,\u201d Winter said. \u201cYou water your plants, you water your garden, you water your trees, but watering your foundation. It\u2019s pretty much as simple as it sounds.\u201d <\/p>\n
Winter has worked in foundation repair and soil remediation for more than 40 years. He owns Honesty Foundation, where he answers the phone, evaluates homes and stays extremely busy.<\/p>\n
Joe Winter, Honesty Foundation (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
\u201cMy phone constantly rings,\u201d Winter said. \u201cI had seven evaluations yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of those calls come from homeowners who have noticed cracks, sticking doors or other potentially expensive problems. But Winter said one of the first warning signs may be outside the home, hiding in the dirt.<\/p>\n
At one League City property, the ground had pulled so far away from the foundation that Winter could fit his entire hand inside the gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe soil has shrunk and pulled away from the foundation. We can put our whole hand in it,\u201d Winter said. \u201cThat\u2019s over half to three quarters of an inch of expansion index shrinking the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winter said the homeowner now has to play catch-up, but his proposed first step was surprisingly simple: a $33 soaker hose.<\/p>\n
A $33 first line of defense<\/p>\n
Winter placed the 100-foot soaker hose around the home\u2019s perimeter and connected it to a water source.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a perforated hose that leaks along the entire length of the hose,\u201d Winter said. \u201cSo it\u2019s an efficient way to water your foundation and hydrate the soil.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hose slowly releases water along its entire length, allowing moisture to soak into the ground surrounding the home. Winter said a soaker hose can be connected to a timer to make the process automatic.<\/p>\n
\u201cPersonally, the key is doing it,\u201d Winter said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s six inches or a foot away from the foundation, I don\u2019t think is as imperative as doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with a gap large enough to fit his entire hand, Winter said the homeowner could still take action.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s never too late to do the right thing. Never too late,\u201d Winter said.<\/p>\n
He said the soil will not rehydrate overnight, but several weeks of consistent watering could help it slowly expand again.<\/p>\n
Those without a soaker hose can use a regular garden hose, but it will require more work. Winter recommended moving it around the perimeter and watering each section for several minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could get your kid out there watering every day,\u201d Winter said. \u201cAnybody can water the foundation and it\u2019s fun. They can spray themselves, get wet and children need a job, right? So what a great job for a child to water around the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Houston homes need water<\/p>\n
The reason watering matters lies beneath the home.<\/p>\n
KPRC 2 meteorologist Justin Stapleton said Houston-area soil contains sand, silt and, most importantly, clay.<\/p>\n
Clay can absorb significant amounts of water and expand when it is wet. When it dries, it shrinks and cracks. That repeated expansion and contraction can create uneven soil beneath a home and potentially contribute to foundation movement.<\/p>\n
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Houston\u2019s clay soil can shrink during extended hot, dry weather, potentially contributing to foundation movement. A local foundation expert explains how a $33 soaker hose and consistent watering could help homeowners avoid repairs costing thousands. (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the problem is sometimes it\u2019s fairly heavy clay so that it can soak in a bunch of water, which is great because obviously we get big downpours and flooding at times,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cBut that also means that it can expand when it gets wet but when it dries out it starts to shrink and crack and that\u2019s what most people find out when they start running into issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stapleton said Houston received substantial rain earlier in the summer, but conditions changed in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cAugust gets hot, August gets dry, upper 90s, 100s, most of September we\u2019ve only had just a few rain days other than that it has been super scorching outside and so all of that clay that I mentioned starts to dry, shrink and contract and that\u2019s what can lead to some unevening in the soil,\u201d Stapleton said.<\/p>\n
Although Houston remains slightly above its normal rainfall total for this point in the year because of rain earlier in the summer, Stapleton said the most recent six-week period has been \u201csuper super dry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring these hot stretches though that makes the watering more important though,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cOh yeah I mean not only just for your foundation, your lawn right? Nobody wants crispy lawns out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
How often should you water?<\/p>\n
There is no single watering schedule for every home.<\/p>\n
Winter said homeowners must consider recent rainfall, temperatures, nearby trees, landscaping, sun exposure and whether the soil is already hydrated or severely dry.<\/p>\n
Trees can be especially important. Winter said a large oak tree could consume as much as 100 gallons of water a day, drawing moisture away from the soil supporting the home.<\/p>\n
At the League City property, where a sizable gap had already formed, Winter recommended beginning with two 30-minute watering sessions a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to hydrate the clay and then let it absorb the water,\u201d Winter said. \u201cIf you just water for hours and hours, you\u2019re wasting water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rehydrating severely dry clay could take weeks. Winter said homeowners should begin paying attention after a week or two without rain instead of waiting until the soil visibly separates from the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so your goal is to be a maintenance person,\u201d Winter said. \u201cYou have to be proactive with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can you overwater your foundation?<\/p>\n
Winter said homeowners should avoid leaving the water running for hours because it may flow through fractures in extremely dry soil instead of being absorbed.<\/p>\n
Still, in his experience, foundation problems are much more commonly associated with insufficient watering.<\/p>\n
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Joshua Winter, joes son and employee (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
\u201cOver watering, I think it\u2019s darn near impossible,\u201d Winter said. \u201cThe soil absorbs, it\u2019s certainly possible, but I\u2019ve never seen where over watering caused a foundation to fail. It\u2019s typically because of under watering.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeowners should follow local watering restrictions and avoid creating standing water or drainage problems around the property.<\/p>\n
From a $33 hose to a $50,000 repair<\/p>\n
Winter said watering cannot prevent every foundation problem or reverse serious structural damage. However, he has seen consistent watering make a difference.<\/p>\n
He recalled visiting a family that did not have extra money to spend on foundation work. Winter recommended watering first and waiting to see what happened. Three weeks later, the homeowner called back to report that a sticking door worked again and a crack had closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in all instances is it going to return the house to its original horizontal position? But it\u2019s like tapping the brakes on a problem,\u201d Winter said.<\/p>\n
That relatively inexpensive step could help homeowners avoid an extremely costly repair.<\/p>\n
\u201cFoundation repairs can be from 3,000 to 20 plus thousand, depending on the severity,\u201d Winter said.<\/p>\n
In more severe cases, Winter said repairs could cost $40,000 or $50,000, depending on the damage, the work required and the company hired.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people don\u2019t have a lot of money to pile into foundation repair,\u201d Winter said. \u201cIt\u2019s not glamorous. It\u2019s not a remodeled bathroom. It\u2019s not a new kitchen. It is a level foundation. It\u2019s anti-climatic.\u201d <\/p>\n
Foundation repairs may involve installing piers beneath a home to provide support and relevel it. Some homes only need work along the exterior, while others require piers beneath the interior.<\/p>\n
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Interior work being done to fix foundation problems (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
Winter said watering is not a guarantee, but it is one thing homeowners can control.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it going to stop every foundation issue? I honestly can\u2019t say, but it is the prudent thing to do, is to not let your soil separate and dry to its low expansion index,\u201d Winter said.<\/p>\n
Warning signs of foundation movement<\/p>\n
Winter said homeowners should look for:<\/p>\n
Soil separating from the foundation<\/p>\n
New diagonal cracks near doors or windows<\/p>\n
Cracks in brick, exterior siding, tile or interior walls<\/p>\n
Doors that stick or do not close properly<\/p>\n
Uneven gaps around doors<\/p>\n
Separation between bricks or other building materials<\/p>\n
Uneven or cracked floors<\/p>\n
Winter said it never hurts to have a home professionally evaluated, especially if those warning signs appear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great first step,\u201d Winter said of watering. \u201cIt\u2019s a great first step at maintaining and possibly avoiding a visit from a foundation repair company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston homeowners, you water your plants \u2014 but did you know you should also be watering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-441479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}