Does Watering Your Foundation Actually Work in Oklahoma?

Every Oklahoma summer, I hear the same piece of advice.

"If it gets too dry, make sure you're watering around your foundation."

It's one of those things that's just accepted as fact around here. Kind of like never trusting a weather forecast more than a day out.

The common belief is watering your foundation will keep it from shifting, but some say it's a waste of time.

I've honestly never known which camp was right.

I watered my foundation two summers ago, the last time it got really dry. I'm not sure I noticed a difference. The same tell-tale gaps in the sheetrock showed up like normal, and I was deeply watering on the daily. After doing a very deep dive on the practice since then, I've come to one conclusion.

It all depends on your dirt.

Here in Lawton, it's a very clay-rich loamy soil. Not pure clay, but far more than sand.

Here's a weird personal story. My parents' place in north-central Oklahoma is surrounded by heavy clay soils, but their house sits on top of a giant sandy hill. Blame the nearby river for that.

Years ago, we dug a hole to replace the pool drain line, and even at a depth of 12 feet, it was almost pure sand.

It sure made the digging easy.

Their old house, though? Completely different story.

Just a few miles away and down the hill, they had to repair the foundation after years of the house shifting. That house sat on top of 47 feet of shifting red clay.

Same city. Same county. Same weather. Completely different dirt.

That's why I started looking into watering your foundation. Is it one of those old wives' tales... or is there actually something to it?

As it turns out, both sides are kind of right.

Much of Oklahoma sits on expansive clay soils. When those soils get soaked, they swell. When they dry out, it shrinks. Surely you've noticed the occasional deep chasm in your backyard during the worst of the dry spells. And if the ground around your home is constantly swelling and shrinking, that puts stress on your home.

That's why they say you should water the ground around your home during hot, dry weather.

The idea isn't to flood your yard every afternoon. It's simply to avoid those dramatic swings between wet and dry. But here's where Oklahoma does what Oklahoma always does.

Much like my parents' home present and past, not every house is sitting on clay.

Some are built on sand and gravels, soils that don't react the same way clay does.

Ask around. I'll bet you'll find people who swear by watering their home, and people who've never watered it and everything is fine.

They're both telling the truth, they're just both standing on different ground.

So, should you water around your foundation during an Oklahoma drought?

Maybe. Maybe not.

It all depends on what's beneath your home. But if you have cracks in the drywall, maybe where the ceiling and walls meet, or sticky doors this time of year, there's your answer.