10 Ways Your Perfect Lawn Is Actually Destroying Your Home’s Foundation

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Having a green, lush lawn can be something you’re proud of. It’s the thing guests see first, and it’s a reflection of the care and effort you put into your house. However, did you know that all the efforts you’ve put in to perfecting your lawn are actually making your home’s foundation for disaster?

Many homeowners are so focused on keeping that perfect patch of grass looking just right, they’ve forgotten what lies underneath. Your home’s foundation is a critical part of the home, and some seemingly harmless things you can do to your lawn can damage it. Here’s how your beloved lawn is really hurting your home’s foundation.

Watering Too Often

Watering the lawn daily is what most people believe is the secret for lush and green lawn. However, too much water can fill up the soil around your home’s foundation, causing the soil to expand and then rapidly contract. Eventually, this movement can cause cracks in your foundation allowing water to seep into your basement or crawl space. Don’t water freely, stick to watering a few times a week, providing the grass gets a good deep soak, rather than lots of shallow sprinkles.

Improper Grading

Photo Credit: Susan Law Cain/ Shutterstock

If your lawn slopes toward your home rather than away from it, rainwater will sit on the outside of your foundation rather than running off. Over time, there is a great deal of excess water that can erode and weaken soil, causing issues with your foundation such as cracks, leaks and settling. Grade your lawn so water starts flowing away from the home and away from the foundation.

Using Heavy Lawn Equipment

We need to look out for how heavy machinery could actually harm our foundations. Driving a lawnmower repeatedly or other heavy tools over the same area can compress the soil and add pressure to your foundation and make soil unstable. Preventing this problem involves using lighter tools or keeping the heavy machinery to a minimum when working near your foundation.

Not Controlling Weeds

While weeds may appear to be minor nasties, if they are let to grow unchecked, they can accumulate robust root systems that invade the soil beneath your foundation. The roots are capable of shifting and cracking the surrounding ground, creating more roads for water to come into your foundation. Getting rid of weeds or using safe, effective weed control on a regular basis can ensure your foundation remains protected.

Planting Trees Too Close to the House

Lucky Plants to Fill Your Home with Positive Energy — Photo Credit: Furknsaglam/ Pexels

Roots of trees are insidious, but so are the trees themselves: they help add beauty and shade. Planting trees too close to your home means their roots will inevitably find water sources, including that around your foundation. And when roots grow, they grow and spread pushing on the foundation walls until they crack. Ideally, trees should be planted so far away from your foundation so that their roots don’t damage its stability.

Allowing Soil to Get Too Dry

Crop unrecognizable gardener in gloves and jeans planting green plants into fertile soil while working in garden on summer day — Photo Credit: Greta Hoffman/Pexels

Overwatering can be bad, but so can ignoring your lawn during dry spells. When dry, soil will shrink and pull away from your foundation causing gaps, according to Olson Foundation repair. Rainwater fills these gaps against the foundation and when it pools, it leads to unwanted moisture damage. In the drier season, water your lawn moderately to keep moisture levels in your neighborhood level.

Plants with Aggressive Roots

Shrubs with aggressive roots can spread under your foundation, disrupting the soil and causing the soil under the foundation to shift and create uneven pressure. Choose foundation friendly plants or ask a landscaper how to choose shrubs that won’t compete with your home’s stability.

Failing to Control Erosion

Brown Soil in Orange Plastic Bucket — Photo credit: Greta Hoffman/Pexels

If your lawn doesn’t have the right landscaping features, erosion can eat away at the soil around your foundation gradually. This removal may cause weakening of the ground and eventually cause foundation settling or cracking. It’s not every time severe soil erosion or landslides occur, but there are simple solutions such as installing ground covers, introducing mulch, or even making small retaining walls to help prevent your soil from running off and leaving your foundation unstable.

Lack of Maintenance of Drainage Systems

Even if you didn’t realize it, gutters and downspouts are way more important to your lawn than you might have thought. Water pooling at the base of your home is something you will experience if your gutters and downspouts are clogged or if the water isn’t far enough from the foundation. Clean your gutters and extend downspouts down so the water safely runs away from your foundation.

Too Much Reliance on a Sprinkler System

Convenient as they are, automatic sprinkler systems can also have more harm than good if not set up right. The risk is the same whether you overwater or if you have your sprinklers oversaturate your soil around your home. Expansion and cracking occur, because moisture seeps into the foundation area. Instead of over watering the area just next to your foundation, consider adjusting the sprinkler system.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.