The Seasonal Foundation Maintenance Checklist

Spring, March to May

• Clean gutters before storm season peaks, and again after the live oaks finish dropping leaves.
• Watch the first hard rain from the yard, and mark every spot where water sheets toward the house or ponds in beds.
• Regrade any bed that settled over winter so soil slopes away from the slab on every side.
• Reseat downspout extensions and splash blocks so discharge lands 3 to 5 feet out.
• Run each irrigation zone near the house and fix leaks, broken heads, and spray hitting the foundation.
• Trim shrubs back far enough to see the slab edge all the way around.
• Photograph your reference cracks in April while soil moisture is high; this is the baseline summer gets judged against.
• Position soaker hoses now, 12 to 18 inches from the slab edge, so the summer program starts on schedule.

Summer, June to September

• Run soaker hoses on a steady schedule, aiming for even moisture on all sides, never soggy ground.
• Increase frequency during 100 degree streaks, and pause after real rain instead of watering through it.
• Every two weeks, check for soil pulling back from the slab edge, and close any opening gap with longer run times.
• Give south and west exposures extra attention; they bake first and crack first.
• Deep water large trees out at the drip line so roots have less reason to hunt moisture under the slab.
• Log every door that starts sticking in July and August, with dates.
• Confirm current watering rules before setting schedules, and ask how foundation soaker hoses are treated under restrictions.
• Resist catch up flooding after a vacation; sudden saturation moves clay as surely as drought does.

Fall, October to November

• Clean gutters after the first big leaf drop, and check again once the pecans finish.
• Walk the perimeter during a fall rain and note anywhere water stands longer than a few hours.
• Taper the watering program down gradually as the heat breaks, rather than shutting it off overnight.
• Rebuild beds and low spots that eroded over summer so grade still sheds water away from the house.
• Reseat downspout extensions knocked loose during the dry months.
• Compare door behavior against your July notes; sticking that persists into cool wet weather deserves attention.
• Photograph the reference cracks again in November and file them beside the April set.
• Book any regrading or drainage work now, while the ground is workable and schedules are open.

Winter, December to February

• Keep watering through extended warm dry spells; winter drought moves foundations, just more slowly.
• Disconnect and drain soaker hoses ahead of hard freezes, then return them to service when the week warms.
• Insulate hose bibs and irrigation backflow equipment so a burst line cannot quietly soak one corner of the slab.
• After any hard freeze, check the water meter with everything off; movement can mean a leak feeding soil under the house.
• Watch beds during winter rain stretches and fix spots that hold water before spring storms arrive.
• Keep gutters clear; one ice storm can drop a season of limbs and leaves at once.
• Run a full interior door and crack log in January, when clay is usually at its wettest.
• Schedule an engineer evaluation now if fall never resolved a symptom, ahead of the spring rush.