The earth moved

[TB Roye]

6 years ago my BIL and I converted a covered patio (house roof and 3 walls) into a Sunroom by adding a aluminum framed glass wall system to the patio. The entrance door is on one end. This past summer we started having problems with the door sticking at the top left corner, looking form out side. We could never get it straightend out completly. This past weekend we had almost 3 inches of rain and now the door works properly. My theory is we had not had significant rain since last February and because our ground is mainly clay the dirt under the patio and house dried out and shrunk allowing the concrete slab to sink slightly and cause the door fram to become out of square. When it rained the ground soaked up the moisture and swelled putting the door frame back in square. We have never had problems before even the the hottest or coldest days so all I can figure it was the moisture in the ground.

Tom

[pelligrini]

Yep, I'd agree it was the soils. Quite often, porches are done after the house foundation and done more like flatwork. They can tend to move more.

My house sits on a mass of expansive clay. I get a lot of movement on our slab on grade foundation. and I haven't had the funds to do any piers. There's a couple corner bedrooms that get some 1/4" and bigger cracks in the sheetrock durning dry spells. My wife started to caulk one crack, but I asked her not to. I told her there will be bigger problems when the expansive clay reacts again. All the walls really look nice now with all the caulking bulging out.

[jackellis]

We get lots of seasonal ground movement here too. My wife refers to the soil as "adobe". Every few years we have to have stuff added to the soil in our back yard so it will absorb water and allow the grass to grow.

I can't tell you how many pickaxes I've worn out trying to dig holes in the stuff.

[JR]

I can't tell you how many pickaxes I've worn out trying to dig holes in the stuff.

You'n me both, brother.

Slighty off topic, I met a man the other day who does trash hauling and recycling (officially for a nearby county, not a bum on a bike!). He says a popular soil admixture is gypsum from wall board. He grinds up the sheet rock and sells it to landscapers. Apparently it's very popular with grape growers who have clay soil.

JR