What is the best way to deal with soil surrounding a house, so there is the least dampness?
Question:What I mean is, I would like to keep my house, which is prone to dampness, as dry as possible. I live in a city that's near the beach but is also a desert. We get little rain, but the foliage and ground become very moist at night.
I would like to either
1. cover the ground surrounding the house with cement or tiles or gravel or chips or?? (I fear this will only keep the soil more damp from underneath up, as the sun won't be able to get to that soil.)
or 2. buy succulents that take dampness out of the ground and plant them around the house, if that thinking is even correct--in other words, I'd like greenery, but nothing I'd have to water.
or 3. I'm open to any better ideas.
I am speaking of about two feet of ground, out from the house walls to the yard, and surrounding the entire house.
Any ideas?
Answers:
If you get a fair amount of water onto the ground, putting drainage tiles about 1' below ground near the foundation will drain the moisture away from that area. ~
To your email:
Drainage tiles are approx. 4" diameter pipes with 1/2" holes along one side, which are placed with holes down on a gravel bed at the bottom of a small trench.
The tiles are installed with a slight slant away from the building, or alongside it. It is a very common draining tactic.
The yard near the house should be sloped away fro the house. You need 6" of air space between the dirt and the bottom of the wood parts of the house If there is no room to slope the yard. You could dig a trench around the house, lay french drain going to a pit, and, install a sump pump to pump the water to the far side of the area. Standing water is not good for a foundation.
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