Drought could be causing damage underneath your home; trees, shrubs to blame

We are 15 and a half inches below normal in rainfall so far this year. And it doesn't look like relief is coming anytime soon.

In addition to spreading wildfires, now there's an even bigger problem. The drought is causing the ground beneath your home to shift.

It's a battle going on in your yard right now, that could cost you money. The exceptional drought we're having, may damage your most prized possession, and we're told, until we get much-needed rain, there's not a whole lot you can do about it..

During the drought, the trees and shrubs in your yard are competing for moisture and your home's foundation may be suffering. "Particularly when somebody has a tree trunk that's less than 10 feet from the corner of the home," says John Cannon.

Cannon is a geotechnical engineer.. he's trained to see the causes of structural damage in homes. He says, many trees and shrubs that need water have root systems that extend under the home. "During a drought, they are pulling moisture from soils deep beneath the foundation," he says.

The ground buckles from the weight of the foundations, and "you'll see stair step cracking near corners," says Cannon.

Cannon says shrubs planted near the foundation pose the same kind of problem. "If your solution is 'well, we'll just keep the soil moist because of the drought, you're potentially softening the soil the foundation is resting on," Cannon says.

He also says, the amount of water needed to balance the needs of the trees and shrubs, but keep the root systems under the home's foundation is excessive.. Chief Meteorologist David Glenn says, we probably won't make up the rain deficit until spring at the earliest.

John Cannon tells me right now, it's best to watch for cracks, both in your home and outside. According to homeadvisor-dot-com, foundation repairs range as low as 500 dollars to 10-thousand dollars and more, with the average about four-thousand dollars.