Posted on 11/01/2007 9:26:16 AM PDT by WakeUpAndVote
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A man has been charged with murder in Australia after an elderly man who was watering his garden was bashed to death in an apparent case of suburban water-rage.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I am in Central Texas as well. Comanche & Erath Counties. You?
The ground expands and shrinks with water content. My house has a basement and two attached garages. Every cement wall and every cement slab is cracked in multiple pieces, several door frames are so warped that doors won't close right, there's cracks here and there in the sheetrock walls upstairs, and the outer attached garage is settling away from the house. All this slowly appearing damage is due to foundation cracking and settling due to ground moisture content. The house was built in 1950, so it's not like what you get with new houses built on landfill. The worst of it started appearing five or six years ago during a prolonged drought. The basement walls started cracking and splitting, and the garage started settling as the surrounding ground dried out and shrank.
Thank you.
“In the summer, the ground sometimes gets huge cracks and the foundation will as well if the ground is not watered occasionally. I’ve noticed houses that are vacant for too long a period of time usually have this problem.”
The ground also cracks open here, but I didn’t realize it could damage construction if it lasted long enough. But then, we don’t have basements other than underground parking (rare) sometimes. I don’t know if this makes a difference; and as you can tell, I also don’t know what I am talking about. I am out of my league. I wish I could picture this whole thing in my mine, but I can’t.
mine = mind
No wonder I can’t picture it in my “mine.”
Basements are rare here, too.
“$20K+ later...”
Oh man. What a rude surprise. $20K+ later? What an awful nightmare when that money could have been spent on other important pressing things.
I live in Texas, gulf coast; I quit watering my yard about 7 years ago. I turned it over to God; he’s doing a great job. Actually we “stress” water when it’s doesn’t rain for more than a month, I water once a week to supplement dew. St. Augustine and it’s not only alive but thriving.
On the Texas Gulf Coast soil is like a gumbo sponge. No water it shrinks, slabs crack then it rains, ground swells cracks close. You should hear about swimming pools; we never take all the water out; if you do, and it rains, they pop out of the ground!
agreed and unfortunately I assume it doesn’t take too many hits to kill someone that age
Oh gads, and sorry for the late reply.
Move to Panama if you can.
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