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Building Homes or Extensions/Texas full pour basement in "black gumbo" soil

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Expert: - 3/19/2009


Question
I am looking at a couple of parcels (small acreage) in North Texas (Bonham area) where the soil is "black gumbo".  Being from the midwest, I always built full basements.  Are there special considerations when building a full basement in this type of soil?

Answer
Hi Nan, when building on this type of soil as pretty much any basement foundation the key is to make sure that you have a good footing drain around the perimeter of the foundation.  This keeps water from building up around the basement and it keeps the gumbo in check.  Other than that, a standard basement foundation isn't much different in this type of soil than in other types.  I hope this information helps, feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely, bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com

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Bruce E. Johnson

Expertise

I can answer any construction related question in regards to carpentry, concrete, drywall, masonry, structural elements of any type of building, residential or commercial. Interior or exterior.

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Custom Commercial and residential buildings. Churches, theaters, schools and auditoriums. Most recently I am working with the Catholic Church on several design build committees. I have a website related to scheduling and project supervision. Although my expertise is more related to multimillion dollar commercial, educational and theatrical projects my generous credentials in residential and remodelling construction make me a viable source of information regarding all forms of building questions.

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