Mobile Home Leveling in Blooming Grove, Texas

Open prairie means exposed soil

In a shaded in town lot, the soil under and around a home is partly protected from direct sun and from the full force of rainfall. On open prairie acreage around Blooming Grove it is not. The ground gets the full dry down in an August drought and the full soaking in a spring storm, and the swing between those two states is larger.

These are the classic dark, deep, alkaline cracking clays of the Blackland Prairie. They open wide, deep cracks in dry weather and swell when they take on water again. Under a manufactured home that means the pads are bearing on soil that changes volume through the year, so the home rises and falls with it.

Agricultural land next door

A distinctive Blooming Grove factor is what is happening on the land around the home. Field operations, plowed ground, terraces and turn rows all change where water goes. Irrigation on adjacent land, a field that drains toward a home site, or a stock tank upslope can each keep one part of a property considerably wetter than the rest.

On cracking clay that asymmetry matters. If the north side of a home sits next to ground that stays damp and the south side faces open sun baked field, the two sides will not be at the same elevation by late summer. That differential is the mechanism behind most of the tilts that show up as a door that binds on one corner only.

Trees, windbreaks and water demand

Many farmsteads in this area have mature trees or a planted windbreak near the house. A large tree pulls a serious volume of water out of clay in a dry summer. When that draw is concentrated on one side of a manufactured home, that side shrinks more, and the home leans toward the tree. It is a common finding on rural properties across this part of the county.

Access on acreage

A practical difference on rural Blooming Grove properties is access. Whether a contractor can get equipment close to the home, whether the drive holds up after rain, and how much clearance there is around the perimeter all affect how the job is done. Clay roads and drives here turn to mud quickly, and scheduling around weather is normal.

Practical points for Blooming Grove owners

• Watch for one sided drying near mature trees or a windbreak.
• Check whether field drainage or a neighboring irrigation pattern sends water toward one edge of the home site.
• Look for wide cracks after a long dry spell, especially in open ground near the pier lines.
• Keep the drive and the approach to the home usable so equipment access is not the limiting factor.
• Extend downspouts well past the skirt rather than letting roof water pool at the edge.

Getting connected in Blooming Grove

This site refers Blooming Grove area homeowners to independent local contractors who work on manufactured home support systems across Navarro County.