A Great Soaker Hose Tip

In our last post, we discussed soaker hoses and regulating the moisture around and under your foundation. This time around, we have a tip for a problem many people have when using soaker hoses.

What do you do if, by the time you've connected all your soaker hoses together, there's not enough pressure at the end of the last hose?

The first thing you need to do is understand why this occurs. The pressure is dropping at the end of the hose because there's too much hose for the amount of pressure provided at the water spigot. By the time the water reaches the farthest lengths of the hose, the pressure has dropped so much that the water isn't forced out the tiny perforations in the soaker hose.

The next thing to do is to see if there are additional water spigots you can use. Instead of stringing all your soaker hoses from one spigot, split your soaker hoses among two or more. If you're afraid of using all your spigots for just soaker hoses, you can purchase multi-headed spigots that attach to the spigot coming out of the wall. That way, you can hook up the soaker hose and still have a connection free for other uses when you're not using the soaker hose.

If you can't use additional spigots, you can alternate traditional hoses with soaker hoses. Since a traditional hose doesn't lose water from the tiny perforations like a soaker hose does, then it maintains a higher pressure through its length. With a combination of soaker hoses and regular garden hoses, you can reach the farther parts of your foundation and still maintain adequate pressure. You may have to run two sets of alternating hoses (call them Line A and Line B). Make sure when setting the two lines that where Line A's soaker hose(s) alternate with Line B's soaker hoses. When it comes time to use the soaker hoses (about once or twice a week, depending on soil conditions), connect Line A and run for 30 or more minutes, then disconnect and run Line B for 30 or more minutes. In this way, you'll water the entire perimeter of the foundation, yet each hose is only responsible for half the task.

Get more information by visiting www.AceFoundation.com.