Byron sits in Georgia’s Coastal Plain, where the soil profile works differently than the red clay found farther north. According to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Tifton soil, the official state soil of Georgia, is the dominant series across this part of Peach and Houston counties. Tifton has a sandy loam topsoil that drains well on its own, but the subsoil beneath it contains a denser layer of ironstone and plinthite that slows water movement. When heavy rain moves through that sandy top layer and hits the denser one below, it can perch there instead of draining away, building pressure against a foundation or slab poured into that ground.

Poor drainage around the house adds to the pressure that soil already puts on a foundation. Gutters that empty too close to the house, ground that slopes toward the foundation instead of away from it, and a low spot nearby that collects runoff all send more water into that restrictive layer instead of away from it. Older footings poured before modern building standards accounted for these soil conditions are more likely to shift as that pressure builds over time. Each of these adds to what the soil underneath is already doing on its own.