ROWLETT

Rowlett is nearly surrounded by Lake Ray Hubbard, and a great deal of it was built on ground that was shaped before it could be built on.

Land running down to the water was cut and filled to make level lots, and Blackland clay that has been moved and recompacted does not behave quite like clay that has been sitting undisturbed for ten thousand years.

Add the standard North Texas summer and newer Rowlett homes can show cracks a good deal earlier than their owners expect.

What the ground under Rowlett is actually doing

Under Rowlett the survey finds Heiden first at a linear extensibility of 13.3, then Lewisville at 7.5, then Houston Black at 13.7. Two of those three are very high and the third is high.

Rowlett also has Lake Ray Hubbard on two sides, and the soil nearest the water behaves differently again because its moisture never fully dries out on the same schedule as ground further inland. A house a few streets from the shoreline and one a mile back can be on the same named soil and still be on a different seasonal cycle.