Walls are cracking, floors are buckling and basements are sinking.

A hot, dry summer has taken a toll on home foundations in Winnipeg — and it could cost as much as $70,000 to repair.

"I've had people tell me they've got the best insurance policy ever," said Gerry Bonham, president of Abalon Foundation Repair, "and I've never seen it yet where they're covered."

He blames soil still parched from a dry fall last year with cracking and shifting foundations, walls and ceilings.

Bonham's fielded 15-20 calls a day from panicking residents noticing a shift as the soil expands and contracts underneath them.

"Everybody that calls us has got a new crack in their house. Their doors are sticking. They think their basement floor is heaving, when meanwhile, the exterior walls are going down."

Houses lifting

In worst cases, he explains, the foundation surrounding a home must be excavated and the entire basement lifted to install pilings and stabilize the home's base.

Deb Walker has seen cracks before in her Fort Garry home that's been standing for six decades, but never like this.

"The plaster is pretty unforgiving," Walker said, as she points at hairline fractures in her lime green walls.

I tell people it's the simplest recipe. You just take the hose out and run the water. - Gerry Bonham

She's leaving a cupboard open because she cannot reopen the door without a knife to pry it.

"That's never happened before," Walker said.

Preventive measures are few and far between. She waters her lawn to nourish the soil, depleted of moisture, but that's about all she can do.

Bonham says "it's the simplest recipe ... You just take the hose out and run the water."

He suggests watering about six feet away from the foundation to moisten the soil around your home.

While keeping a greener yard will ring up a higher water bill, it's a lot cheaper than the alternative.

"My water bill was almost $450 last bill and I went, 'Oh my God,'" he said, "but at least I'm doing what I'm telling people to do."

CBC meteorologist John Sauder explained Winnipeg has recorded 60 per cent of the normal rainfall so far this season. He's forecasting a chance for more precipitation later this week in southern Manitoba.

With files from Austin Grabish