Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
I just bought a resale home and found that the back yard is like a swamp.
The neighbor behind me, to the left and to the right of me are on higher ground and slightly sloped toward my back yard, and the rear neighbor had their lot re-graded and piped in the past to direct water my way. My back yard is completely flat and slightly lower, with a sloped down front yard away from the house. Many parts of the lawn to the rear and center of the yard bulge with water puddles after moderate rainfall, and the water does not move. Additionally, we have a 35x25 patio with a negative pitch toward the home causing water to sit against the house with no place to go but in. Last week, the water sat there like a pool almost up to my ankles! The good news is that I have a drainage easement on my property, and there's a grate in the far corner of my yard to accept water if I was to redirect it to it. A Mason/Landscaper advised a buried perforated pipe and crushed stone drainage system throughout the yard, at an incredible cost. He said he would draw out maps of the drain pipes, etc ... the whole bit. I want to know if anyone with this problem has tackled this, and if there is any DIY option. If you have any "how to" web sites or info on installing this type of drainage system or regarding these types of issues and solutions, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm good with yard work and tools, if I need to rent a digger and have stones and pipe delivered to save thousands, I'll do it - I just need help on where to go to learn how. |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 13:10:57 -0400, Billy wrote:
I just bought a resale home and found that the back yard is like a swamp. The neighbor behind me, to the left and to the right of me are on higher ground and slightly sloped toward my back yard, and the rear neighbor had their lot re-graded and piped in the past to direct water my way. My back yard is completely flat and slightly lower, with a sloped down front yard away from the house. Many parts of the lawn to the rear and center of the yard bulge with water puddles after moderate rainfall, and the water does not move. Additionally, we have a 35x25 patio with a negative pitch toward the home causing water to sit against the house with no place to go but in. Last week, the water sat there like a pool almost up to my ankles! The good news is that I have a drainage easement on my property, and there's a grate in the far corner of my yard to accept water if I was to redirect it to it. A Mason/Landscaper advised a buried perforated pipe and crushed stone drainage system throughout the yard, at an incredible cost. He said he would draw out maps of the drain pipes, etc ... the whole bit. I want to know if anyone with this problem has tackled this, and if there is any DIY option. If you have any "how to" web sites or info on installing this type of drainage system or regarding these types of issues and solutions, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm good with yard work and tools, if I need to rent a digger and have stones and pipe delivered to save thousands, I'll do it - I just need help on where to go to learn how. What your looking to build is called a french drain. They are rather easy to build but expensive to have built. Moving dirt is about the most expensive thing one can do. If the water is sheeting into your property then you may need to build a deeper drain called a curtain drain. Your case sounds like roof run off imho (in my hummble opinion). I would also call your city goverment about the water issue that flows from your neighbors. Some city laws will consider that any water coming from your neighbors to be his and he should be responsible for damage that may be cause by him draining his property into yours. If your getting water in your basement, then your receiving damage. Here's the google search for "french drain how-to". http://www.google.com/search?q=french+drain+how-to -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com Bellingham, Washington Georgia straits area Zone 8a usda |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
I'm not sure of what I need yet, because I do not understand how the water
is arriving to my property - I mean does water travel beneath the ground and seep upward and downward or does it "ride" along the surface? If you have a site that explains how water collects and travels, I would be very happy to research, because I think that I need to be completely determine this before I attempt the drainage installations. I ask the above question because I do not see the water actually flowing into my yard from the other property in all places where my yard floods. I would suppose that the only way for water from one yard to arrive into my yard is from rainfall flowing down the dirt and lawn unless there was an underground spring pushing water upward, correct? Is this how water normally travels from yards...moving across and down the *surface* of the lawn and dirt? If this is true, how does an *underground* french drain pipe collect water from the *surface* flooding? Additionally, the drain would need to be graded (since it relies on gravity) rather than lye flat toward the place it empties to be effective, right? I'm going to look at french and curtain drain searches on Google. Thanks! "Timothy" wrote in message m... On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 13:10:57 -0400, Billy wrote: I just bought a resale home and found that the back yard is like a swamp. The neighbor behind me, to the left and to the right of me are on higher ground and slightly sloped toward my back yard, and the rear neighbor had their lot re-graded and piped in the past to direct water my way. My back yard is completely flat and slightly lower, with a sloped down front yard away from the house. Many parts of the lawn to the rear and center of the yard bulge with water puddles after moderate rainfall, and the water does not move. Additionally, we have a 35x25 patio with a negative pitch toward the home causing water to sit against the house with no place to go but in. Last week, the water sat there like a pool almost up to my ankles! The good news is that I have a drainage easement on my property, and there's a grate in the far corner of my yard to accept water if I was to redirect it to it. A Mason/Landscaper advised a buried perforated pipe and crushed stone drainage system throughout the yard, at an incredible cost. He said he would draw out maps of the drain pipes, etc ... the whole bit. I want to know if anyone with this problem has tackled this, and if there is any DIY option. If you have any "how to" web sites or info on installing this type of drainage system or regarding these types of issues and solutions, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm good with yard work and tools, if I need to rent a digger and have stones and pipe delivered to save thousands, I'll do it - I just need help on where to go to learn how. What your looking to build is called a french drain. They are rather easy to build but expensive to have built. Moving dirt is about the most expensive thing one can do. If the water is sheeting into your property then you may need to build a deeper drain called a curtain drain. Your case sounds like roof run off imho (in my hummble opinion). I would also call your city goverment about the water issue that flows from your neighbors. Some city laws will consider that any water coming from your neighbors to be his and he should be responsible for damage that may be cause by him draining his property into yours. If your getting water in your basement, then your receiving damage. Here's the google search for "french drain how-to". http://www.google.com/search?q=french+drain+how-to -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com Bellingham, Washington Georgia straits area Zone 8a usda |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 17:25:32 -0400, Billy wrote:
I'm not sure of what I need yet, because I do not understand how the water is arriving to my property - I mean does water travel beneath the ground and seep upward and downward or does it "ride" along the surface? If you have a site that explains how water collects and travels, I would be very happy to research, because I think that I need to be completely determine this before I attempt the drainage installations. I ask the above question because I do not see the water actually flowing into my yard from the other property in all places where my yard floods. I would suppose that the only way for water from one yard to arrive into my yard is from rainfall flowing down the dirt and lawn unless there was an underground spring pushing water upward, correct? Is this how water normally travels from yards...moving across and down the *surface* of the lawn and dirt? If this is true, how does an *underground* french drain pipe collect water from the *surface* flooding? Additionally, the drain would need to be graded (since it relies on gravity) rather than lye flat toward the place it empties to be effective, right? I'm going to look at french and curtain drain searches on Google. Thanks! Finding the source of the water is nessasary, but it may be the job of a trained hydrologist to source it correctly. Seing as you don't have a history of the problem due to you just buying the place, ask the neighbors if they have noticed a small pond in your back yard before. There are a few ways the water could of gotten there. There's run off, generaly from roofs, drive ways and other hard surfaces. There's over saturation of the soil. When this happens, water percolates through the soil untill it hits a soil structure it can't move through it. Then gravity pulls it along (if there is grade ofcourse). Then there's the dreaded spring. What you need to figure out. What type of soil you have. Is it clay based? How far can you easily dig down, 2, 3, 4 feet? Could the top layer of your soil be compacted from heavy machines from the past? My opinion.... I would gander to say that your neighbors have piped their run off in your direction as your the low spot. I would also guess that your soil is a high clay soil and if you was to dig down a few feet you would see that it gets hard to dig. As the yards above you 'fill' up there soil's water holding ability, it percolates through the soil via gravity to the common low spot... your yard. I see this alot here in the pnw. When you have 3 neighbors with 2000 square foot roofs that drain all to the same common area.... ug what a mess. After 2 days of on and off rain and the common area starts to puddle. Here's a link from my daughters science paper that talks about hydrology. http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/c.../chapter8.html Good luck draining your swamp..... -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com Bellingham, Washington Georgia straits area Zone 8a usda |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
"Billy" wrote:
I just bought a resale home and found that the back yard is like a swamp. The neighbor behind me, to the left and to the right of me are on higher ground and slightly sloped toward my back yard, and the rear neighbor had their lot re-graded and piped in the past to direct water my way. Check local ordinances and state laws governing disposition of runoff water. Here one can make a neighbor stop directing water from their property onto yours. Their piping might have to go. My back yard is completely flat and slightly lower, with a sloped down front yard away from the house. Many parts of the lawn to the rear and center of the yard bulge with water puddles after moderate rainfall, and the water does not move. Additionally, we have a 35x25 patio with a negative pitch toward the home causing water to sit against the house with no place to go but in. Last week, the water sat there like a pool almost up to my ankles! That is your problem. Taking out a slice of it and putting in a drain pitched the right way might solve this. Tsu -- To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. - Jules Henri Poincaré |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
The message
from "Billy" contains these words: I'm not sure of what I need yet, because I do not understand how the water is arriving to my property - I mean does water travel beneath the ground and seep upward and downward or does it "ride" along the surface? If you have a site that explains how water collects and travels, I would be very happy to research, because I think that I need to be completely determine this before I attempt the drainage installations. On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 13:10:57 -0400, Billy wrote: The good news is that I have a drainage easement on my property, and there's a grate in the far corner of my yard to accept water if I was to redirect it to it. A Mason/Landscaper advised a buried perforated pipe and crushed stone drainage system throughout the yard, at an incredible cost. He said he would draw out maps of the drain pipes, etc ... the whole bit. I want to know if anyone with this problem has tackled this, and if there is any DIY option. If you have any "how to" web sites or info on installing this type of drainage system or regarding these types of issues and solutions, I'd greatly appreciate it. http://www.pavingexpert.com/drainage.htm will answer all your questions. We've recently followed this excellent website's directions on the kind of drain you describe, in our own soggy garden; we've still got a section to finish but the completed parts are working well. We dug the channels ourselves by hand (not too hard, and we're mid-50's) so you might not need to hire a digger. Janet |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
This is the site I was looking for. Thanks to all who helped!
"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message ... The message from "Billy" contains these words: I'm not sure of what I need yet, because I do not understand how the water is arriving to my property - I mean does water travel beneath the ground and seep upward and downward or does it "ride" along the surface? If you have a site that explains how water collects and travels, I would be very happy to research, because I think that I need to be completely determine this before I attempt the drainage installations. On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 13:10:57 -0400, Billy wrote: The good news is that I have a drainage easement on my property, and there's a grate in the far corner of my yard to accept water if I was to redirect it to it. A Mason/Landscaper advised a buried perforated pipe and crushed stone drainage system throughout the yard, at an incredible cost. He said he would draw out maps of the drain pipes, etc ... the whole bit. I want to know if anyone with this problem has tackled this, and if there is any DIY option. If you have any "how to" web sites or info on installing this type of drainage system or regarding these types of issues and solutions, I'd greatly appreciate it. http://www.pavingexpert.com/drainage.htm will answer all your questions. We've recently followed this excellent website's directions on the kind of drain you describe, in our own soggy garden; we've still got a section to finish but the completed parts are working well. We dug the channels ourselves by hand (not too hard, and we're mid-50's) so you might not need to hire a digger. Janet |
Back Yard is like Swamp - Advice on Water Redirection
You don't have to be an expert to find where the water is coming from if you
know that your neighbors' yards are higher than yours. It's coming from surface water (through or under the grass) and your neighbors' subsurface drainage system. You could haul in topsoil near the house so that the water doesn't settle around the foundation. Grade the soil downhill from the back of your house. It sounds as if you could benefit from a subsurface drainage system yourself. I did a DIY project using PVC pipe and catch basins. In my case, I was able to tie in the city's street drainage system (not sanitary system). You must be able to have about 1/4 inch fall per 10 feet for the system to drain effectively. That's where the additional topsoil might work for you. From your post, it sounds as if you may have to drain your backyard around the house and across the front yard if that's the natural downward grade. French drains can work too. I put in a French drain on the property line between my neighbor and me to drain water past a tree, which had formed a natural berm over the years. (Cutting tree roots are the worst part; and be sure to get permission from your neighbor if you are cutting *his* tree roots. There's a chance it could damage the tree.) Regards, Joe Morris Please remove ZAP to email me. "Timothy" wrote in message m... On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 17:25:32 -0400, Billy wrote: I'm not sure of what I need yet, because I do not understand how the water is arriving to my property - I mean does water travel beneath the ground and seep upward and downward or does it "ride" along the surface? If you have a site that explains how water collects and travels, I would be very happy to research, because I think that I need to be completely determine this before I attempt the drainage installations. I ask the above question because I do not see the water actually flowing into my yard from the other property in all places where my yard floods. I would suppose that the only way for water from one yard to arrive into my yard is from rainfall flowing down the dirt and lawn unless there was an underground spring pushing water upward, correct? Is this how water normally travels from yards...moving across and down the *surface* of the lawn and dirt? If this is true, how does an *underground* french drain pipe collect water from the *surface* flooding? Additionally, the drain would need to be graded (since it relies on gravity) rather than lye flat toward the place it empties to be effective, right? I'm going to look at french and curtain drain searches on Google. Thanks! Finding the source of the water is nessasary, but it may be the job of a trained hydrologist to source it correctly. Seing as you don't have a history of the problem due to you just buying the place, ask the neighbors if they have noticed a small pond in your back yard before. There are a few ways the water could of gotten there. There's run off, generaly from roofs, drive ways and other hard surfaces. There's over saturation of the soil. When this happens, water percolates through the soil untill it hits a soil structure it can't move through it. Then gravity pulls it along (if there is grade ofcourse). Then there's the dreaded spring. What you need to figure out. What type of soil you have. Is it clay based? How far can you easily dig down, 2, 3, 4 feet? Could the top layer of your soil be compacted from heavy machines from the past? My opinion.... I would gander to say that your neighbors have piped their run off in your direction as your the low spot. I would also guess that your soil is a high clay soil and if you was to dig down a few feet you would see that it gets hard to dig. As the yards above you 'fill' up there soil's water holding ability, it percolates through the soil via gravity to the common low spot... your yard. I see this alot here in the pnw. When you have 3 neighbors with 2000 square foot roofs that drain all to the same common area.... ug what a mess. After 2 days of on and off rain and the common area starts to puddle. Here's a link from my daughters science paper that talks about hydrology. http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/c.../chapter8.html Good luck draining your swamp..... -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com Bellingham, Washington Georgia straits area Zone 8a usda |
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