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.

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

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
news
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

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

"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

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

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

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
news
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