Need advice for back yard
 

Hi all,

I have a small 1000 foot house that seems to be sinking a little...
The back yard has this wooden wall or bench(?) around it. There metal
os sheeting about a foot high covering the length of the back of the
house. I think the previous owners had water problems and this was
their solution.

Can anyone recommend something that would be more attractive than this?
The space between the wall and the house is about 18" or so, and it's
filled with weeds etc. If I plant something there, wouldn't that
create another water problem next to the house? If I remove it, we'd
have the water problem.

One contractor suggested putting concrete there, having it slope away
from the house, which sounds pretty ugly. Here are the pictures. It's
in San Jose, CA. ANY suggestions are quite welcome!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...%3 Dtrue&Ux=0

On 25 Mar 2005 20:38:41 -0800, LT wrote:
Hi all,

I have a small 1000 foot house that seems to be sinking a little...
The back yard has this wooden wall or bench(?) around it. There metal
os sheeting about a foot high covering the length of the back of the
house. I think the previous owners had water problems and this was
their solution.

I don't see the metal sheeting in your photos, but I do see some problems
with the grading of your lot. I like to see at least 6" of clear space
from the ground level to the lowest portion of the siding. If you're
in an area with termites, etc., then you need even more -- check with the
local building codes people. At any rate, I'd be pulling out that
raised planter.

In addition to the 6" vertical clearance to the siding, the ground
should slope away from the foundation at least 1" per foot for the first 6
feet, and the drainpipes should discharge as far away from the house as
possible.

In areas with very expansive soils and cycling between very wet and very
dry, it may be necessary to put in a drip irrigation line near the foundation
to use during the dry season, to keep the soil from heaving the foundation.

The other common mistake people make is to plant too close to the foundation
of a building... especially when the shrubs look so puny when you transplant
them. But they do grow and spread, and if you don't plan for the spread
when you plant, you've either got an endless round of pruning, or you
wind up having to take them back out when they get bigger and rub all the
paint off the siding, or knock against the raingutters, or... or... or...
It's just a whole lot easier and cheaper to set up the area around the
building properly to begin with than it is to have to re-side the house,
or deal with termite damages.

You can use low water groundcovers and mulches right up next to a house
to "dress" the area. Remember that areas under eaves don't get much
water naturally, unless the grading is wrong.

I find that I agree with Kay on just about all points. I don't think that's a raised bed along the house though. It appears to actually be lower then the soil extending away from the house. Those barrier things need to be removed and the soil graded so that the water and slope runs away from the house.

It's also best to have the grade of soil at least 8", 12" is even better, below the bottom edge of your siding.

It also appears that the gutter in picture 3 just dumps the water onto the soil. I think I see alot of splashed soil on the foundation. There needs to be an elbow, and even an extender to move the water away from the house. I can't tell if you have a downspout at either end of the house, but if you have water cascading over the gutters in a heavy rain, then consider adding one at each end. That would be alot of water for just one downspout to handle for the length of run across the back of the house.

If you decide to plant shrubs and plants along the back of the house once the grading has been done, allow enough room behind what you plant so that it leaves room for air circulation once they reach mature size. You should have at least 12" of space between the plants and the foundation. You don't want the moisture against the house. Here's a helpful site about drainage issues.

http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/yard_drainage.htm

Newt

You all have been helpful - but I've gotten some quotes to put cement
down (ugly but the cheapest) and put in a 'french drain' thing, it's
like $1700.

What do I do when the water goes down the length of the middle of the
yard? And, the cement would have to stick out about 3 feet away from
the house, right?

Can you think of something that isn't that much money?

-Laura
Newt wrote:
Kay Lancaster Wrote:
On 25 Mar 2005 20:38:41 -0800, LT wrote:-
Hi all,

I have a small 1000 foot house that seems to be sinking a little...
The back yard has this wooden wall or bench(?) around it. There
metal
os sheeting about a foot high covering the length of the back of
the
house. I think the previous owners had water problems and this was
their solution.-

I don't see the metal sheeting in your photos, but I do see some
problem with the grading of your lot. I like to see at least 6" of
clear space from the ground level to the lowest portion of the
siding.
If you're in an area with termites, etc., then you need even more
--
check with the local building codes people. At any rate, I'd be
pulling out that raised planter.

In addition to the 6" vertical clearance to the siding, the ground
should slope away from the foundation at least 1" per foot for the
first 6 feet, and the drainpipes should discharge as far away from
the
house as possible.

In areas with very expansive soils and cycling between very wet and
very dry, it may be necessary to put in a drip irrigation line near
the
foundation to use during the dry season, to keep the soil from
heaving
the foundation.

The other common mistake people make is to plant too close to the
foundation of a building... especially when the shrubs look so puny
when you transplant them. But they do grow and spread, and if you
don't plan for the spread when you plant, you've either got an
endless
round of pruning, or you
wind up having to take them back out when they get bigger and rub
all
the paint off the siding, or knock against the raingutters, or...
or...
or...
It's just a whole lot easier and cheaper to set up the area around
the
building properly to begin with than it is to have to re-side the
house, or deal with termite damages.

You can use low water groundcovers and mulches right up next to a
house
to "dress" the area. Remember that areas under eaves don't get
much
water naturally, unless the grading is wrong.

I find that I agree with Kay on just about all points. I don't think
that's a raised bed along the house though. It appears to actually
be
lower then the soil extending away from the house. Those barrier
things need to be removed and the soil graded so that the water and
slope runs away from the house.

It's also best to have the grade of soil at least 8", 12" is even
better, below the bottom edge of your siding.

It also appears that the gutter in picture 3 just dumps the water
onto
the soil. I think I see alot of splashed soil on the foundation.
There needs to be an elbow, and even an extender to move the water
away
from the house. I can't tell if you have a downspout at either end
of
the house, but if you have water cascading over the gutters in a
heavy
rain, then consider adding one at each end. That would be alot of
water for just one downspout to handle for the length of run across
the
back of the house.

If you decide to plant shrubs and plants along the back of the house
once the grading has been done, allow enough room behind what you
plant
so that it leaves room for air circulation once they reach mature
size.
You should have at least 12" of space between the plants and the
foundation. You don't want the moisture against the house. Here's a
helpful site about drainage issues.

http://tinyurl.com/6gyux

Newt


--
Newt