drainage issues in my backyard

kennyh45377

I bought my house in September of last year when my yard was completely DRY.
Low and behold with the fall rains and snow and now spring rains, my back and side yard are ponds. our older neighbors who have lived next door since the houses were built in the late 70's said that our mutual neighbor's house was built about 2 feet higher than our yards and the developer used a "natural drainage plan" which basically means drains into our yards. we live in a cul-de-sac where the nearest sewer drain is about 30 yards from our houses. as a result, the water pools on our aprons until it makes its slow creep to the sewer.

my side walk is cracking and my apron is cracking from the moving and standing water and i cant mow my yard until it is dry enough for my riding mower (about an acre in the back).

I am in SW Ohio and not quite in red clay country, but our water table in our area is about 2-5 feet below ground.

the water doesn't pool near the house but basically around it on all sides.

any suggestions would be much appreciated.

thanks

k

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AllanJ

When was the neighbor's house two feet higher than yours built?

In most cities it is illegal to regrade the land so water is diverted onto someone else's property where the water did not go before. But if nobody complains for more than a few years, the new drainage pattern becomes the status quo.

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handy man88

Unless you can get the water away from the house, and assuming it doesn't damage your house itself, consider putting in a rain garden there.

Best case is to hire a landscaping company to put in catch basis that will channel this water towards the sewer.

HandyManMarc

From the picture it looks like that area is lower than everything else. You could have a landscaper come in and install some french drains and then with several loads of topsoils regrade the yard to make the water flow the direction you want, then replant grass. Or... you could just throw in some coy fish.

cougar01

I had the same problem in my yard with water ponding. French drains are the way to go if you have an area to discharge the water. Then, regrade the area to allow nature to drain it as stated in the previous post. I'd be careful about catch basins tied into the sewer. Many places forbid this going into the sewage system......especially here in western Pa.

handy man88

I don't think anybody is talking about tying catch basins directly to sewer systems.

They're talking about using catch basis to route water to an above ground location where there is an open air storm drain.

Leah Frances

Looks like my backyard for most of the spring. My Labrador-Mix LOVES having his own personal transient soaking pool.

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If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

Gemini8511

Maybe you can rent a sod-cutter and cut up the grass and put in some loam to build up a pitch in the lawn?

Bushman

I would install a "dry creek bed". Excavate about a 3 ft wide trough all the way to the intended area. Follow the natural topography of the land. You can stick little flags in the ground when it is like the pics above marking the water route. Don't fight nature if you don't have to. Adapt!! Dig the trench about a 6-7 inches deep with a slight V shape to it. In the bottom center of the creek bed dig a trench about 6 inches by 6 inches. Next place quality landscape fabric in the entire creek bed. Then nestle a 4 inch perforated sock tile into the mini-trench. Cover this with a 3/8"-1" stone. Then fill the entire creek bed with an assortment of stones. Use some creativity, try to imagine a dried up creek bed somewhere. The good thing about the stones is you won't see the water in there and the dogs won't be able to access it and the water will naturally run into the trench because it already does anyways, you have just created a funnel is all. The water will fill the sock tile and run to the intended area. Thirty yards of dry creek bed won't Set you back but a couple hundred in stone and materials.
Up here in Michigan that would be about $300 bucks plus delivery for the stone. As daunting as it seems to do that much digging, work smarter not harder. Mark area with paint then spray with herbicide. When the grass is good and dead, like you can kick it and the grass just peels off, then get a good rear tine rototiller(rent if need be) and till the crap out of it. A good tiller will till almost a foot deep.
Then you just need to scoop out the loose soil (which you will probably use to correct any grade issues in the rest of the yard anyways) and finish the install. The good thing is that if you dig the trench about a foot or so deep you will have elevation flucuation to play with. Obviously you would love to have everyhting run down hill. If that was the case we wouldn't be typing now. But now you added a foot of travel for the water. If you have a bit of a low spot the water may build up a couple inches then it will be forced out the other end. Any standing water will drain into the soil thru the bottom of the tile. Your local landscape supply yard will have a formula for figuring cubic yards needed. 90 foot long by 3 ft wide by 1 ft deep sounds like about 5-7 yards of stone depending on size. Good luck!!!