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Help me with my tiny front yard!

1718 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  downunder, 
H
Alright folks, here is the situation.

80 year old bungalo.
Front lawn is only about 25 feet wide, by 12 deep with a walkway to the front steps.

My problem is that both sections are almost bowl shaped, and fill up with water when it rains.

I understand I should get some yards of dirt dropped off and grade it from my foundation to the road.

My questions are these:

1)Is there a way to build a curb so the road water does not drain onto my lawn and instead continues down the road?

2)Should I put some sort of black plastic under the new dirt so the water does not soak in to the earth and end up in my basement?

3)I will need to raise my walkway or it will be a canyon after I put my new dirt down, should I just put a layer of sand over it, and then put some concrete patio stones on top of that?

Thank You!
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C

· Stay-at-home GC
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#2 ·
I would hold off on having the dirt delivered just yet.

Couple of things to look at first.

Is the water that is ponding coming from the street, gutters, other?

What type of soil do you have in the yard?

You say you are getting water in the basement?

Does your township/city allow grading work w/out a permit?

Pics? Also a rough Topo of the lot can help.
 
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H

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
CplDevilDog said:
I would hold off on having the dirt delivered just yet.

Couple of things to look at first.

Is the water that is ponding coming from the street, gutters, other?

The water is coming from both the street and my gutters. Its a very flat area, but the street is raised higher than our yards.

What type of soil do you have in the yard?

Clay :(

You say you are getting water in the basement?

Yeah, we have a perimeter draining system so its not a big deal, but my drylock that was painted last fall has already failed and has turned yellow with black mold.

Does your township/city allow grading work w/out a permit?

Pics? Also a rough Topo of the lot can help.
Click to expand...

I can email you a picture?
 
D

· Don't know it all, yet!
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Yes, I can see the depression in the yard. It looks like you have room to raise the grade from the house. Since you asked about curbing, does water run onto the yard now from the road? For now, it looks like you could go either way. I would lean toward raising the grade just enough to get drainage. Is your yard and the surrounding area generally level or is there a slope to one side or the other?

Is that a drain from a downspout on the right side? If so, it is probably adding to the problem. Can it be terminated into the flower bed on the side?

I am guessing that with the age of the house the street and drive were once gravel?

One thing to consider is that anything you do to your yard will affect the neighbors.

Are you getting water in the basement now or are you just concerned that it might become a problem?
 
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