[GreatNorthEast]

Hey guys this is my first post here and I figured I would share my project I just did over the past summer. I bought a house and it has a very wet backyard due to clay soils. The walkout basement is at a low point so I figured that I would rent a Kubota and make a mess!

I ended up installing a 100'+ french drain with 4" preforated corrogated pipe w/ a drain sleeve and have crushed stone around it. I then put some landscape fabric over that and covered it back up with dirt and planted grass. What a difference it has made! This summer I am going to dig a small retention pond for a place for the water to discharge because right now I have a 4x6 dug hole that fills up quick.

After that was finished I decided to build a retaining wall to get some slope and encourage the water to runoff into the french drain. I finished that after some long nights after work and then laid down some crushed stone, landscape fabric, sand, and finally pavers. After a long 14 hour day we laid all the sand and pavers.

I had an old chicken coop that I repurposed into a cabana that holds a mini fridge, patio equipment, some lighting, surround sound, cable and a TV. Got a new patio set and a fire pit to enjoy the summer/fall nights outside, and then finally hooked up a hot tub (found one on craigslist for $100 and fixed it up). Did some landscaping around the retaining wall and alot of puttering and tidying up.

Now it is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy some of my hard work!

Pics with captions to follow!

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Well I thought pictures were going to follow but I can't find the manage attachments option

 

[david86camaro]

I believe they limit attachments when you have very few posts, so after you do some more posting you should be able to post pictures.
By the way it sounds like you did a good job!


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[GreatNorthEast]

Finally can post pictures. Here are a few for the beginning of the project. Started in May so the ground was soaked to say the least. Tearing the yard up with the Kubota was definately the best part!

 

[GreatNorthEast]

A few more pictures of the drain pipe and getting ready for stone.

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Finishing up laying the drain pipe. I need to dig a bigger pond in the back corner so it can drain better. There is an unbelievable ammount of water back there that I need to move! It was like a waterfall when I dug that trench!

 

[david86camaro]

Nice work so many people don't think about water control in there yards, definitely a good start to you yard. Can't wait to see the rest of the pictures of how it turned out.


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[GreatNorthEast]

As a Civil Engineer I lick my chops to improve water runoff every chance I get haha. This one is a bit of a stump though. My walkout basement and backyard are the lowest spots on my property. Everything drains here. How do you overcome gravity w/o power? (Dig a bigger hole apparently) :vs_bulb:

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Starting the retaining wall and laying some crushed stone with landscape fabric behind the wall to prevent heaving during the freeze/thaw season. Then starting to tear down the chicken coop and move it into place for the cabana build.

 

[lenaitch]

Nice job. Lots of 'bull work' but any job that requires a tractor is a fun job. Man, that is some heavy looking clay!

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Yeah a big portion of the earth moving I have done was with a good old shovel. I had to pull 25+ stumps with an axe and a comealong before I started this project... that was exhausting. When I got the backhoe I was interested to see how deep the clay went. It went deeper than the backhoe arm could reach (6'+). No wonder nothing drains at my house!

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Sand was delivered. Laying down some landscape fabric, sand, then compacting and leveling the sand. Old man helped me lay the pavers down! This is when things really started to take shape!

 

[Paultergeist]

This is looking great. I really appreciate you sharing the pictures with the forum.

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Been busy for a bit but here are some photos of me finishing the pavers, relaxing with some road soda's and a fire, then rebuilding the chicken coop into a cabana.

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Finishing up the cabana, TV and Cable installed.

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Mini fridge, Roll down screen fit perfectly to secure the front opening! Finishing up and doing some gardening and planting to make it look good around the retaining wall!

 

[GreatNorthEast]

Bought a Hot Tub off craigslist for $100. Fixed it up and painted it for about $35, ready to roll! Everything is holding up well through this rough week of winter in Maine. Over 52" of snow in the past 8 days... but that's why I built this getaway, sure is peaceful!