Aside from the possibility of having broken a pipe the analysis is fairly simple. The place to start is with the basic assumption that water flows downhill. If water is collecting, it means that there is no down hill path for it to follow to remove itself. The question is whether the landscaper has done something to block this downhill path, or to have created an area that is more "downhill" than the surrounding area (my guess), or has opened a "downhill" path from other areas to introduce water to an area which can not absorb the volume. All you need to do is to determine the elevations of the area to understad what happened. One of the big problems these days is that people know how to build things, but do not understand the bigger picture of how these affect everything else around what they build. The patio should have been designed based on the topography around it and with the understanding of the increased runoff from its surface. My guess is that the landscaper only recognised the patio itself and little else. Another good reason to hire professionally trained people.

The things crawling around are light to medium brownish and terribly tiny. Couldn't make out body parts with a magnifying glass. They move very, very, very fast. A search on the net came up with a description of crazy ants. Never personally seen ants that small though. They are quite sensitive to movement and scurry fast to avoid being squished. They don't seem to travel in lines. I purchased Terro last night and they seem to ignore the traps so far. Used orange oil hoping it was a barrier but nothing seems to be coming from the windows. Also heard baby powder was a deterrant; put some on the sills just in case. I will try the good grade DE. As you can see, I'm desperate to get rid of these things and hoping to avoid repotting again so soon! P.S. Rizo - I hear you are an insect genius!

You guys are trully magical.Many, many thanks to all of you.Of course I will be doing lots of reading here before anything gets done here.Many thanks for directions from everyone who responded. 1.Hemnancy: the slope just before the veg garden has a row of roses.( I lost several over last winter/spring because their roots are basicaly in water.On the other side I have pavers and veg garden.Garlick does sort of ok in that area.Then it slowly gets elevated and contiunues into veg garden.Going up the slope from the roses is lawn constantly wet.When we re-did the garden few years back with professional help we explained the problem so the top part of the lawn was converted into an are of some shrubs that we were told like water and will basicaly help to absorb it.They are doing well , but this in turn created even worse situation because the dirt from there gets washed down my pavers and supplies lots of fertilizer and dirt also so I m constantly pulling it out no end to it.By me pulling on them I know I am removing the sand but the constantly draining water removes it anyways and takes it down the pavers and by my garage door also.I actually have to brush it away from the garage door because it would go into the garage.There is a drain there but the slope takes the water away from that small ineffective drain.We already have a water feature in front of the house so at this point we will won't put one more. 2.Mdvaden of Oregon: I wish you were closer to me maybe you could help us out here..Thanks for the info I will read it all.I have been working on my soil for few years and that is the reason I can even grow vegies there.It was far more worse when we moved here.I will read and learn more.I would be most happy if by fixing soil I could improve it, but the soil gets the water constantly from the slope and I am improving it but it won't stop pouring there unless I direct it somewhere else.Thanks again. 3.Sylvia forest : what a terrible neighbour you have .So sorry about it.We had a similar situation but the water was just dripping from the soaking hose right into our house.We told them to re-direct it and it was done.They also have it right against the fence but not for extended periods of time so its not a problem .In any case its on the site that we don't have a drainge problem.If they don't respond well to you explaining it I would be tempted to do exactly the same and direct your hose right into their yard.This way they will see exactly what you are talking about.It may work, but it also may make things worse between you and them.You have to make this decision .Good luck. Once more many thanks and please do keep your ideas coming they are all great.I am coming to conclusion that we will do it ourselves this time around.Thanks so very much.

Thank you for responding, it's been a heavy hearted day. I did take some pics, then I got some waterproof foil tape and wrapped it loosely around the trunk, only adhering the tape back onto itself (so no adhesive on trunk.) We also cut up some holographic poster board into strips and hung strips around the tree...that's supposed to scare the birds off. I took down the feeders completely, with a very heavy heart and will put them back up in a few days....on another area of the property. Unfortunately, I also have another new tree in the backyard which also has lichen growing on it, so I don't want to put those feeders near there. The feeders won't be anywhere in my viewing area, which is a big bummer for me. We couldn't get the reflective tape or holographic strips and into the upper 3rd of the tree and we saw a woodpecker land...however, the bird left soon thereafter, since there was no food around. At the same time, we saw a male and female Baltimore Oriole land on the tree and I just about swooned...we have not seen them before! I do think I could get some orange out for them and the woodpeckers would not be interested, right?