I have the same problem here in Alabama! The site grading was not done properly when it was built. Nevertheless, we got by without any water intrusion until my next-door neighbor redirected his storm water drainage without regard for anyone else. Unfortunately, I was "downhill" from him. My townhome flooded 8 times and water intrusion of a less dramatic nature continues to this day. Toxic mold grew inside the shared wall that separates our two units. It made me sick and I was forced to move out. My townhome sits there, empty and uninhabitable. And I must pay rent every month when I could be living there for free. I have owned my home since 1998 and lived there for 10 years without any problems. To my horror, state law does not protect me from those who are harming me. I have tried every way in the world to resolve this but without success. I even represented myself in court. Long story short, state law allows no way to resolve a problem like this. As a result, I'm losing everything I have. Have already lost my health, my home and furniture, and a significant amount of my retirement savings. I continue to lose money with each month that passes. I am a disabled senior and cannot afford a loss of this magnitude. Would LOVE to join with others in effort to get the laws changed to better protect homeowners like us. Please email me if you have a similar story and would like to join with me - jberneske@gmail.com

Based on your pictures, it looks like the neighbor blocked a natural drainage flow with his garage and pool. To me it looks like your only alternative is to take more pictures and take them before the zoning board in your community. That failing most area of the country have rules on the natural drainage systems, that a Lawyer could help you with. While a lawyer will cost, you have already spent a lot of money to correct an problem that can only be corrected on a community level. Your pump solution will be a continuing cost, not to mention the cost of the loss of the value of your home caused by the blocked drainage flow.

I'm redoing my yard to fix a drainage issue... so I can offer a little help. Topsoil won't help... rain will soak through the topsoil, hit your clay and make the topsoil soggy. The builder put a dry well in what appears to be clay soil? I wonder if he knew what he was doing? Dry wells are for good draining yards... as you can see you don't have a good draining yard lol. You sure it's a dry well and not an outdoor sump pump that failed? If you recently bought it... the builder should stand behind his work. How far away is the street from this spot? Is it slopped down hill to the street? A french drain is all you need... I built one 100' long last month. It only took a couple days digging by hand... but made a huge improvement. but in order to get that water to the street... you have to design it so the water can run down hill. If it doesn't run down hill.... you may just want to create a french drain and hook it into your downspouts. It'll take care of that problem quick.

Hello, This sounds like a legal question. I am not a lawyer but I know a little about this because I was in a similar situation and I have worked in real estate a long time. I don't think you will be able to recover any damages regarding the damage to your landscape, here's why: 1. You purchased a property in which this problem already existed for 30 years. I am certain the damage did not just suddenly begin in the last 4 years you have lived there. A home inspector should have pointed this problem out to you and you could have considered costs needed to correct the problem which you should have negotiated in your purchase price. 2. I don't know, maybe you have some recourse with your home inspector for these costs if your home and property was inspected and you were not told. Your home inspection should be in writing. That said, it is 4 years later and this should have been addressed with the home inspector the first year you were there. I don't know what the statute of limitations are in your area for this. 3. Consider yourself fortunate that your neighbor corrected the problem on his side, at no expense to you. Where I live (not far from you) you are allowed to drain water right up to the property line. The grade of the neighbor's property is their responsibility, and if it is lower than your property, then that person would want to install a drain, ditch, or something similar to redirect water flow. All water flows from high to low (obviously) and the person with the lowest property, unfortunately, is going to pay for it. In general, that's usually negotiated in the sales price. Most of the time, neighbors are neighborly and correct the problem, like yours did, however they are not legally obligated to do so. It sounds like your neighbor did the right thing. I'm not sure if going to war with your neighbor will help you, especially when I think you stand a very good chance of loosing. If you win or loose, you still need to live next door to this neighbor. There is also the other neighbors to think about, I don't know what their relationships are like or how big your town is. It's just something practical for you to think about. Regarding your building a berm. This would depend on what your goal is and how much you want to spend. You might find it more cost effective to dig a ditch to the street, removing dirt rather than bringing more in to create the berm. That said, you could build a berm but you said you had 12' (12 foot) of water. I'm not sure if that's 12' deep or wide. It would need to be quite a large berm to redirect the water to the street depending on water volume. You should also think about what you would like to plant on the berm and if it could tolerate standing water if there is any. A berm could help provide you with privacy and could help keep out some noises if you have any. If noise is not an issue, you may be able to dig a good sized deep ditch, at a strong pitch, to the drainage ditch at the street. A berm could be pretty but you could also line the ditch with rocks which could be pretty as well. The rocks are a good option if you don't want to mow or weed whack in there. If you're willing to spend a little, you could do a combination of berms and ditches, or even french drains, with piping to the drainage ditch on the street. You have several options. Now, all of this said, you also must find out what your local building inspector says about all this because your code may call for certain setbacks from your neighbor's property for building a berm or the drainage ditch. In my area, we cannot change the original grade of the land in any way without submitting a plan first. You should know this first so as not to incur extra expenses for yourself. Regrading from the house down is a good idea and will improve on the health and longevity of your home. You should speak with your local building inspector about this and any permits you may need so as not to incur fines. Depending on how extensive your project is, the building inspector may want to see a drainage plan. Keep in mind that sometimes an improvement you may make on your property may change or affect the drainage or water flow to your neighbor's property. This can be a good or bad thing. It all depends on your situation. I hope this is helpful and I wish you the best of luck on your pool! G.