For proper slope, you need 1/4 inch drop for every 10 feet.
I truly understand as at our old house we, too, had to add drainage pipe, french drains etc.

Since you have it stated in your contract, ask your builder what he plans on doing. He needs to state exactly what to him what "properly drains" means.

We just fought this battle at my Mother In Law's new house. We had two different people come in who supposedly knew how to do a proper grade and NEITHER of them got it right. I just don't understand what's so hard, especially in the age of laser levels. Since you have it in your contract, I'd certainly push the issue, but you might have a fight on your hands if the builder considers this "proper". Perhaps finding some documentation or city code that defines "proper" might be a good start? good luck.

Okay. 1/4in is better and should be more doable than 1in every 10ft. Surely they can do that. I'll bring the laser out again today.

The slope should be 1/4" per foot, the same slope used for drains and garage slabs. Trying to figure a 1/4" slope over ten feet of soil would be virtually impossible anyway.

Where I build, I need to file a drainage plan prepared by a surveyor or other specified professional and the final grading has to be confirmed by a surveyor.

A couple of confused teenagers grading our property wouldn't fly with the city. We had to put up a 2500.00 bond to guarantee the correct grading of the entire property for proper drainage.

I'm wondering why you have to worry about this and not your builder.

Final grade is something that needs to be done by an experienced excavation contractor. Not a 17 year old who likes playing with Dad's tractor.

Aside from the slope, the contour needs to look nice or your yard will look, well, like it was graded by a teenager.

Worthy, Thanks for the correction. I posted way too late and was tired!

LSST

the reason i'm worrying about this and not builder is because my builder cuts corners any way that can. I'm so fed up with fighting with him that part of me wants to not care anymore and hope the teenagers get it right. However, we all know that's not going to happen. I was out there with a hoe yesterday trying to get the dirt an inch lower than the patio slab. After about an hour of this, I was like "what am I doing?" this is CRAZY. Like the rest of the builders in America, he needs to hire someone in the business to do this.

So I found myself in the phonebook. I found a company called siteworks that will do it for an estimated 600 dollars. they haven't been to the house yet, so that's just an estimate.

My husband will call the builder today to have him call these people.

Oh, were in South Louisiana (near Baton Rouge). Builders are getting away with things you wouldn't believe around here.

Here's a picture of the back before any of the
teenagers' attempts. It's not a very complicated yard, at least it doesn't seem that way to me.

Here's part of the side

the front, which i'm not worried about because it seems as thought it's high and will drain to the street. Maybe I should be worried about it?? I don't know.

Again, these are not the most recent pictures. Things have been smoothed out a little since then, but by teenagers trying to make a buck on the side.

I really like the front of your house!

Bridget - Where are you building and who is your builder? I am about to start construction in Prairieville, LA. I am currently interviewing builders and it sounds like yours might be one I should avoid.

DrSung

Sue is right. Get an experienced excavation contractor with a bulldozer and have it done right.

So we've moved in 3wks ago and the builder came with his excavator and tried to grade the land himself. I insisted he use the laser thing. My dad has one and came to shoot elevations with it prior to. Thus, we already had it figured out for the builder.

We thought the best way to go about it would be to drain the water away from the patio and around the side of the house down into the front yard where it would finally drain into the street gutters. The back half of the yard didn't need any work according to my dad and his little laser.

Of course, builder refused to slope around the side and use the laser. He said that you have to "eyeball" these sorts of things. My dad said that he'd do it with the builder's excavator while builder was present. (my dad graded his one acre piece of property himself and it drains beautifully) Builder won't allow anyone to drive his excavator except those who work for him.

Thus, we let him do what he wanted to do (drain it to the back into a little "ditch" that he claims runs throghout the neighborhood between the backyards) This little ditch that he's referring to is simply a low spot between my property and the people who live behind us because they built their yard up. This low spot is still higher than our yard, so of course draining into there won't work. Even if it would have. I don't want a ditch on the edge of our property line!

It was CLEAR even by eyeball that his plan wouldn't work. I asked him what we should do if it still didn't drain. He said that he'd come back and try again. Naturally, it rained that afternoon after he left and here are the results:

Now what? He either needs to agree to let my dad do it or hire a professional. It's in the contract that the land has to be graded properly.

We don't want things to get ugly yet because there is one final issue that will need to be resolved. We haven't approached him about this yet. The driveway slopes into the carport, so the carport fills with water every time it rains. We are going to have to fight to get more concrete poured ontop of the carport so that it's higher than the driveway. Builder will freak when we bring this up. Thus, we're trying to keep things nice as long as possible.

Here in the mojave desert,years ago the "brilliant" planners we have in our area came up with a code that house pads would have to be built up 18". This was fine ,i guess, but being a desert, left a lot of us scratching our heads.The problem was new developments built next to older subdivisions the older homes were below the runoffs, and the times when we do get substantial rains, they got flooded.Now they have gone back to on grade building with 2% slopes off of grade,away from the house.

It seems to me that the houses in your area judging by your pictures should have been required to have a slight built up pad,(but not as extreme as 18"), to allow for run off as well as a decent slope away from the house, as im assuming you get a lot of rainfall where you are at. I lived in gulfbreeze,fl. for a stint, and it came down in buckets.

I was going to suggest you to find out how far up the foundation to the sill of your house you can go with fill, but looking at the pictures, it looks as if you are close already. Your patio doesn't seem to have ny build up as well. I was going to suggest more fill, but it looks like you are pretty much maxed out.Sounds like startegically placed rain gutters/spouts with a french drain system,but at who's expense? Yours or the builders?

Yes, it looks like there is not enough height from the bottom of the brick siding to pitch it away. In cases like that, creating a swale to carry water away is often helpful. A swale is like a gradual "moat" that allows you to pitch away from the house when you have no way to grade it to flow away. Maybe that's what the builder meant, but I don't see that in the photos.

I believe code requires that there be 8" between the bottom on the siding or trim and the grade. Yours looks much closer than that. He may need to scrape some away and re-do the loam and seed.

Most people cannot "eyeball" grading. And from the results you are getting, your builder cannot either.

This is what DH did on our lot: He put stakes throughout the lot and shot grades with a laser level. Then he put colored ribbon (surveyor flags) on the stakes. One color designates 8" from the lowest level of the siding, the other the desired finished grade for that location (remember it has to slope, so a minimum slope has to be calculated).

Honestly, from those pictures it looks like the grade is too high to start with.

Yes there should be a final grade, and include any landscaping in it. We just put on gutters and it made a big difference for us. Gutter extensions will help too.

BMH... Very pretty house. I live in Katrina land too and have to wonder why any new construction down here isn't on a chain wall foundation... at least a foot higher than the surrounding land. Homes look better and it is such a source of comfort when ever weather threatens.

When you start off with your slab a foot or two higher than grade, anyone with a pile of dirt, a wheel barrow and a rake can shape the lawn from there.

Terry