"...should I have the men doing the backfill work, try to find the weep holes to make sure they are there?" Yes. If they're there and buried, that may be a simple fix to the problem. "Would it be ok to use a double layer of burlap or would that be too porous? will the regular weed-blocker landscaping cloth be ok?" That depends on how you would be using the fabric. Generally, jute mesh (or sometimes burlap) is used in conditions where slopes that are to be planted with grass are extreme, and the likelyhood of any rain eroding the slope is high. The fabric is normally rolled out on the ground and held in place with long hand installed staples. The rolling is done down the slope, not across the slope. The open weave nature of the fabric and it being biodegradable allows for grass to germinate and under the fabric and grow up through it. In places where the grass will not be mowed, the biodegradable fabric can be left in place to rot. In areas where the grass will be mowed, leaving the fabric in place presents the likelyhood of the fabric being lifted by the mower and causing all sorts of problems. Jute mesh will degrabe faster than burlap, and it's weave is quite a bit more open...and it's usually less expensive. If your lot slopes 2 feet over a very short distance and the slope is steep, then using the natural fabric can help keep the topsoil and seed in place. If the slope is not steep, the fabric is probably not necessary. The black fabric should not be used at all on top of the soil if you're intent is to grow grass. Either way, mowing with the fabric in place will be near impossible, and pulling the fabric up after the grass has begun to grow will probably pull the grass up with it. The black weed fabric is used on the surface of the ground so that nothing will grow through it. It can be used to halt erosion, but if it's woven and has a tight weave, water will tend to run off faster than if it was a more open non-woven fabric. Again, if the slope isn't ateep, it may be a waste of money to use the fabric there. Erosion control fabrics, woven and non-woven, are usually used in a vertical fashion, stapled to stakes (essentially the same things as tomato stakes) with the bottom hem buried in the ground so as to catch and slow surface runoff. Normally, that sort of installation is used where required either by local or state code, or by site conditions such as steep slopes and open ground exposed to the elements without benefit and protection of turf or groundcover. On a quarter acre lot with shallow slopes, I'm not sure it would be beneficial, but then again, I can't see the lot, so local opinion and expertise may be a better option for you. Just get more than one opinion. Another use for fabrics is actually in the ground, separating different soil types. In the case of a wall like yours, it might be that the designer will call for such a fabric to be installed prior to placing the clean free draining gravel behind the wall. The fabric in this case would keep the gravel open and free draining by keeping the fine particles from adjacent native clayey or silty soils from infiltrating and blocking the voids in the gravel.In this case, burlap would not be used as it would degrade over time. There are many specialty fabrics for this use, and most are not available at your local nursery or big box vendor. Some weed block fabrics may be similar in weave and nature, some are not. Can't say whether yours is or not. If the soils behind the wal are removed and atrench prepared for gravel backfill, the fabric would normally be placed along the bottom of the excavation with 3-6 inches rising up agains the back of the wall. The rest would run up the excavation and be laid on theground away from the wall until the trench was filled with gravel and compacted. Then the remaining edge of the fabric would be pulled over the top of the gravel, back towartds the wall, covering the gravel before the topsoil or planting mix was replaced. This more or less creates an envelope around the gravel. I wouldn't bother putting anything against your neighbor, especially if they still have the timber wall. Understand that a fabric envelope like this isn't always part of the design. It really depends on the nature of the existing soils, groundwater, and the wall design. Your situation may not require it at all. Only local inspection can insure that you're not throwing money needlessly in a hole. I don't think I said anything about using fabric at all. What I did say was that each 'weep' hole in the wall should be covered by a 'screen'. That screen would only cover the hole and extend a few inches beyond the hole in each direction, on the back side of the wall. The gravel would lie up agains that screen, and groundwater would find it's way to the hole and through the screen. If the erosion is most visible where your wall meets your neighbors, remember that your wall may be acting as a dam, and any water building up behind it is seeking a way out. The junction of your wall with yuour neighbors would be that point, and the flow may be significant. Weeps through your wall would likely provide the necessary outlet to reduce the pressure forcing groundwater to find that junction and causing it to erode. I would stay away from constructing anything that looked like a berm on the creek-side of the wall. It wouldn't serve the purpose you think it might. It may only make flooding problems worse. And, you may be running afoul of local regulations having to do with wetlands. Good luck. And remember, this is only an internet forum. We can't see what you see, we can only read your words. Even pictures would serve as limited assistance. Your very best bet is to inquire locally, and get as many second opinions as you think necessary.

True, plastic should kill anything under there, including the microbes that decompose organic matter and make soil healthy. An odor can develop from anaerobic decomposition of large amounts of fresh green material. Plastic must be removed to garden an area smothered this way, and isn't visually appealing while waiting. Newspaper or cardboard are usually left in place because they decompose, so can be covered with mulch when laid, for an instant 'finished' look even though it's only the 1st step. Smothering with organic matter like this encourages/feeds the microbes, not kill them, and decomposes the weed matter aerobically, no concerns over foul odors or creating lifeless soil. To have a great garden, you need 'good dirt.' Pulling little sprouts as soon as you see them is easy. Pulling a big patch of something that's grown tenacious roots is hard and takes exponentially more time. Patrol/pull often and it should only take a few minutes. Doing that feels like you're mostly looking at your 'good' plants, because you are, bending occasionally to pull any sprouts you see. I usually leave them laying right where they were, to wither in the sun within hours and return their nutrients to the soil. Once you stop any weeds from dropping new seeds for a whole year in a yard, you'll be amazed at how many fewer weeds you'll see in successive years. Control is easy to maintain, so much easier than to gain initially, so don't be frustrated by all of the work the first year, or lie to yourself by doing things like just breaking the tops off of perennials but leaving the roots. (If you 'pulled' it once but it's still there, it wasn't killed or pulled, just pruned - and now you know the root must be killed/removed for certain death to result from your efforts.) Pour boiling water on that root, or get a shovel, dandelion fork, something that truly has a chance of killing that thing/getting completely rid of it. Continuing to do ineffective things is a waste of your time, and ends up using more of it in the long-term, so do it thoroughly the first time, a few more minutes, but is then the only time you deal with that thing. Birds, other critters, and wind will always bring unwanted seeds, but patches of weeds come purely from neglecting to pull something before it's produced seeds in your yard, often a single plant that can be 10,000 plants the next year if left to leave its' seeds. The other primary area of concern is those that creep in from adjacent property. Sometimes a hard barrier is needed, a row of bricks, landscape timbers, to extremes such as a trench filled with concrete. Make the effort/expense of hardscape if possible and necessary to thwart a yearly or constant border battle. Go extreme, complete, total, one year, truly getting rid of anything perennial at the roots, and not allowing anything to drop seeds, install whatever barriers or measures are necessary to enforce your borders, and then maintaining...

Water could be coming up through the slab, but it could also be entering around the window, if the window frame is not completely sealed from the weather. It could be from a leaking gutter, or a defective roof. I don't know where you live, but if the weather is mild enough, you might be able to check this out with a garden hose. Does the water come in when only the soil is soaked? Does it come in when a spray is directed at the window? Does it come in when water is run on the roof? It is not necessarily coming in near where you see it, although this is the most likely scenario.

dach, I can't begin to imagine 2 years. How awful for you. Hope your child is doing alright. Have you considered a lease with option to buy? Might find someone who doesn't have a downpayment. Hard to think about with a new house, but who knows how much longer you can stand this. Best of luck.