Move surface water away from home on poor grade.

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

My house sits up higher than the garage and breezeway and
the ground slopes towards the house north and south and towards the garage east
and west if that makes sense. Whenever it rains the water coming off the roof
in combination with the water running towards the house runs into the garage
and breezeway. With the heavy rains lately it has also begun to wash away some
soil. I may have got some bad information on how to solve the problem. I talked
to a landscaper and he said to put a French drain in. I think this will still
work but I wonder about the longevity and if dirt will wash down into it and
plug it over time. I dug a 8 inch wide x 18 inch deep trench along the front of
the house and garage under the drip line down to the back pasture to drain out.
I bought 2 inch washed rock and landscape fabric and 4 inch perforated pvc to
build the drain. my plan was to lay the fabric down into the trench and put a
couple inches of rock down then lay the pvc on top with holes down and add rock
till its about 2 inches below ground and cover the top with the landscape
fabric where it makes a sleeve completely around the rock and pipe and then top
it off with more rock to just above ground level. I felt confident this would
work until I poured some water on the landscape fabric to see how well water
flowed through it and I was pretty disappointed. it would drip through but not
enough that I feel confident it would move a lot of water fast. I thought about
not putting the fabric over the top of the trench but that's where the concern
of it filling up with dirt comes in. My soil is a sandy loam.

Does anybody think anything else would work
better? I don't really want a big grate drain across the front of the house but
maybe that's the best option.

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Comments (3)

PRO
Yardvaark
8 years ago
In order to solve drainage problems, one needs to know the overall flow of water on the lot AND where the water will run to a lower elevation so that everything is out of harm's way. (The lower elevation may be on someone else's property.) Therefore, you would need to show diagrams/plans of water flow, or a set of pictures that connect to each other and show us how the land lies. From what you've said, it sounds like you're trying to ignore improper grading and create an inferior solution. (But not enough information is presented.) Your plan of collecting water next to the foundation (if I understood correctly) is not a good idea. You should be pitching grade away from the foundation and collecting water farther away from it.
nirvanamike06
Original Author
8 years ago
Where the water is going isn't a big deal. It won't make it off my property. I have 35 acres and the side is a bayou so it will just migrate down towards the bayou after I divert it away from the house. As far as regrading the problem is how much dirt would have to be moved and trees in the way. The house is above the grade but the garage and breezeway is level with the grade where when alot of water starts moving down the slope it goes into the garage. I do worry about soil eroding which I'll hopefully solve in the spring by planting some st Augustine grass instead of the bahia that's around the house now.

This picture was when the siding was being redone but the grade is still the same.
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What you don't want is moisture to seep into the wall and get close to wood inside. I would first establish where the grade should be (disregarding that part of the wall is brick). Mark it out with a chalk line. Extend the bituminous waterproofing (such as what has already been applied to the concrete) to that line, including the brick that will be buried. Backfill and establish a proper grade. I wouldn't worry that a small amount of waterproofing will be above grade in the end. It will be covered by plantings. The scheme of filling a trench with rubber mulch will not work because it, too, will hold moisture which will eventually work its way into the wall. It is waterproofing DIRECTLY ON THE WALL that you need. Forget all the landscape fabric, plastic, etc. This stuff will not do the job of waterproofing. Ultimately, it will be in the way -- probably fairly early on -- and will get torn up, at which point it will become a mess.
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PRO
Yardvaark
8 years ago
It is only a big deal where the water goes insofar as there must be a place for that to happen. If you are content the place exists within a reasonable distance, from the house, probably everyone else reading is content, too.

If you're not going to grade a slope away from the foundation all around the house, then at least at the breezeway area where the problem is you must grade to a drain about 10' from the house. Collect the water in a catch basin drain and pipe it to the lower elevation for escape. The pipe should be solid pvc, not corrugated black (too many problems over time) and it should pitched uniformly, no dips.

The rock-filled trench at the foundation will do more harm than good. It will be an area that helps water soak into the ground right at the foundation. (If it were subterranean, at the bottom of the foundation, it would be another story.)

Move surface water away from home on poor grade.

Comments (3)

Yardvaark

nirvanamike06
Original Author

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Move surface water away from home on poor grade.

Comments (3)

Yardvaark

nirvanamike06Original Author

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nirvanamike06
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