We bought a new house in RABBIT RUN subdivision in Broken Arrow, OK. There are major drainage issues here. Spectacular Homes is still building but instead of having a plan they wait till there is a problem. The lot next door is sold but they have not built a house yet. There are drainage holes for the surrounding houses all going into the lot next door. Our backyard has flooded twice now and water almost came into our house before they finally added a silt fence. Pic 1 and 2 are the lot next door with multiple drain pipes from surrounding yards. Pic 3 and 4 is out our back door when we flooded. Every time it rains hard we get very nervous. We have a very small yard but can’t get builder to come out and slope our side yard to street. Not sure what to do. We are still under warranty. Any suggestions? Just really don’t know what to do.

"...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.

Two suggestions - consider investing in a landscape design. Having a professional walk the property and look at all the factors (e.g., drainage patterns, sun/shade patterns) and evaluate your landscaping goals, etc. can be well worth the price of the plan ($200-400). This could save you a lot of planting mistakes, wasted effort and help you see some issues that no one on the internet will be able to spot. Also consider incorporating some native plants into your design/choices. Especially on the fringes of your wooded areas to create a more natural transition. Plus native plants support the ecosystem that you're moving into and attract the natural insects and birds that your kids would love to observe as they play outside (I'm not talking about biting, stinging insects - you'll get those no matter what you plant; these are caterpillars and butterflies and moths that will be attracted - think Monarch butterflies that only eat milkweed, same concept). Also problem areas like poor drainage and wet sloping areas to a low area have perfect native plant solutions and believe me that willow is not the only one. Native plants can be beautiful, have flowers, great fall color and be treated just like non-native plants in a landscape. As far as planting next to the property line, remember that anything that hangs over the line can be trimmed by your neighbor (the part that is on his property, that is). Research the mature width of a plant and then divide that number by 2 to get the distance from any line or wall for planting. Recognize that the weather is warming up and that anything you plant now will need to be watered through the summer - fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs. Get a plan now, plant only as much as you feel you can keep up with with, mulch well to retain water and suppress weeds, and plant a lot of annuals this year to enjoy while you get ready for fall. In the meantime, research your desired plants so that you know what you're getting. Even with a plan you may not like everything that the designer chose - I swapped out a few things on mine for plants that liked the same conditions. A plan helped me feel like I had a roadmap and I was able to implement it as my finances and energy allowed.

I know this is an old post but I felt I should chime in for any future readers. We purchased a house three years ago that was heated with an outdoor wood boiler. We live in rural Ontario, Canada where February is typically -35 Celcius. We had never heard or seen these things before but heating sources in the rural area are limited to wood, electric heat, or propane. Here's my experience with them after three years or using one every winter: The very first time you fire up the boiler each fall there will be lots of smoke for an hour or two (just like when you light a fire in your fireplace - there is lots of smoke out your chimney upon first start). After the boiler is at temperature, and you're burning seasoned wood, there will be VERY little smoke. IF the boiler is a gassifier (re-burns the gas before it exits the chimney) then there is practically NO visible smoke at all - EVER. Most boilers have thermostats that ONLY open the dampers and turn on the down draft fans when the water temperature goes below a set value (160 degrees usually). For my boiler, in the dead of the winter here in Canada (-35 degrees C), the boiler will turn on once every 45 minutes and stay on for 10 to 15 minutes to re-ignite the wood (this is the only time that smoke would ever come out the chimney if it wasn't a 'smokeless'/gassifier unit.), then close the dampers and the fire is put out, leaving only red hot wood embers/coals. You WILL, however, smell the wood... which most people think smells nice (think of a campfire on a cold night, or cuddling up to a fireplace with a hot chocolate). However, if you dont like the smell of a wood fire, then this will put you off. The pictures that others have posted above could be 1) People burning something that they're not supposed to be burning like garbage 2) burning green/wet wood - so you're seeing STEAM in those pictures 3) the first start up on the boiler (either of the year OR maybe they turned it off while they were away on vacation and re-fired it when they returned). As a home owner with a boiler for my heat source I can say that I envy those with natural gas. A boilers is a LOT of work, a LOT of maintenance, and takes a LOT of energy/time to cut, stack, and load the wood (not to mention the ash clean out every two days). BUT.. for us, its half the price of propane and 1/6 the price of electric heat.