Standing water in back yard
NickGT
last year
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NickGT
last yearbengz6westmd
last yearlast modified: last yearRelated Discussions
New Construction Land Grade Rules And Water Ponding Issues
Comments (2)A project is supposed to meet the grades of the adjacent properties at the property line. If the builder owns the land adjacent to yours and is willing to adjust the grade of that lot along your property line, that is OK. When it comes time for him to develop that, he will have to meet the grade that exists on the property line at that time. Sometimes grading easements are granted (or sold) by a land owner to allow an adjacent landowner some relief for grading across a property line. No one is obligated to grant such an easement. Water is also not supposed to drain off of a site at a greater speed or volume onto another property after development than it did prior to development. This can be hard to prove. This situation illustrates the importance of having a professional site plan that shows grading and drainage prior to construction. People will avoid the expense and trust their eye or that their builder is going to build something that works. It does not mean that the builder is dumb or is a shady character. It is just not that easy to guess. If an engineer or a well trained professional starts out with a good topographic survey, they can calculate all the grading and drainage to accommodate such things as basement windows, walkouts, and about anything else to KNOW the results before the site is developed. Obviously this was not done, or there were changes (such as adding bigger basement windows) after the plans were drawn. You can look at this as an excessive cost, but I think you'd agree that it would have more than paid for itself in this case. Builders build houses. Not many are trained site planners. You can continue with looking to the builder (who has other interests) for solutions, or you could bring in a civil engineer or a landscape architect (only one who is particularly experienced with grading and drainage calculations) to correctly fix the problem. In many cases this can be done with added aesthetic value rather than just taking care of the water issue. It is really not something that can be solved by an internet discussion. The best you can get here is advice on who to contact rather than specific directions on how to fix it. I hope this helps and I hope others read this and understand the importance of a good site plan prior to construction. Hopefully, some others will not let themselves get in this predicament....See MoreUn level yard with standing water in middle and squishy
Comments (10)If the area was just a depression that landfill could level out and affect its drainage, then you could try it but given what you say, about having once had a pool in the area, my thoughts are that the land there is too compacted to allow it to absorb water without pooling. Sometimes, pooling can be just put up with, until, over time, it either evaporates with the sun, or percolates slowly down into the soil or you drain it by other means....such as the french drain. Aeration will often fix a problem of why grass wont grow on compacted soil. A swale, near the boundary, is so to take away that drainage that comes onto your land from a neighbor. Its just a small conduit -- not meant to act as a drainpipe. It can be just an inch or so deep....3 or 4 inches wide. It is designed to let water drain off land where you can affect its movement --over an extended line---even up to 100' -- to a place where it drains away---usually a street. But, you cant fight nature....and you cant make water run up hill. The swale has to allow water to drain downhill..even if that level is only an inch or two. If the move is uphill....then forget a swale. Unless you change the level, a swale wont work. You have to find a way to make it move away from your land toward a place it can move on itself. If that is toward a neighbor's yard, then maybe, working with that neighbor you can figure out a more practical method of getting rid of the water. If the area in question is due to a pooling in an area and its always the case...that is, it happens every year...then maybe think a "cistern". A cistern is a large hole---its dug, gravel is put into the bottom and built up toward the surface where grass is allowed to grow. Water coming into the area percolates down, through the gravel, and out through the surrounding soil. You might get in touch with a "well-man"....he can better advise whether a cistern could be used. Where water collects, and its not feasible to try to remove it to another area---such as a drain, then a cistern might solve the problem....See MoreBermuda Grass Front Yard vs back yard
Comments (6)The percolation test is quite simple -- Dig a hole about 1 foot deep. Pour it full of water and wait... Observe whether it soaks in... Then, once it has soaked in -- fill it up full of water again and let it soak in again.. If it all soaks in within a few minutes -- you may be draining too fast and the grass dries out too fast... If it doesn't drain within a day... you have other problems.... Sometimes clay soils will soak in great on the 1st round, then will become impermeable after the 2nd or 3rd round -- as the clay saturates... It can also help point out problems in the subsoil like pure coarse sand, big rocks and hard-pans... (Gosh, my lawn drains fine here, but doesn't drain at all over there... I wonder why?) The 2nd test is outlined on here somewhere -- but it is to determine your soil makeup.. You take a mason jar about 1/3 full of dirt (No rocks and sticks).. Fill it mostly full of water.. Shake it up really good and let it sit overnight... Then shake it up really good again and let it sit again... It will separate out into various layers.. Sand and rocks on the bottom, silt in the middle, clay near the top, and light organic material on the top or floating... You then measure the layers with a tape measure and it tells you the soil makeup... These tests will help lead you in the direction of which amendments will help vs which ones will hurt... If your soil is all sand and already drains too fast.. Adding more sand won't help anything... but adding a little Clay would help quite a bit... and vice versa. Thanks John...See MoreEasement in Back of yard always pooling water
Comments (10)Now that the rains have stopped, does irrigation water still puddle in your low spot? We talk about watering deep and infrequently. If you get pooling quickly when you water, you might be watering deep and frequently. Deep means one inch all at one time. For my sprinkler system that takes a full 8 hours. For high flow systems that time might be 20 minutes. The only way to know for you is to place cans (like cat food or tuna cans) around the yard and turn on the water. Time how long it takes to fill the cans. That should be your watering time from now on. Infrequent means once a week in these hot summer weeks. I bought a house in Bandera last summer and just watered for the first time this Tuesday (my day to water). We've had so much rain for months and months that the grass (what little I have) never dried out. My soil absorbs water like a sponge; however. It seems like yours does not. That's the issue for you. I'm going to suggest going gradually to deep and infrequent watering to allow the soil to completely dry out before watering again. It might take you a month or more to get to once a week watering. But before you do I'm also going to suggest spraying your yard with shampoo. Any clear shampoo will work. I like generic baby shampoo, but anything you can find at the dollar stores works fine as long as you can see through it. Spray at a rate of 3 ounces of shampoo per 1,000 square feet. Then water with 1/2 to 1 inch if you can. If the water runs off and pools up in your low spot, stop watering and let the water soak in for 15 minutes. Then start again. In two weeks your soil should be absorbing more water and feel softer after you water it....See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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last yeardavidrt28 (zone 7)
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last yearlast modified: last yearChris Light
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