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Backyard Drainage - Fixing A Standing Water Problem


Bart

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I'm looking for someone to fix the drainage problem I have in the back yard.  This is different from the "bad drainage, muddy yard and want to grow grass" thread in here somewhere.  I have grass, but when it rains long and hard, or when a lot of snow melts, we get a lake back there.  And if it's not a lake, it's usually soft and soggy for days.  The previous owners put in a french drain which might have worked way back when, but doesn't anymore.

Has anyone successfully dealt with this kind of thing?  Who'd you use?

Thanks!

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MER Morrison was used by three different people, also mentioned were: Custom Drainage Systems, Newborg, All Aspects Waterproofing, B-Dry and Aqua Guard and someone said they had a bad experience with World Wide Waterproofing.  Here is the link to what was posted, I don't know if you can open it, you might have to log in with your facebook, but it seems to have some good info on articles and such. 

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Bart, keep looking on this thread - the rainy season is coming, and people here are going to want to help you. My first phone call would go to Merrifield Garden Center, asking them if they know of someone. They may well try and get the jobs for themselves or a subcontractor, but it can't hurt to call them with a skeptical aura. I'm also going to call my landlord (Heidi, you're coming in handy lately!) - her husband Stephen is a great guy, a true-blue Mr. Fixer-Upper, and knows a lot of people - it certainly can't hurt for me to ask him. (Having great landlords is a pleasure; having bad landlords can make your life hell for no good reason.)

If you've tried French Drains (which I currently have), what is on the other side of your property line, and would the owners mind water being funneled over to their property (if it's a government-owned park or something, it might not be an issue). Standing water is a mischievous foe, attracting mosquitoes and other irritants, and it's a problem well-worth addressing.

What is the reason you have standing water? Flat terrain? Being downhill of your neighbors? Dense soil? Runoff? A combination?

If anyone has recommendations, this is the perfect time to enter this contest we're running through next Friday.

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Bart, keep looking on this thread - the rainy season is coming, and people here are going to want to help you. My first phone call would go to Merrifield Garden Center, asking them if they know of someone. They may well try and get the jobs for themselves or a subcontractor, but it can't hurt to call them with a skeptical aura. I'm also going to call my landlord (Heidi, you're coming in handy lately!) - her husband Stephen is a great guy, a true-blue Mr. Fixer-Upper, and knows a lot of people - it certainly can't hurt for me to ask him. (Having great landlords is a pleasure; having bad landlords can make your life hell for no good reason.)

If you've tried French Drains (which I currently have), what is on the other side of your property line, and would the owners mind water being funneled over to their property (if it's a government-owned park or something, it might not be an issue). Standing water is a mischievous foe, attracting mosquitoes and other irritants, and it's a problem well-worth addressing.

What is the reason you have standing water? Flat terrain? Being downhill of your neighbors? Dense soil? Runoff? A combination?

If anyone has recommendations, this is the perfect time to enter this contest we're running through next Friday.

Okay, I heard back from Stephen (well-worth reading, even if you're not interested in yard drainage, just for the Background section).

Yard drainage is an easy solution if and only if you have a place to "send" the water.  If you have a lake forming in heavy rains, snow melts, etc and if the yard in question has a "grading issue", then the easiest solution is to add top soil to the low area while making sure the yard drops away from the house towards the street or back area.

Background:

There are quite a few lots in Northern Virginia that were poorly graded way back in the 40's during the area's conversion from farm fields to production built houses.  The demand was so great that there was a two year waiting list for houses.  The builders were working around the clock building the same house plan over and over again.  Unfortunately, the results are that every house in an area has exactly the same problems 50/60 years later. Poor lot drainage is a standard complaint dating back to the 50's, so are the problems with wet basements, plumbing, no insulation in the attics, low grade windows, etc.  In the Mount Vernon area south of Alexandria, you are faced with the fact that that land exists due to the Potomac flooding over the last 1,000 years or so.  The builders did not want the expense of lot prep, where the houses are built up and then top soil is trucked in to create a proper grade away from the homes.  Water runoff engineering for houses was something developed late in the 1980's.

Solutions:

Have someone do it for you

Contact any full service nursery or any ground Maintenance Company (Merrifield is working all over North Arlington and knows the issues well).  Explain that you would like the following:  Plastic placed around the house under the mulch beds (should be more than 3 ft wide).  Extra attention taken in the corners where you are experiencing any wet areas in the basement.  The yard should be "top coated with soil and graded" to create a drop off away from the house all the way across the yard, filling in all the tree root areas, low areas where water collects, etc.  Care should be taken to make sure the driveway and sidewalk leading to the house do NOT become below surface, otherwise they will become a problem later (think skating rink or swimming pool).

Do it yourself (DIY)

Call Merrifield or Remington Mulch Company (703) 560-BARK, 8524 Lee Highway Fairfax, Virginia 22031, and have five yards of top soil delivered in your driveway.  All you need is a wheelbarrow or a yard cart and a garden rake (see Lowes or Home Depot).  You will save yourself approx $500. If your Spanish is good, the labor pool hanging around Seven Corners Home Depot is a good source of $10-$15 per hour helpers.  Plan on 5-6 hrs with a two- three man team.  Longer if you are digging trenches for the drainage pipes (see below).

House Downspouts

All downspouts from the house should have extensions added to move water away from the foundations.  Black corrugated pipes are a quick solution available from Lowes or Home Depot and can be fitted with little connectors that will match up to the down spouts. Just make sure the water has a place to go away from the house and beyond the flowerbeds.  If your yard has a 2 ft drop front or back, you can bury the lines and extend them to the curb or way back on your lot.  There are a lot of add-on solutions for these pipes. You can actually build in a small drainage grate half way across the yard giving your yard a drain(s) along the way in problem areas.

Hope this quick tip list is helpful.

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Thanks Don!

We have a French drain (put in by previous owners) which helps I'm sure, but is not getting it all done.  We recently bumped out the kitchen wall and the contractors tried to regrade the backyard to help the water drain off, but it actually made things a little worse.  So now we're left with a small depression between the house the edge of the yard.  it slopes off the the east for a bit, but then the ground slopes up a little so the water gets "stuck".

My unprofessional opinion is that I need some fill dirt to level off the sunken area, and then I need a little grading to channel the drainage around the house and out to the front (which is downhill from the backyard)

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