`Are you dealing with a situation where water is pooling in some parts of your property? Maybe this is the result of too much rain in your area, or your yard doesn’t have sufficient pitch to route the water to your desired location, says Property Pros Realty experts. What can you do to solve the problem?
Improper drainage is a huge issue that lessens the curb appeal of your home and its market value. Standing water in the yard not only hurts the plants in your landscaping, but it will also attract bugs to your home. Even worse, it can even cause structural damage to your building.
We spoke with different professionals – landscape contractors and licensed plumbers – on how to solve this problem. They explained some key issues that encourage drainage problems in a home and how you can solve the problem. Here are their recommendations.
8 Common causes of drainage problems
- Improper grading
Water always flows from high to low ground. If the ground around your home slopes towards the house instead of away from it, water will pool around your home.
- Compacted soil
Construction activities can pack the soil so tightly that it cannot drain properly. If there is hardpan clay on your property, you will have drainage problems.
- Improperly installed downspout
Overflowing gutters and downspouts that do not direct water away from your home will lead to drainage problems on your property.
- Barriers in your landscaping
Sidewalks, walkways, and large rocks can impede the water flow, causing it to pool near the structures or be diverted to the wrong place.
- Surface runoff
Your yard may not be equipped to handle the volume of rain that falls on your property, perhaps because there are no storm drains in the area or they are blocked.
- A broken water or sewer line
A damaged water or drain pipe can discharge enough water into the surrounding soil to cause drainage issues in your yard.
- The nature of your soil
Unlike sandy soil, soils that are heavy in clay do not drain well. Clayey and sandy soils can cause different drainage problems on your property.
- Runoff from your neighbors
If your neighbor’s property is on a higher elevation, water will flow from their property onto your own. This is one of the cons of living downhill.
5 practical solutions to fix your drainage problems
- Correct the grading around your house
If the area around your home or the part of the yard where water pools are not properly graded, you need to do grade correction. This is as simple as adding more dirt to the area to elevate it. But before you do this, check the pitch around your home’s foundation. If properly graded, it should slope at 1 inch for every foot. If it doesn’t, add more soil to the area.
- Clean your gutters and extend the downspout
If the drainage issues are because of problems with the gutter system or downspout, it is fairly easy to solve. If your roof turns into a mini-waterfall each time it rains, your gutters need urgent attention. Make sure gutters are not faulty or blocked. Extend the downspout away from your house by pointing it into a storm drain or the designated drainage area on your property. If you don’t have a suitable drainage location on the property, you may have to create one (more below).
- Create a creek bed or swale
A creek bed is a drainage channel that doesn’t look like one; it enhances rather than impairs the aesthetics of your yard. A creek bed is a wide, shallow trench covered with landscape fabric with lots of rocks laid on top. Creating a creek bed is not hard, and it is relatively inexpensive. A swale, on the other hand, is a large sunken area into which surface runoff is directed. It serves to transport rainwater away from your property.
- Make a rain garden
This solution is perfect if you have a persistently soggy patch in your yard. A rain garden lets you work with nature instead of against it. You can expand the soggy area in your yard and fill it with water-loving plants. This solution will not get rid of the standing water on your property, but it will transform it into an attractive feature of your landscaping.
- Install a French drain
A French drain is a pipe drainage system that does not affect the appeal of your yard. It includes a long trench extending from the part of the property where water pools to your chosen discharge point. This trench is filled with rocks, and a perforated drainage pipe is installed inside it. The pipe is then covered with landscape fabric, and the entire trench is backfilled with soil. French drains are highly versatile and effective. They can be installed almost anywhere.
Lastly, the effectiveness of these solutions depends on the actual cause of the drainage issues in your home. Before taking any of the above steps, it is a good idea to speak with a professional to make sure you are solving the right problems.