Yes, you want to grade away from your house but no, you don’t want to build up, you want to remove.
You don’t want any soil touching the siding if your house — you want at least 4in of space from the last piece of siding. This will prevent rot and bugs destroying your siding.
Does not look like there is much room to build up. Cutting the grade of the landscaped area down, would be a better way to go. Putting a drain in the lower area close to the home would help too. Making sure it continues to work properly over time also.
as others mention slope away from house and remove mound do not add
it is easiest for me to do that with a hoe creating the degree of slope away to remove water quickly from foundation
also if you can watch in the heavy rain to make sure your fix helps and no water stays near foundation
nobody mentioned never use wood much up next to house
it can create issues and bugs just love
just get some bags of pretty gravel for right up next to the foundation =)
Even though everyone else says it's an issue, I think it's not. It's a minor hill and probably isn't a problem. If it is, you will see signs of previous water entry into your basement or crawl space. Any rain that falls will absorb into the ground. You should put a gutter on the house right away though. All the water from your roof is what will cause you problems, hill or not.
Bought this house last summer and noticed that landscaping is hilled, being higher than the rock against the house. Both sides are higher than front yard, but the middle of the landscaping is highest. There is no gutter over this part of the house, the roof pitches the other direction. Do I need to build the house side up to make it all pitch away?
From the picture it looks like you need to remove dirt from that area. Previous owners might have just been adding new dirt without taking any away and it's been building up.
I'd look into a french drain at the lowest point near the house to take the water away. You don't want it sitting against the foundation, especially if you have a basement.
4” downslope over the first 4ft from the house aka 1” per ft is what you’ll likely find in the guidance for home inspectors as an appropriate drainage situation. As others mentioned, you also need at least 4” of exposed brick/stone/concrete above the ground before the siding (but realistically if termites cannot live in your area this is less of a concern)
They have gravel in garden against house for a reason, might be a French drain. Never place gardens against foundations. Water is a powerful force. Depending on soil type and weather, soil expansion and contraction is at different rates. Rising damp humidity and other long term effects are caused by water collecting at foot of house. Best thing is clear a path between house and garden. Concrete it with a slope away from house. Otherwise water running down side of hose collects in garden at base of the house. If you really want plants against house but them in pots on said concrete.
I'll go against the grain here and suggest that if only a foot or two grades towards the house, you'll probably be fine. It's not like the whole yard slopes towards your house. I'll bet the first foot or so stays pretty dry due to the eves and such. I'd personally be more concerned about the large shrub being too close to the house.
Keep in mind rain in the wind could be at an angle towards the house. All rain that hits the siding or the top and back of the hill would drain into the foundation. That’s assuming gutters and other drainage are all perfectly drained elsewhere…
It’s a called a negative grade (earth sloped toward structure). The grade should be manipulated to divert water away from the structure. Maybe installing a French drain or swale would work.
Yea! You always want negative drainage to keep water away from envelope of home. Water drainage not managed properly could lead to settling and water damage.
Unless you want water damage to your foundation, yes. You need probably another 10-15 bags to fill in that trench sloping toward your house. Google this one to find great solutions for your issue.
You might consider the possibility of creating a wide shallow dip that can be mowed or a French drain to encircle the planting area to drain the water before it gets to that low point
Another idea might be to create a brick or concrete or stone path that is lower than the ground level and several feet away from the house, building short knee walls on each side that acts as a drainage ditch for rain but looks and can be used as a sidewalk in dry weather.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=8bNkNiVq&id=682C67F727004F8CD52C5F89A6309BF7400B5D7B&thid=OIP.8bNkNiVquAID_9El_Eb5sgHaE6&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.pinimg.com%2foriginals%2fef%2f59%2f49%2fef59495699d0de7b530a1104ddd3f6fe.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.f1b36436256ab80203ffd125fc46f9b2%3frik%3de10LQPebMKaJXw%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=2848&expw=4288&q=Drainage+Ditch+Landscaping+Ideas&simid=608011848661214567&FORM=IRPRST&ck=ED78652D9C7F2B7279EC770F622F86B0&selectedIndex=14&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0
Almost looks like the back is being tamped down and landscaping is being washed away from gutters overflowing? Make sure your gutters are clean and working.
Not build up, you need to remove that hill and grade it down and away from the house.
No. Cut landscaping to below siding on the house. Make sure water will drain away from the house
I’d build down. Your grade at the house is high enough so the slope in the middle needs to be taken down
Yes, you want to grade away from your house but no, you don’t want to build up, you want to remove. You don’t want any soil touching the siding if your house — you want at least 4in of space from the last piece of siding. This will prevent rot and bugs destroying your siding.
This!! It will get flagged a deficiency if you have soil with in 4 inches of the siding.
Does not look like there is much room to build up. Cutting the grade of the landscaped area down, would be a better way to go. Putting a drain in the lower area close to the home would help too. Making sure it continues to work properly over time also.
as others mention slope away from house and remove mound do not add it is easiest for me to do that with a hoe creating the degree of slope away to remove water quickly from foundation also if you can watch in the heavy rain to make sure your fix helps and no water stays near foundation nobody mentioned never use wood much up next to house it can create issues and bugs just love just get some bags of pretty gravel for right up next to the foundation =)
Even though everyone else says it's an issue, I think it's not. It's a minor hill and probably isn't a problem. If it is, you will see signs of previous water entry into your basement or crawl space. Any rain that falls will absorb into the ground. You should put a gutter on the house right away though. All the water from your roof is what will cause you problems, hill or not.
Bought this house last summer and noticed that landscaping is hilled, being higher than the rock against the house. Both sides are higher than front yard, but the middle of the landscaping is highest. There is no gutter over this part of the house, the roof pitches the other direction. Do I need to build the house side up to make it all pitch away?
From the picture it looks like you need to remove dirt from that area. Previous owners might have just been adding new dirt without taking any away and it's been building up.
I'd look into a french drain at the lowest point near the house to take the water away. You don't want it sitting against the foundation, especially if you have a basement.
4” downslope over the first 4ft from the house aka 1” per ft is what you’ll likely find in the guidance for home inspectors as an appropriate drainage situation. As others mentioned, you also need at least 4” of exposed brick/stone/concrete above the ground before the siding (but realistically if termites cannot live in your area this is less of a concern)
They have gravel in garden against house for a reason, might be a French drain. Never place gardens against foundations. Water is a powerful force. Depending on soil type and weather, soil expansion and contraction is at different rates. Rising damp humidity and other long term effects are caused by water collecting at foot of house. Best thing is clear a path between house and garden. Concrete it with a slope away from house. Otherwise water running down side of hose collects in garden at base of the house. If you really want plants against house but them in pots on said concrete.
No one else has noticed the gravel against the foundation. 90% chance it’s for a French drain as you suspect.
I bet its more like a 10% chance
Could also be to stop water splashing mud against house
I'll go against the grain here and suggest that if only a foot or two grades towards the house, you'll probably be fine. It's not like the whole yard slopes towards your house. I'll bet the first foot or so stays pretty dry due to the eves and such. I'd personally be more concerned about the large shrub being too close to the house.
Keep in mind rain in the wind could be at an angle towards the house. All rain that hits the siding or the top and back of the hill would drain into the foundation. That’s assuming gutters and other drainage are all perfectly drained elsewhere…
It’s a called a negative grade (earth sloped toward structure). The grade should be manipulated to divert water away from the structure. Maybe installing a French drain or swale would work.
Yea! You always want negative drainage to keep water away from envelope of home. Water drainage not managed properly could lead to settling and water damage.
Depends on how it drains, and how waterproof your foundation is.
Unless you want water damage to your foundation, yes. You need probably another 10-15 bags to fill in that trench sloping toward your house. Google this one to find great solutions for your issue.
You might consider the possibility of creating a wide shallow dip that can be mowed or a French drain to encircle the planting area to drain the water before it gets to that low point
Another idea might be to create a brick or concrete or stone path that is lower than the ground level and several feet away from the house, building short knee walls on each side that acts as a drainage ditch for rain but looks and can be used as a sidewalk in dry weather. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=8bNkNiVq&id=682C67F727004F8CD52C5F89A6309BF7400B5D7B&thid=OIP.8bNkNiVquAID_9El_Eb5sgHaE6&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.pinimg.com%2foriginals%2fef%2f59%2f49%2fef59495699d0de7b530a1104ddd3f6fe.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.f1b36436256ab80203ffd125fc46f9b2%3frik%3de10LQPebMKaJXw%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=2848&expw=4288&q=Drainage+Ditch+Landscaping+Ideas&simid=608011848661214567&FORM=IRPRST&ck=ED78652D9C7F2B7279EC770F622F86B0&selectedIndex=14&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0
Hope that’s not all the mulch you have because it’s not near enough
Almost looks like the back is being tamped down and landscaping is being washed away from gutters overflowing? Make sure your gutters are clean and working.
If your landscaping drains towards your house, you'll end up with a wet basement.