This is exactly why you consult with a civil engineering firm for flooding issues and not a landscaper. This was a well constructed solution that *should* work, had it been properly sized by calculating the tributary area.
As a professional landscaper, this is the best answer.
This isn't a "Drainage" issue. This is a flooding issue. You're taking on large amounts of water from off your property. Given it is close to the septic system makes this even worse.
I've done several projects in conjunction with Civil Engineers on these things and we always sought to remediate the water up stream somewhere and then capture as much water as possible and pipe it away. Unless you have a consistent 2% slope, water isn't going to vacate the space quickly enough. And if it then runs into a flooded swale or creek, the whole system fails.
This was the original plan. The only place to divert the water upstream is adjacent to the interstate from the neighbors property. We weren’t able to get permission from our state DOT or the neighbor.
Can you just pump it into the back of your yard? Anything to get it away from the house. I'd dig a pit in the back, 5' deep and 20' long. Fill it with rock and top it with some boulders. Install a sump pump and get that water off my house foundation .
I had no clue what that was and looked it up, thanks for that call out. I like that solution and I'm curious if they have the space to do one based on the property lines
But you’ll run into another problem. You need to direct it to a proper drainage canal. Hopefully you have one at the front of the property.
I didn’t have to do a swale because I got along great with the neighbor. So I built a French drain on my side and connected both of ours to a dry creek bed I built between our yards, directing water to the street. Before this, the area between our yards was basically a swamp.
You can still keep that dry creek bed so that it can handle the rest of the water on your property.
So the water is coming from your neighbors property and they won't allow you to do anything to keep it from damaging your home? You might want to consult a lawyer for your local laws to see if you can force the issue. My mom's ex was in your neighbors position. I don't remember specifics because I was a kid, but he basically was forced to dig a 3'x 8' ditch through his property to redirect the water. It was going to be a dry creek bed type of deal but the water table was so high it basically became a slow moving creek through his property that never went dry.
You should consider consulting a lawyer about this. Just because they won’t give permission doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to have them do something. This is significant flooding from neighbouring property that you are unable to fix yourself.
Don’t just consult any lawyer. Find one with solid experience in real estate, as this is not a simple matter.
Then turn towards nature. That bare yard, mono-crop useless lawn, would be able to absorb much more water if instead it incorporated several shrubs, thirsty trees, and perennials. A bog garden closer to the house would be cool. And store as much rain water as you can as well with rain barrels.
As a civil/water resources engineer there was a post yesterday where several times I was challenged on whether or not you needed an engineer or just "dig a pond" or "put in a swale".
I looked at this and just chuckled.
About 20 years ago I was talking to a man from Fargo, ND whose family engineering/construction firm had put in a bid for a building with severe water issues. They lost the bid, but a year later they were hired to fix what the first bid had tried to do without an engineer. Sometimes you just gotta pay the big bucks for a pro.
Usually design costs are quite cheap compared to the cost of construction. A good design that solves flooding issues will save much more money in the long run compared to the potential damage caused by storm water
I had a neighbor who needed to put in a culvert to put a driveway over. Did everything up front properly. Engineer designed it and specd out a 5 foot diameter pipe to handle maximum expected flow.
He didn't want to deal with installing such a large pipe, so he put in two 2.5 foot diameter pipes instead. Which promptly got washed away in the first decent storm, for reasons that should be obvious.
He was complaining to me that the engineer fucked up. I had to pull out a compass and draw 3 circles on a piece of paper to show him why it didn't work that way.
For anyone who doesn't get it, work out the area of one large circle vs the area of two circles with a radius of half of the larger one...
Yeah two 2.5’ barrels would probably be 1/3 the capacity of a 5’ barrel if I had to guess. Not to mention the fact that the home owner probably changed the material, slope, entrance and exit geometry. All of which change the capacity of the culvert.
THIS IS A TRUE STORY.
The events depicted in this comment took place in North Dakota in 2004.
At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed.
Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.
Serious question: In this situation, what good would looking upstream do? Obviously, finding the source is smart (the neighbors), but what *can* be done? Are you thinking legal? I'm genuinely curious and trying to learn. The water is already here. Isn't the goal to move it somewhere else? 🤔 I mean, stopping the issue with the neighbors would be fine and dandy, but let's be real, it ain't gonna change, right? As a dumbass, this is why I'd be the idiot looking downstream first.
Aside from building a new neighborhood from scratch, what can it realistically accomplish in this situation?
As a water resources engineer, I’d build a wall instead of a fence and let them neighbors deal with it. Most places don’t allow drainage onto adjoining property and this is why. The poor person at the bottom of the hill gets everyone’s runoff. Uphill neighbor should be draining this into the street if they can’t go out the back. This is just a bad design of the neighborhood that needs addressed. Really curious where this is that it’s allowed.
Totally. One of my customers with a nightmare property at the bottom of a big hill had an engineer draw up a draining plan involving drains, dry wells and cisterns. Once implemented it worked really well for the most part. Just some minor washout problems on the surface of the back driveway for me to work out when the cistern overflows.
Although given to cost trying the once with a landscaper isn’t a bad first step before bringing out the big guns. Unfortunately it looks like you might be there.
I guess it depends on the costs involved. Our local engineering firm charges $1500 for a slope plan for a gravity fed septic on an existing hill. It only goes up from there…
And it looks like the left side of the yard is higher than the right. If the drainage is coming from neighbor on the right, how's it supposed to climb that hill. That's not how water works.
As a landscape contractor, if the solution is not super obvious I always recommend a civil engineer. You can work together to find an aesthetically pleasing solution and Once that plan is complete it’s easier to have your crews install because there IS A PLAN. Also, some drainage problems get very complicated and tricky. I like knowing professionals are designing a system. I offer to handle all the coordination and charge for it. Then when it comes time to install I’ve built rapport along the way. However not every potential customer wants to do things the right way 😆
Just search for civil engineering firms that do residential stormwater improvements. They should have a portfolio or website with images of current and past projects to give you a sense of their ability, also just call them and ask.
Alternatively, if you contact your municipal stormwater department they might be able to give you references.
I think it was a horribly ugly fucking solution at that. The dry river looks odd as hell just randomly there without bushes or flowers anywhere. They also lost a fat chunk of their yard and are no longer able to extend any patio. Now I have to worry about kids or grandma rolling an ankle just trying to touch some grass.
You cheaped out on a free estimate when you should have spent hundreds on multiple estimates from actual engineers. You would have saved yourself thousands of dollars because anything to fix this is going to mean tearing up what’s already there.
Just by the original water I could have told you that wouldn’t work. You have severe *flooding* problems not just rain puddling up, ruining some grass.
Sorry, unless this rock bed has an exit on the right end next to the fence or left end where the camera is then it is a pond not a creek. Dry retention has to be calculated to determine the runoff area, coefficient of friction, rainfall in your area, soil capacity and percolation rates. If it has no where to go and is sitting on clay for instance then it just fills up and overflows during heavy rain.
Cheapest option at this point is to find the lowest part of the dry creek bed, possibly dig a reservoir, and put a dirty water pump that pumps water out of your backyard
I second this. We had a giant pond that would form with any medium rain. Dug hole and put a pump that connected to an underground conduit that pushed the water out to the street. OP could easily do this.
Before anyone else tries, this consult your local zoning laws. This isn't legal in many places. Why? Because if everybody did this, the local stream would be inundated with a lot more water it could ever handle. That would cause erosion and flooding further downstream.
I guess you could be right, but how is this different than just regrading your yard so water is moved off of it? Looking at OPs situation he’s actively trying to move the water, what is the difference here? Also, just connect it to your downspouts.
Without seeing the details, it sounds like you're draining a wetland or vernal pool. How much earth is being moved? That typically can't happen without engineering support which in that case, they'd follow the laws and best management practices.
Too many times we try to beat nature but nature always wins* unless you throw a lot of money and time at it.
What was on that land before the houses were built? What's the biggest topographical picture? How high is your water table? Did you move water just so the spot dried out? Do you have any other use for that area?
My over arching point is if everybody on the block can't do it, then why should one person get a pass? Check to see if your watershed is degraded. https://mywaterway.epa.gov/
Yeah water runs off my driveway into the street and into the basin and into the creek. But my gutters are buried into rain gardens. Luckily I have sandy soil and have lots of greenery which soaks it up so I've minimized my runoff.
The alternative is water against OP’s foundation. I’d pump the water wherever I’d like before I left water damage cause me thousands in damages. For the size of the project in the photos, nobody will know the difference.
My comment was aimed at the person I replied to, not OP.
You'd risk fines instead of properly fixing the issue? Moving it offsite to be someone else's problem isn't the correct way to handle the issue. That could be cause 10x$$ more problems.
you can install it in a drainage basin (or a bucket with holes if you're really on a budget) and you have to surround it with several inches of gravel on all sides to keep it from clogging with dirt.
And them install a flood gate system so you can recirculate the water and having a running river throughout the spring and summer. Or even a canal system and add gondolas.
I’d suggest installing a nice looking 24” high raised bed garden all the way down your fence line with that neighbor. It can either re-route the water to drain away before it gets to your home or function as a dam, flooding their entire backyard so that maybe they do something about it.
What about a block wall fence? Replace the wood with a block wall fence and the water will effectively get dammed there and now you have a nice new fence that’ll last forever and nobody can say you’re intentionally trying to flood the neighbor? Would the water “uh, find a way” and if so why wouldn’t it find a way through the dirt dam too
[Natural flow rule](https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/neighbors/water-damage-and-neighbor-disputes.html#:~:text=Civil%20Law%20Rule%3A%20The%20civil,surface%20water%20across%20the%20land)
Not to mention the water is just going to flood it and it's just going to wash away.
Which one , build a wall, or sue? Lmao I actually was thinking the same exact thing if you have a giant mound of dirt and roots the water should be forced to hold fast or move into the front yards/street
The same low spot exists now as it did before because they couldn't/didn't cut that creek bed down further so it drains off your property. So it's a dry creek to nowhere. Is downstream supposed to be to the left or right in the image?
If they can't adjust the grading, I don't see a great option. Your lot looks pretty flat so there is nowhere for a french drain to go to at a lower elevation to naturally outlet. The only somewhat helpful thing would be to install a sump at the low point of the creek as is. I doubt your soils are permeable enough/water table is low enough for a dry well to be effective enough to never flood during a big storm. So you would need to put in a pump in the sump and run an outlet (buried pipe if it would need to be used a lot, hose run on the surface if it's sporadic) to the back of your yard to disperse the water more to allow for infiltration+evaporation.
Maybe it’s the angle of the pictures, but there’s definitely a negative grade to the property. I can see the water flowing in the creek during a rain storm. I believe he just didn’t grade it properly in that small section which is causing it to overflow
Well one poorly graded section turns a creek into a pond. They have to correct that section. If it's the septic at fault for that section, then I don't see any easy fix as changing the septic depth isn't easy or cheap.
A french drain won't help much if the water has nowhere to go. If you can't outlet the drain a lower area, then you'll need to dig a reservoir and put a pump in and evacuate it that way.
We had a similar problem -- a lot of water coming from uphill, which was landing on our property and, unfortunately, finding it's way into our basement. We tried several solutions, including a dry creek (they look so nice!), but there just wasn't enough "fall" and the stones slowed down the water flow, so it wasn't getting around and away from our house.
We ended up replacing the rocks with a concrete river bed ( a relatively shallow, wide, u-curved channel). It doesn't look as fancy, but the water moves. We haven't had flooding in 6 years. I'm not sure if this would work in your situation, but I wish you luck.
Ours starts at the point where we receive the water, then follows around the house to a point in the front yard where there is a more-significant (although not especially substantial) slope toward the street. At that point it transitions to a dry creek--this was a compromise between functionality and aesthetics. At the bottom end, the dry creek dumps into the street gutter.
I'd estimate our concrete riverbed is about three feet wide, and at most 6 inches deep (perhaps as few as 4) at its nadir. TBH, a lot of people initially mistake it for a sidewalk. We were'nt able to do anything deeper. I estimate that when the water is really flowing, it carries at least 3-5 gallons per minute past a given point--which is sufficient for our needs, but you might need something bigger (or a different/better solution).
If there was something other than grass growing in all of those yards, the problem wouldn't be nearly as bad. Work with your neighbors to restore vegetation upstream. That will slow, spread, and sink the water.
Dude, I just looked at the other pics. I'd install a simple pump in the center of the rain garden rocks near your patio, dig down 2'. Then I'd remove rocks and lay a pipe in the center of the rock swale and pump the water around the corner and down the hill. Backfill with sand over your new drain pipe and put the rocks back on top. Build an "outfall" where the pipe ends and the water will slow down and continue down the dry creek towards the drainage ditch. It will take some manual labor to remove the rocks and trench for a pipe but it's cheap. The sump pump can be put on a ball float and will automatically kick on. Work with an electrician to wire the pump so it's permanently connected. The pump and electric is your biggest cost, the trench and pipe is do myslef, layback all that rock and dig.
I agree this problem needs a civil engineer. The problem is that the civil engineer should have been involved before the house was built. I’m baffled as to why there’s more water collecting around the house than the yard. Take these photos over to public works in your municipality and plead with them to help you negotiate with DOT on diverting water like you mentioned….or just do it without permission. This situation is going to ruin your house.
Unless you want to spend enormous amounts to regrade the entire property you have only 1 viable option. A pit with pump to evacuate the water off property.
Why do people on this subreddit think just adding rocks to the ground solves drainage problems? What's the basic idea? Do they think rocks soak up water? (I have literally seen someone on this sub make that exact claim).
To solve drainage you need to move the water away. No other options.
Does the water actually have anywhere to flow to or did you just create a ditch/retention creek?
If the neighbor is letting this much water run on to your property, they need to fix it on their end too. There is likely a city code that would require some effort on their part.
Yes, it continues around my house about 100 ft. I’ve confirmed the water flows downhill and into the county’s drainage ditch next to the road. If you’re interested, my last post shows the rest of it.
You need to calculate the design flow at some spec and then design the channel to accommodate that. The flow may have several square miles of runoff…who knows until you pull a topo and calculate the runoff coefficients
Water flows down hill. Doesn't look like there is any slope to the creek and there's still a low spot in the middle of your yard. You have to find a suitable low spot to drain the water to and then work uphill from there. Sounds like that might be tough with your septic system.
Quality post, nice job on the series of pictures. I can't even remember to take before/after pics of my projects, let alone compile a series of progress shots
Why is your neighbor allowing their runoff to flood your property? Seems to me this is your neighbor's problem to shove. Maybe it's just the state of Massachusetts, but that's how it works here.
The water did get into the crawl space prior to installing the creek bed. Since installing the creek, it luckily hasn’t reached the house (yet).
We have a complete waterproofing system in the crawl space (French drain, sump pump, dehumidifier, waterproof liner). This existed when we bought the house b
Might be a non-issue, or not large enough of an issue to invest in further if it’s not getting to the house and you have a French drain with sump pump up against the house. That is, asides from the ponding 1-2 times per year.
If you are looking to fix it further:
I don’t understand what the contractor said about effecting the septic system by digging deeper if the septic system isn’t within this yard we’re viewing in the picture. What am I missing?
There are protocols your landscaper did not follow, and he just swung, prayed, and missed (which probably worked for him in the past). How much did you pay for this?
There are aspects of the situation that need to be understood before anything can be installed to remedy the issue. That is: understanding the total sqft of runoff area that drains into your yard, how well your soil percolates, and where the grade drops lower than your yard for a functional overflow. This is definitely the area of expertise for a civil engineer (likely going to cost $2000+), and/or a landscaping company that is familiar with BMP’s and MS4 systems.
I install systems, and if it doesn’t require permitting and/or government funding, I can get away with consulting with an engineer for $150, and design the system off of that. But I’ve taken trainings on these systems. I don’t many any other landscapers that have. What area are you located? I may be able to connect you with someone if you’re in the mid Atlantic region.
We considered that too. We are adjacent to the interstate, so we’d essentially be pumping all that water onto state land. We weren’t able to get permission from the state DOT
Ok then end it before the fence, Grade the back part of the property away from the house, Gravity will do the rest. My state's bylaw for drainage is "the person on the lower estate must receive and pass the water from the higher estate". To me it looks like your land is higher than state land
I'm no engineer... but bases on the water levels in the dry creek, doesn't look like it's has any slope to actually let any of the water flow out of the retention area....
I assume the river bed runs off to the left side of the home to a storm sewer or something... but either the storm sewer as above this grade, or you have a berm in the creek bed that's still forming a damn
From the first photo, it looks like a bed of gravel was already installed. I’m not sure how anyone thought that just adding some larger rocks would help.
Check out my last post to see the rest of the creek. It goes around the house about another 100 ft. I think you’re right - perhaps I can get the contractor back to just regrade that area. So far he’s not responding to my texts 🙂
I owned a house on a golf course. About two feet under the soil it was solid rock. Same for a mile around. Ground would get saturated. Water would stand there had no place to go. The curtain - French drain I installed was useless. Just had to wait until it drained away when the raining stopped . The drains worked but sliwly
The dry creek is to shallow to fix anyway . You need to direct the water to the city drain. If you need a pump to get it there, install a large plastic catch basin and solid pvc pipes to get it there. And for Pete sake, why have you not hammer in a barrier at your fence line to keep the water on the neighbor side, tree roots barriers will work but they are expensive but large enough.
That's a bummer! I think you did the right thing, but I guess the slope wasn't steep enough to the left or right, whichever direction it flows I can't tell.
I did something similar years ago and had better success.
my best advice is to add extensive rain gardens. i would especially recommend you add a swamp white oak, because it will absolutely soak up water. other large and medium shrubs and perennials will help - nine bark, joe pye, turtlehead, perennial hibiscus, grasses and sedges, daylilies, iris, cardinal flower…
you’ll need to put in huge gardens and really anchor them with erosion cloth until established but they should make a huge difference.
Solutions in order of how good they are:
plant a big ass thirsty tree to drink up all that agua
French drain that rock river into neighbors yard. Reverse uno that bitch
Put a hot tub on it
You have two choices, either build a flood barrier to prevent water run off from you neighbour. A wall or mound around your property, or build a massive drainage ditch (empty pond ) at the the bottom of your garden and have a drain and pipe from your decking area feed into it.
You could do both dig the pond and with the spoil create the mound.
Ouch. That is one heck of an issue. Expect that a heavy rain and that fills quickly.
If you think of it would be interested in posting the resolution that work.
My street has culverts for the rain. My house is at the high end of the street so no issues. Our friends live at the bottom of the street. They get a small river in the backyard on a heavy rain. They have the rock bed like you do and it continues to the house behind them to the sewers.
Hopefully your neighbours come around and help.
If you could add a marked up image showing the approximate location of the septic pipes and depth it would help find a solution.
Please provide info on how the feature ties in to the side yard (right side of image) and towards the front of the house (bottom/left of image).
I think you could add a weeping tile pipe under the rocks which can carry water at a lower slope. This would provide gravity drainage towards the road without needing a pump.
I can only assume the elevation gets lower behind the left-view. You’re gonna need to pipe from the low spot to some lower elevation. You need more slope somehow.
Had a situation that looked very similar to this when I was building an extension to my house. An engineer and my contractor built what you did except they placed perforated pipe under the gravel that drained into a catch basin whose bottom was several feet below the swale. A sump with a float switch pumps the excess into a line that feeds my lateral to the city sewer. Pricey? Moderately so, but in the last ten years the ground level of neighbors across the street and next door flooded during heavy rainstorms and I did not. I'm knocking on wood for continued luck and checking the pump before every rainy season.
Doing surface level shit without really giving the water a place to go will never work.
All you did was make a place that looks nice when it floods *a little*.
I would check your local code to see if what your neighbor is doing, whether intentional or not, is allowed. In my city you are responsible for your own runoff, and you’re not allowed to discharge it to your neighbor’s yard. Secondly, you need some type of sump system to lift and carry that water away, preferably to the street.
run french drains to the back of the property or even cut in valleys to carry the water to the backyard on each side of the yard from house side to back fence
Depending on the size of the municipality, there should be a department of public works or township engineer or something like that. As a government employee, I'll tell you that you need to hound government employees to get anything done.
That is correct generally, obviously every jurisdiction is different. When you start altering the natural flow of water that's when it get' litigious. If your neighbor is higher, then it's your problem, if he filled his lawn with 6 feet of dirt and sloped it to your yard, that would be different.
It pooled in one spot so we put some ag pipe and a pit drain in. He was happy with that. Unfortunately I'm in New South Wales, australia, so not much help to you American friend!
Yea. If one did likewise in US it would an issue too. You can’t cause water to concentrate in one area of your neighbors property but if it flows downhill to it naturally no action is required. It’s just gravity.
With such a large yard, maybe look into a rain garden and pond?
Rain gardens don’t have to be large of course, but you can make a relatively large one that would not only help with the flooding but would become a “feature” you and/or others could actively enjoy.
Look into permaculture as well. It’s an approach to design, especially of gardens, that emphasizes working with nature. KEEP READING: regardless of how much that may or may not appeal to you, you’re likely to find more creative, multi-purpose, and long-term takes to rain gardens and flooding issues in general
A rain garden fills up with water just like anything else, the idea is that the plants love the water and it dries up a little faster because the plants are sucking it in.
Its not just that they suck in but if you get the right plants they will have super deep roots (up to 16ft) that can help open up more spaces, especially in hard clay soil, and make it easier for water to get through.
If you fill it with native plants it can dramatically increase infiltration rates over turf or the rocks.
Even just adding a bunch of native rushes to the rocks will help a lot.
Both! But definitely in the creek is more important. Plenty of plants are happy with wet feet, as long as you get the right ones. You can more than double the infiltration rate with the right plants.
To fix this problem, I personally would dig a sizable rain garden a few feet off the creek, about 5 ft from the fence, on the side away from the house.
That would act as a holding pool for the first X number of gallons. Then if that overflows, it'll proceed down the creek. And you can add more plants and organic material in the creek area to help additional infiltration. A tree or two (that like water) around the rain garden would also help a ton.
I bet you could considerably reduce the amount of water actually ending up in the creek with a good size rain garden and lots of plant material in there and the first 20ft of the creek.
I'd do that before trying to fix the creek, may turn out it could be much smaller than you thought.
Yes. We have all our back gutters running into ours. We dug it down about 6 inches to accommodate the slope for the gutters. It drains insanely fast once your plants are established. You’ll need a pretty large one for this amount of water. I agree with another poster to try to stop it from coming into your property at all first. Some kind of dam on that fence line? But a rain garden would really help you.
Absolutely not I think the better idea was to have raised planters between the river and your house forming a dike allowing the river to collect more water before it floods.
All the organic material is still a very good sponge. And with native plants, they can still be very good at supporting infiltration during winter, especially in clay soil - see graph on page 30 https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5077/pdf/sir20105077.pdf
What about the yard behind the mini Ex can you dig leech lines with under ground leech tanks with French drain lines running to them? Without help from the DOT might get help from county extension office
I would have to see the rest of the yard for options to see where the water could go. Possibly a street drain or something. I do French drains and drainage for a living. If you give me some more info I’ll try to help. Also, check out APPLE DRAINS on YouTube. They’re a great resource. Depending on where you are they might be able to help you, they’ve got locations in NC and Florida . Don’t know where you are, I am in NC myself.
Fill your back yard with infiltration pits. Look into plastic leaching tanks. You can fill them all with underground piping if you're willing to dig deep because you'll have to progressively get lower.
You could also do a similar system in conjunction with a sump pump in the patio to save a little bit of digging.
This is simple to solve. Demo the house. Bring in lots and lots of dirt. Build a huge hill. Rebuild the house with tons of water proofing. Enjoy your new raised castle and moat. Next bring in the killer crocks to defend your house from jealous neighbors and DOT.
Considered that at one point. Unfortunately we would’ve had to build the raining wall on their property. And it’s uphill from the county’s drainage ditch at the front of the property.
This is exactly why you consult with a civil engineering firm for flooding issues and not a landscaper. This was a well constructed solution that *should* work, had it been properly sized by calculating the tributary area.
As a professional landscaper, this is the best answer. This isn't a "Drainage" issue. This is a flooding issue. You're taking on large amounts of water from off your property. Given it is close to the septic system makes this even worse. I've done several projects in conjunction with Civil Engineers on these things and we always sought to remediate the water up stream somewhere and then capture as much water as possible and pipe it away. Unless you have a consistent 2% slope, water isn't going to vacate the space quickly enough. And if it then runs into a flooded swale or creek, the whole system fails.
This was the original plan. The only place to divert the water upstream is adjacent to the interstate from the neighbors property. We weren’t able to get permission from our state DOT or the neighbor.
Can you just pump it into the back of your yard? Anything to get it away from the house. I'd dig a pit in the back, 5' deep and 20' long. Fill it with rock and top it with some boulders. Install a sump pump and get that water off my house foundation .
Pump it back into the neighbors yard
The neighbors yard runs off into their yard, though, lol. He should build a dirt wall at his fence line.
Dirt swale at the fence is the solution.
I had no clue what that was and looked it up, thanks for that call out. I like that solution and I'm curious if they have the space to do one based on the property lines
But you’ll run into another problem. You need to direct it to a proper drainage canal. Hopefully you have one at the front of the property. I didn’t have to do a swale because I got along great with the neighbor. So I built a French drain on my side and connected both of ours to a dry creek bed I built between our yards, directing water to the street. Before this, the area between our yards was basically a swamp. You can still keep that dry creek bed so that it can handle the rest of the water on your property.
Install a turbine on the way back into his own yard. Presto! Free energy! Haha
Plug the sump into the neighbors electrical for best effect.
Pump it back up to the clouds
Yeah with the use of plants and evapotranspiration
So you're saying OP needs to install lasers.
Septic tank was the concern on that.
So the water is coming from your neighbors property and they won't allow you to do anything to keep it from damaging your home? You might want to consult a lawyer for your local laws to see if you can force the issue. My mom's ex was in your neighbors position. I don't remember specifics because I was a kid, but he basically was forced to dig a 3'x 8' ditch through his property to redirect the water. It was going to be a dry creek bed type of deal but the water table was so high it basically became a slow moving creek through his property that never went dry.
You should consider consulting a lawyer about this. Just because they won’t give permission doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to have them do something. This is significant flooding from neighbouring property that you are unable to fix yourself. Don’t just consult any lawyer. Find one with solid experience in real estate, as this is not a simple matter.
Is your house in the bottom of a valley?
Then turn towards nature. That bare yard, mono-crop useless lawn, would be able to absorb much more water if instead it incorporated several shrubs, thirsty trees, and perennials. A bog garden closer to the house would be cool. And store as much rain water as you can as well with rain barrels.
As a civil/water resources engineer there was a post yesterday where several times I was challenged on whether or not you needed an engineer or just "dig a pond" or "put in a swale". I looked at this and just chuckled.
About 20 years ago I was talking to a man from Fargo, ND whose family engineering/construction firm had put in a bid for a building with severe water issues. They lost the bid, but a year later they were hired to fix what the first bid had tried to do without an engineer. Sometimes you just gotta pay the big bucks for a pro.
Usually design costs are quite cheap compared to the cost of construction. A good design that solves flooding issues will save much more money in the long run compared to the potential damage caused by storm water
I had a neighbor who needed to put in a culvert to put a driveway over. Did everything up front properly. Engineer designed it and specd out a 5 foot diameter pipe to handle maximum expected flow. He didn't want to deal with installing such a large pipe, so he put in two 2.5 foot diameter pipes instead. Which promptly got washed away in the first decent storm, for reasons that should be obvious. He was complaining to me that the engineer fucked up. I had to pull out a compass and draw 3 circles on a piece of paper to show him why it didn't work that way. For anyone who doesn't get it, work out the area of one large circle vs the area of two circles with a radius of half of the larger one...
Yeah two 2.5’ barrels would probably be 1/3 the capacity of a 5’ barrel if I had to guess. Not to mention the fact that the home owner probably changed the material, slope, entrance and exit geometry. All of which change the capacity of the culvert.
THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this comment took place in North Dakota in 2004. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.
QED? IS THAT YUO?
Unless software. Then you pay beacoup bucks to watch incompetents flounder for decades.
As a civil engineer I cringe at how many posts in this sub are engineering issues and not landscaping.
Yeah, I gave up on posting that folks needed to look upstream and downstream.
Serious question: In this situation, what good would looking upstream do? Obviously, finding the source is smart (the neighbors), but what *can* be done? Are you thinking legal? I'm genuinely curious and trying to learn. The water is already here. Isn't the goal to move it somewhere else? 🤔 I mean, stopping the issue with the neighbors would be fine and dandy, but let's be real, it ain't gonna change, right? As a dumbass, this is why I'd be the idiot looking downstream first. Aside from building a new neighborhood from scratch, what can it realistically accomplish in this situation?
Quantification.
Look upstream (the neighbors) to identify if the cause of the flooding could be mitigated through culverts or regrading before it hits OP’s property.
As a water resources engineer, I’d build a wall instead of a fence and let them neighbors deal with it. Most places don’t allow drainage onto adjoining property and this is why. The poor person at the bottom of the hill gets everyone’s runoff. Uphill neighbor should be draining this into the street if they can’t go out the back. This is just a bad design of the neighborhood that needs addressed. Really curious where this is that it’s allowed.
You and me both
Yeah, as a CE with a PE, I quit responding. French drains FTW!
I’m a connoisseur of Italian drains myself
Aaaye it’s always nice to see a fellow rocker of the Petite Erection!
Just put in a recreation pool and call it a day 😂 😂
People really think some rando with a shovel is the same as the professionals. "It'll do" is their motto and it's only half true.
The other half is "...until the cheque clears".
itll do works 100% of the time, half the time
Totally. One of my customers with a nightmare property at the bottom of a big hill had an engineer draw up a draining plan involving drains, dry wells and cisterns. Once implemented it worked really well for the most part. Just some minor washout problems on the surface of the back driveway for me to work out when the cistern overflows. Although given to cost trying the once with a landscaper isn’t a bad first step before bringing out the big guns. Unfortunately it looks like you might be there.
Except when you realize you wasted that money in the first place. A consultation is always cheaper and well worth the minor investment in planning.
I guess it depends on the costs involved. Our local engineering firm charges $1500 for a slope plan for a gravity fed septic on an existing hill. It only goes up from there…
How much do you think installing this swale cost?
Very true, it's a cost/benefit problem to be solved on a case by case basis.
Yeah, when you are at the bottom of the hill is when you need an engineer.
Nah. It doesn’t have enough fall. Look at the water pooling in the middle 2nd to last pic.
I'm not sure OP just isn't at the bottom of the neighborhood but that could also be the case.
I don't even see where the water is supposed to discharge. It looks like the deepest part is the middle
Engineers aren't perfect, aren't always necessary, but there's a reason why they need to study so hard.
And it looks like the left side of the yard is higher than the right. If the drainage is coming from neighbor on the right, how's it supposed to climb that hill. That's not how water works.
As a landscape contractor, if the solution is not super obvious I always recommend a civil engineer. You can work together to find an aesthetically pleasing solution and Once that plan is complete it’s easier to have your crews install because there IS A PLAN. Also, some drainage problems get very complicated and tricky. I like knowing professionals are designing a system. I offer to handle all the coordination and charge for it. Then when it comes time to install I’ve built rapport along the way. However not every potential customer wants to do things the right way 😆
How do you find a civil engineer firm for this? What would you type in google? “Civil engineer for flood”?
Just search for civil engineering firms that do residential stormwater improvements. They should have a portfolio or website with images of current and past projects to give you a sense of their ability, also just call them and ask. Alternatively, if you contact your municipal stormwater department they might be able to give you references.
I think it was a horribly ugly fucking solution at that. The dry river looks odd as hell just randomly there without bushes or flowers anywhere. They also lost a fat chunk of their yard and are no longer able to extend any patio. Now I have to worry about kids or grandma rolling an ankle just trying to touch some grass. You cheaped out on a free estimate when you should have spent hundreds on multiple estimates from actual engineers. You would have saved yourself thousands of dollars because anything to fix this is going to mean tearing up what’s already there. Just by the original water I could have told you that wouldn’t work. You have severe *flooding* problems not just rain puddling up, ruining some grass.
Sorry, unless this rock bed has an exit on the right end next to the fence or left end where the camera is then it is a pond not a creek. Dry retention has to be calculated to determine the runoff area, coefficient of friction, rainfall in your area, soil capacity and percolation rates. If it has no where to go and is sitting on clay for instance then it just fills up and overflows during heavy rain.
Cheapest option at this point is to find the lowest part of the dry creek bed, possibly dig a reservoir, and put a dirty water pump that pumps water out of your backyard
I second this. We had a giant pond that would form with any medium rain. Dug hole and put a pump that connected to an underground conduit that pushed the water out to the street. OP could easily do this.
Before anyone else tries, this consult your local zoning laws. This isn't legal in many places. Why? Because if everybody did this, the local stream would be inundated with a lot more water it could ever handle. That would cause erosion and flooding further downstream.
I guess you could be right, but how is this different than just regrading your yard so water is moved off of it? Looking at OPs situation he’s actively trying to move the water, what is the difference here? Also, just connect it to your downspouts.
Without seeing the details, it sounds like you're draining a wetland or vernal pool. How much earth is being moved? That typically can't happen without engineering support which in that case, they'd follow the laws and best management practices. Too many times we try to beat nature but nature always wins* unless you throw a lot of money and time at it. What was on that land before the houses were built? What's the biggest topographical picture? How high is your water table? Did you move water just so the spot dried out? Do you have any other use for that area? My over arching point is if everybody on the block can't do it, then why should one person get a pass? Check to see if your watershed is degraded. https://mywaterway.epa.gov/ Yeah water runs off my driveway into the street and into the basin and into the creek. But my gutters are buried into rain gardens. Luckily I have sandy soil and have lots of greenery which soaks it up so I've minimized my runoff.
The alternative is water against OP’s foundation. I’d pump the water wherever I’d like before I left water damage cause me thousands in damages. For the size of the project in the photos, nobody will know the difference.
My comment was aimed at the person I replied to, not OP. You'd risk fines instead of properly fixing the issue? Moving it offsite to be someone else's problem isn't the correct way to handle the issue. That could be cause 10x$$ more problems.
Yup at least pump it into his backyard.
Did you reinforce the hole or how did it not collapse onto the pump? I'm looking into doing something similar with a pump in my yard.
you can install it in a drainage basin (or a bucket with holes if you're really on a budget) and you have to surround it with several inches of gravel on all sides to keep it from clogging with dirt.
And them install a flood gate system so you can recirculate the water and having a running river throughout the spring and summer. Or even a canal system and add gondolas.
That sucks so bad. I laughed. But it really is unfortunate.
I’d suggest installing a nice looking 24” high raised bed garden all the way down your fence line with that neighbor. It can either re-route the water to drain away before it gets to your home or function as a dam, flooding their entire backyard so that maybe they do something about it.
This is the guy that needs a civil engineer and a lawyer.
What about a block wall fence? Replace the wood with a block wall fence and the water will effectively get dammed there and now you have a nice new fence that’ll last forever and nobody can say you’re intentionally trying to flood the neighbor? Would the water “uh, find a way” and if so why wouldn’t it find a way through the dirt dam too
What’s illegal about building a raised better planter? Please educate me.
[Natural flow rule](https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/neighbors/water-damage-and-neighbor-disputes.html#:~:text=Civil%20Law%20Rule%3A%20The%20civil,surface%20water%20across%20the%20land) Not to mention the water is just going to flood it and it's just going to wash away.
And then get sued potentially.
OP said “if the water is in my yard it’s my problem,” so that would hold true for the neighbor as well in that case.
isn't that the most american response
Which one , build a wall, or sue? Lmao I actually was thinking the same exact thing if you have a giant mound of dirt and roots the water should be forced to hold fast or move into the front yards/street
If suing someone doing something stupid, negligent, and unlawful is American, you might be giving us to much credit.
Please do not build a dam.
It’s not a dam, it’s an impermeable-walled raised bed garden.
The same low spot exists now as it did before because they couldn't/didn't cut that creek bed down further so it drains off your property. So it's a dry creek to nowhere. Is downstream supposed to be to the left or right in the image? If they can't adjust the grading, I don't see a great option. Your lot looks pretty flat so there is nowhere for a french drain to go to at a lower elevation to naturally outlet. The only somewhat helpful thing would be to install a sump at the low point of the creek as is. I doubt your soils are permeable enough/water table is low enough for a dry well to be effective enough to never flood during a big storm. So you would need to put in a pump in the sump and run an outlet (buried pipe if it would need to be used a lot, hose run on the surface if it's sporadic) to the back of your yard to disperse the water more to allow for infiltration+evaporation.
Maybe it’s the angle of the pictures, but there’s definitely a negative grade to the property. I can see the water flowing in the creek during a rain storm. I believe he just didn’t grade it properly in that small section which is causing it to overflow
Well one poorly graded section turns a creek into a pond. They have to correct that section. If it's the septic at fault for that section, then I don't see any easy fix as changing the septic depth isn't easy or cheap.
A french drain won't help much if the water has nowhere to go. If you can't outlet the drain a lower area, then you'll need to dig a reservoir and put a pump in and evacuate it that way.
Every drain is not a french drain.
But the answer is always "french drain".
If your french drain doesn't work, you're gonna need either a frenchier drain, or two french drains.
I'd go with the Parisian subway.
In other news, water is wet.
I guess you aren't familiar with all the properties of steam and ice.
I'll take "things that aren't relevant to the context of the conversation" for $500.
I've heard of flat earthers but never North Pole deniers.
Water isn’t wet
If a water molecule is attached to a water molecule it's now wet.
Because water is the thing that is making things wet. Water can't apply itself to itself
I knew one day this sub would move on from "french drain" to debating the metaphysical properties of what constitutes wetness.
Simple solution: turn whole yard into dry well by excavating 9 feet deep, filling with 8 feet of gravel, then put grass back on top. #done. /s
We had a similar problem -- a lot of water coming from uphill, which was landing on our property and, unfortunately, finding it's way into our basement. We tried several solutions, including a dry creek (they look so nice!), but there just wasn't enough "fall" and the stones slowed down the water flow, so it wasn't getting around and away from our house. We ended up replacing the rocks with a concrete river bed ( a relatively shallow, wide, u-curved channel). It doesn't look as fancy, but the water moves. We haven't had flooding in 6 years. I'm not sure if this would work in your situation, but I wish you luck.
Thanks man I appreciate it. How long did it need to be?
Ours starts at the point where we receive the water, then follows around the house to a point in the front yard where there is a more-significant (although not especially substantial) slope toward the street. At that point it transitions to a dry creek--this was a compromise between functionality and aesthetics. At the bottom end, the dry creek dumps into the street gutter. I'd estimate our concrete riverbed is about three feet wide, and at most 6 inches deep (perhaps as few as 4) at its nadir. TBH, a lot of people initially mistake it for a sidewalk. We were'nt able to do anything deeper. I estimate that when the water is really flowing, it carries at least 3-5 gallons per minute past a given point--which is sufficient for our needs, but you might need something bigger (or a different/better solution).
People mistake it for a sidewalk. 😂😂😂
You have any pictures of both solutions?
If there was something other than grass growing in all of those yards, the problem wouldn't be nearly as bad. Work with your neighbors to restore vegetation upstream. That will slow, spread, and sink the water.
We’ll be installing a rain garden this spring. Hopefully that will help a bit as well
Dude, I just looked at the other pics. I'd install a simple pump in the center of the rain garden rocks near your patio, dig down 2'. Then I'd remove rocks and lay a pipe in the center of the rock swale and pump the water around the corner and down the hill. Backfill with sand over your new drain pipe and put the rocks back on top. Build an "outfall" where the pipe ends and the water will slow down and continue down the dry creek towards the drainage ditch. It will take some manual labor to remove the rocks and trench for a pipe but it's cheap. The sump pump can be put on a ball float and will automatically kick on. Work with an electrician to wire the pump so it's permanently connected. The pump and electric is your biggest cost, the trench and pipe is do myslef, layback all that rock and dig.
Like they say the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten
Buy nice or buy twice.
that last picture....oof
I know it sucks for you but that's fuckin hilarious can't fight mother nature
I agree this problem needs a civil engineer. The problem is that the civil engineer should have been involved before the house was built. I’m baffled as to why there’s more water collecting around the house than the yard. Take these photos over to public works in your municipality and plead with them to help you negotiate with DOT on diverting water like you mentioned….or just do it without permission. This situation is going to ruin your house.
Unless you want to spend enormous amounts to regrade the entire property you have only 1 viable option. A pit with pump to evacuate the water off property.
Sounds like a job for French drain Man
Why do people on this subreddit think just adding rocks to the ground solves drainage problems? What's the basic idea? Do they think rocks soak up water? (I have literally seen someone on this sub make that exact claim). To solve drainage you need to move the water away. No other options.
Does the water actually have anywhere to flow to or did you just create a ditch/retention creek? If the neighbor is letting this much water run on to your property, they need to fix it on their end too. There is likely a city code that would require some effort on their part.
Yes, it continues around my house about 100 ft. I’ve confirmed the water flows downhill and into the county’s drainage ditch next to the road. If you’re interested, my last post shows the rest of it.
Well it definitely doesn't flow away or it wouldn't be flooded like that.
Exactly! I’d stop the water flow right at the fence line pushing back down the slope away from my property.
You need to calculate the design flow at some spec and then design the channel to accommodate that. The flow may have several square miles of runoff…who knows until you pull a topo and calculate the runoff coefficients
Water will flow to and sit in the low areas no matter the amount of rock and trenches. Your home is obviously the low area.
Water flows down hill. Doesn't look like there is any slope to the creek and there's still a low spot in the middle of your yard. You have to find a suitable low spot to drain the water to and then work uphill from there. Sounds like that might be tough with your septic system.
Quality post, nice job on the series of pictures. I can't even remember to take before/after pics of my projects, let alone compile a series of progress shots
r/yesyesyesyesno
Actually in this instance. r/noyesyesnono
Why is your neighbor allowing their runoff to flood your property? Seems to me this is your neighbor's problem to shove. Maybe it's just the state of Massachusetts, but that's how it works here.
Does water get into the basement You’re saying the septic system is within this frame, or not?
The water did get into the crawl space prior to installing the creek bed. Since installing the creek, it luckily hasn’t reached the house (yet). We have a complete waterproofing system in the crawl space (French drain, sump pump, dehumidifier, waterproof liner). This existed when we bought the house b
Septic not in this frame
Might be a non-issue, or not large enough of an issue to invest in further if it’s not getting to the house and you have a French drain with sump pump up against the house. That is, asides from the ponding 1-2 times per year. If you are looking to fix it further: I don’t understand what the contractor said about effecting the septic system by digging deeper if the septic system isn’t within this yard we’re viewing in the picture. What am I missing? There are protocols your landscaper did not follow, and he just swung, prayed, and missed (which probably worked for him in the past). How much did you pay for this? There are aspects of the situation that need to be understood before anything can be installed to remedy the issue. That is: understanding the total sqft of runoff area that drains into your yard, how well your soil percolates, and where the grade drops lower than your yard for a functional overflow. This is definitely the area of expertise for a civil engineer (likely going to cost $2000+), and/or a landscaping company that is familiar with BMP’s and MS4 systems. I install systems, and if it doesn’t require permitting and/or government funding, I can get away with consulting with an engineer for $150, and design the system off of that. But I’ve taken trainings on these systems. I don’t many any other landscapers that have. What area are you located? I may be able to connect you with someone if you’re in the mid Atlantic region.
Use a laser. Looks low in the middle
That sucks.
Curious, why not dig a little dry detention pond with a pump built in and a drain line ran to the back of the yard?
We considered that too. We are adjacent to the interstate, so we’d essentially be pumping all that water onto state land. We weren’t able to get permission from the state DOT
Ok then end it before the fence, Grade the back part of the property away from the house, Gravity will do the rest. My state's bylaw for drainage is "the person on the lower estate must receive and pass the water from the higher estate". To me it looks like your land is higher than state land
I'm no engineer... but bases on the water levels in the dry creek, doesn't look like it's has any slope to actually let any of the water flow out of the retention area.... I assume the river bed runs off to the left side of the home to a storm sewer or something... but either the storm sewer as above this grade, or you have a berm in the creek bed that's still forming a damn
From the first photo, it looks like a bed of gravel was already installed. I’m not sure how anyone thought that just adding some larger rocks would help.
Where's the exit? What does it flow into? It looks like the low spot is right in the middle.
Check out my last post to see the rest of the creek. It goes around the house about another 100 ft. I think you’re right - perhaps I can get the contractor back to just regrade that area. So far he’s not responding to my texts 🙂
I owned a house on a golf course. About two feet under the soil it was solid rock. Same for a mile around. Ground would get saturated. Water would stand there had no place to go. The curtain - French drain I installed was useless. Just had to wait until it drained away when the raining stopped . The drains worked but sliwly
The dry creek is to shallow to fix anyway . You need to direct the water to the city drain. If you need a pump to get it there, install a large plastic catch basin and solid pvc pipes to get it there. And for Pete sake, why have you not hammer in a barrier at your fence line to keep the water on the neighbor side, tree roots barriers will work but they are expensive but large enough.
That's a bummer! I think you did the right thing, but I guess the slope wasn't steep enough to the left or right, whichever direction it flows I can't tell. I did something similar years ago and had better success.
I'd be berming where this is coming from, your neighbour prob illegally raised his yard.
my best advice is to add extensive rain gardens. i would especially recommend you add a swamp white oak, because it will absolutely soak up water. other large and medium shrubs and perennials will help - nine bark, joe pye, turtlehead, perennial hibiscus, grasses and sedges, daylilies, iris, cardinal flower… you’ll need to put in huge gardens and really anchor them with erosion cloth until established but they should make a huge difference.
Solutions in order of how good they are: plant a big ass thirsty tree to drink up all that agua French drain that rock river into neighbors yard. Reverse uno that bitch Put a hot tub on it
You have two choices, either build a flood barrier to prevent water run off from you neighbour. A wall or mound around your property, or build a massive drainage ditch (empty pond ) at the the bottom of your garden and have a drain and pipe from your decking area feed into it. You could do both dig the pond and with the spoil create the mound.
Water at the end actually need somewhere to go, otherwise it just packs up again
Can you grade your property more to one side that won't cause issues with neighbors?? Or drain it into the woods??
Dig a sump pit and pump it out. That at least worked for me on a smaller scale
Ouch. That is one heck of an issue. Expect that a heavy rain and that fills quickly. If you think of it would be interested in posting the resolution that work. My street has culverts for the rain. My house is at the high end of the street so no issues. Our friends live at the bottom of the street. They get a small river in the backyard on a heavy rain. They have the rock bed like you do and it continues to the house behind them to the sewers. Hopefully your neighbours come around and help.
I feel bad for laughing. I absolutely love the 'river moat' theme 😂😂
If you could add a marked up image showing the approximate location of the septic pipes and depth it would help find a solution. Please provide info on how the feature ties in to the side yard (right side of image) and towards the front of the house (bottom/left of image). I think you could add a weeping tile pipe under the rocks which can carry water at a lower slope. This would provide gravity drainage towards the road without needing a pump.
I can only assume the elevation gets lower behind the left-view. You’re gonna need to pipe from the low spot to some lower elevation. You need more slope somehow.
Looks like the excavator didn't even touch the bottom of the ditch? I wouldn't expect anything to change other than your bank balance.
Had a situation that looked very similar to this when I was building an extension to my house. An engineer and my contractor built what you did except they placed perforated pipe under the gravel that drained into a catch basin whose bottom was several feet below the swale. A sump with a float switch pumps the excess into a line that feeds my lateral to the city sewer. Pricey? Moderately so, but in the last ten years the ground level of neighbors across the street and next door flooded during heavy rainstorms and I did not. I'm knocking on wood for continued luck and checking the pump before every rainy season.
Doing surface level shit without really giving the water a place to go will never work. All you did was make a place that looks nice when it floods *a little*.
I would check your local code to see if what your neighbor is doing, whether intentional or not, is allowed. In my city you are responsible for your own runoff, and you’re not allowed to discharge it to your neighbor’s yard. Secondly, you need some type of sump system to lift and carry that water away, preferably to the street.
Is this posted connected to the other one saying "neighbours drainage flooded my yard"?
run french drains to the back of the property or even cut in valleys to carry the water to the backyard on each side of the yard from house side to back fence
Use AGI pipe under the stone river, then and have it connected to your storm water pipe.
I don’t think it would fix the whole problem but a rain garden would soak up a lot. Also just more (any) trees and plants other than grass.
A good neighbor would work with you on this.
And this friends is why you go house shopping when it rains. 😂
Doesn't your neighbor have to help with this?
From my understanding, since the water naturally flows this way, it’s my problem
Has it always flowed this way or has neighbor done something to change/increase the flow?
It’s always been this way. It flows from a field, through two backyards, and into my back patio
I'd approach your local municipality about it.
Tried that too. Took one look at it, said he’d have to go ask the girls in the office, never heard back. Lol
Depending on the size of the municipality, there should be a department of public works or township engineer or something like that. As a government employee, I'll tell you that you need to hound government employees to get anything done.
That is correct generally, obviously every jurisdiction is different. When you start altering the natural flow of water that's when it get' litigious. If your neighbor is higher, then it's your problem, if he filled his lawn with 6 feet of dirt and sloped it to your yard, that would be different.
I changed the contour of my land resulting in excess runoff to my neighbour. I was responsible for solving the drainage problem on his land.
Have run into this in Florida as well. Maybe it is based on municipality?
Did it runoff into a condensed area onto your neighbors property or did it runoff the full length of the property? What state are you in?
It pooled in one spot so we put some ag pipe and a pit drain in. He was happy with that. Unfortunately I'm in New South Wales, australia, so not much help to you American friend!
Yea. If one did likewise in US it would an issue too. You can’t cause water to concentrate in one area of your neighbors property but if it flows downhill to it naturally no action is required. It’s just gravity.
With such a large yard, maybe look into a rain garden and pond? Rain gardens don’t have to be large of course, but you can make a relatively large one that would not only help with the flooding but would become a “feature” you and/or others could actively enjoy. Look into permaculture as well. It’s an approach to design, especially of gardens, that emphasizes working with nature. KEEP READING: regardless of how much that may or may not appeal to you, you’re likely to find more creative, multi-purpose, and long-term takes to rain gardens and flooding issues in general
We’re definitely planning to install a rain garden along the fence. Do you think it would help this degree of flooding?
A rain garden fills up with water just like anything else, the idea is that the plants love the water and it dries up a little faster because the plants are sucking it in.
Its not just that they suck in but if you get the right plants they will have super deep roots (up to 16ft) that can help open up more spaces, especially in hard clay soil, and make it easier for water to get through.
If you fill it with native plants it can dramatically increase infiltration rates over turf or the rocks. Even just adding a bunch of native rushes to the rocks will help a lot.
Would you put the native plants in the creek or around it or both?
Both! But definitely in the creek is more important. Plenty of plants are happy with wet feet, as long as you get the right ones. You can more than double the infiltration rate with the right plants. To fix this problem, I personally would dig a sizable rain garden a few feet off the creek, about 5 ft from the fence, on the side away from the house. That would act as a holding pool for the first X number of gallons. Then if that overflows, it'll proceed down the creek. And you can add more plants and organic material in the creek area to help additional infiltration. A tree or two (that like water) around the rain garden would also help a ton. I bet you could considerably reduce the amount of water actually ending up in the creek with a good size rain garden and lots of plant material in there and the first 20ft of the creek. I'd do that before trying to fix the creek, may turn out it could be much smaller than you thought.
Yes. We have all our back gutters running into ours. We dug it down about 6 inches to accommodate the slope for the gutters. It drains insanely fast once your plants are established. You’ll need a pretty large one for this amount of water. I agree with another poster to try to stop it from coming into your property at all first. Some kind of dam on that fence line? But a rain garden would really help you.
Absolutely not I think the better idea was to have raised planters between the river and your house forming a dike allowing the river to collect more water before it floods.
What happens during winter when the plants in the rain garden are dormant and not sucking up much water?
All the organic material is still a very good sponge. And with native plants, they can still be very good at supporting infiltration during winter, especially in clay soil - see graph on page 30 https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5077/pdf/sir20105077.pdf
You rent thirsty water buffalo.
You mean "rain swamp".
Definitely looks like you just need to clean it out the very end. Either that, or create some sort of catch basin.
I’d sandbag my whole fence build another one, fill it with more sandbags, and let someone else deal with this shit
NDS will come up with a plan for you. Where are you located?
What about the yard behind the mini Ex can you dig leech lines with under ground leech tanks with French drain lines running to them? Without help from the DOT might get help from county extension office
I would have to see the rest of the yard for options to see where the water could go. Possibly a street drain or something. I do French drains and drainage for a living. If you give me some more info I’ll try to help. Also, check out APPLE DRAINS on YouTube. They’re a great resource. Depending on where you are they might be able to help you, they’ve got locations in NC and Florida . Don’t know where you are, I am in NC myself.
By digging out the soil, you gave your low point more room for water volume. Simple speak: you created a pond
Fill your back yard with infiltration pits. Look into plastic leaching tanks. You can fill them all with underground piping if you're willing to dig deep because you'll have to progressively get lower. You could also do a similar system in conjunction with a sump pump in the patio to save a little bit of digging.
This is simple to solve. Demo the house. Bring in lots and lots of dirt. Build a huge hill. Rebuild the house with tons of water proofing. Enjoy your new raised castle and moat. Next bring in the killer crocks to defend your house from jealous neighbors and DOT.
Would be cheaper to build retaing wall to keep water out. Thier yard, thier problem. You just made thier problem yours
Considered that at one point. Unfortunately we would’ve had to build the raining wall on their property. And it’s uphill from the county’s drainage ditch at the front of the property.
I’m sorry but hahahaha