Need Advice Backyard Drainage Issue

Hi! Towards the property line in my backyard, the ground stays saturated after rain/snow for weeks. It is due to the run-off from the neighbors on the side and rear of my lawn. Can anyone suggest a solution or reputable landscaping company to help with this backyard draining issue. Thanks!

 

You may want to check on your property plat and see if your property drains out the rear of your yard. My neighbors yard drains out the back which is funny because both houses on either side have storm water drains. She paid a landscaper a lot of money and her yard is still soaked after the rains.

I had the builder come back and install a french drain in my yard to remove the pooling water. It took 5 years of my complainingand 3 landscape companies before they finally eased the flooding. Now the yard is damp, but it will eventually drain. If I can find the crad of the guy I will post the info here.

Good luck,

 

I would exhaust all avenues with the builder first before paying out-of-pocket.

And please, if you do decide to have a landscaper redo your grading, it must first be approved by the Modifications Sub-Committee.
This is to insure that a regrading will not adversely affect a neighbors property.

Bob T - Modifications Sub-Committee member

 

My house was built in 2003 and I am the third owner. I am having the same issue where both my neighbor and I's sump pumps drain into my back yard b/c of grading and it just pools there. Can I get the builder to come and fix my yard too?? I am pretty sure it was VM

 

Not really sure, I am the original owner so it was easier for me to get them to fix it. I complained from the very beginning and would not let them off the hook. My neighbor had them come out and look, but since she had landscaping done, they said they could do anything to help. So she had to pay someone else to rework her back yard to allow the water to flow out of the back of her property.

A couple of my neighbors have installed French drains or trenches to get the water to flow correctly. This sounds like you may need to do the same.

Good luck

 

Thank you all for your responses. Do you know what the process is to have the builder VM address this issue? I had already gotten a quote to have a french drain line and 2 drain boxes installed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!!

 

our landscaper, Merteeny Landscapers, installed a Trench drain (French Drain) in the back of our yard, which was also always soaked by the neighbor behind us wehn the ran their sprinkler system on top of rain, etc. While they were there, I also asked them to bury a line from our sump pump to the fence line. The side neighbor had the drain.

 

I'm in a similar situation here... no sump pump, but the majority of my neighbor's roof drainage spills into my yard as well as all of mine - so my yard is flooding at the bottom by the fence, it's literally a miniature swamp (I keep waiting for cattails to sprout) for days after a rain or snowmelt, and now that area of my yard is a red clay mudpit. Plus my yard is on the north side of the house, it's a townhome in the middle of a row, so virtually no Sunlight ever reaches the yard except in the middle of Summer.

Will (member(s) of) the mods committee come to an owner's place and give recommendations on regrading properly instead of waiting until an application is submitted, so an owner who may need to get it done knows what to discuss with a landscaper?

Thanks!

 

I don't believe any member of the committee is a drainage expert.

 

Uh. Well, this raises more questions than it answers, but I'm not sure I want to go there.

Thanks anyway... I'll do some research then.

 

I contacted Howard Landscapes Inc. and they sent an engineer out to assess the need to resolve the drainiage issue. you may want to call them; it costs nothing for them to come out and give you a quote. At least that is a start.

 

My house is on a hill and I have two neighbors uphill from me. Their stormwater runs off their property, through my backyard, and into my neighbor's backyard where it would pool up. I planted a weeping willow in the path of the water and now my neighbor's yard doesn't flood anymore. Weeping willows drink lots of water, and they're attractive.
--- John B.

 

We are having the same problem with our yard, of course this has been going on for years. When we first moved in we complained to the builders...Washington Homes and they sent someone out and they redid the sodding.....twice. I know nothing about grading and drainage but I knew we were beating our heads against a wall. Well, now that we have children we would like them to be able to play in said backyard without them looking like they were mud wrestling.We back up to common area....sloping towards our yard and both neighbors yards slope towards our yard. So as a landscaper said she didn't want to do anything until the grading was fixed as I am sitting on a pond. Those individuals who had french drains put in, have they helped? Can anyone recommmend their vendor? and if I needed to incorporate the use of the common area (because that is where the drain sits) can I just ask as part of my modification application?

 

From what I understand, a weeping willow will do the trick. You do need to be careful that you don't plant them to close to your home or any pipes since the roots will go to ANY water source. They do soak up water and they are pretty to look at.

 

it' be great if they had a mini version of the weeper! I'd put install one in a heartbeat.

 

What about a river birch? They like a lot of water as well.

 

my mom-in-law always called the River Birch a weed:rolleyes3:

 

No way! I have one in my side yard and it's my favorite tree.

 

I found this thread from a couple of years ago and wanted to link it to a similar question I have. My house is on one of Broadlands paths and I walk my dog regularly on it. Behind me on the other side of the path, there are 2 homes that have a lot of backyard drainage issues and what water doesn't saturate their yards, runs into the trail (~10 feet or so). When it freezes, the pathway is dangerous to the kids that run through there, people walking, etc. This section is right as you come over one of the bridges, so someone may not pay attention and "bite the dust". Is this worth reporting to the HOA? I'm not even sure what could be done to fix.

 

This is not a drainage issue, but actually a hot spring. The HOA is aware of it and it looking at several options to redirect the water back underground.