# Controlling runoff water between properties.



## Racsw (5 mo ago)

Hello,
My and my neighbors front lawn has a 10 deg down slope about 150 ft long to the town's ditch alongside the road.
To add to the incline issue, the other problem is that his property is 4 to 5 ft higher than mine, and planted with Bermuda.
So when it rains, or pours, his excess water rolls down onto mine, or used to anyhow.

When I bought the house a little over a year ago, when it rained hard, the water would run over to my yard and wash away any topsoil that may have been there at one time. It was all weeds and that TN shale clay dirt when we bought it.

My neighbor bought his two months before me, and was very nice about the issue and did, at one time, work for the government for erosion and landscape control. So we agreed to rent a 4 tine rototiller and dig a ditch between the two properties 180 ft long to catch the water and direct it down to the ditch at the road. We had to install stone "dams" of sorts to slow the water down as it went down hill, but it did work. Didn't look great though.

So this next Spring, due to the cost we'll probably incur, we would like to fix this properly and so it looks nice and adds to the property value as well as handle the water from the downpours. I asked a landscaper out to look at it, and he suggested digging a trench with an excavator, line it with the grey HD weed mat on three sides, then fill it with 2" to 4" River Run stone. Then supposedly, the water, even when it's raining hard, will go into the stone and travel through it downhill without overflowing. This stone is expensive and we're retired, so we have to make sure what we do will work to get the best bang for our buck.

The stone supplier is trying to be helpful, and suggested we use a different, lower cost granite stone at first, and then use 6" of River Run to polish it off, which would lower the cost substantially and provide a nice look. The landscaper decided not to do this project because all he has is a 42" bucket, which would make a trench way too wide for our lawn which is only 80 ft wide with small pines.

So the questions are this:

1. With a 180 ft trench, Is this an acceptable and proven way to handle this problem?

2. Because I will have to rent an excavator to do this myself, it comes with a 24" bucket. Will a 24" wide trench accomplish our goal or should I cut it wider? (30'"?)

3. How deep should I make it? I was hoping 18" would be enough, but I have no experience with this, so it's simply a guess. I can only dig it once, whatever depth it should be. The stone guy estimated that a 2 ft trench 180 ft long will take 30 ton of River Run. I didn't want to ask the price to prevent any heart problems. (joke)

4. What size and type stone(s) would be recommended for doing this for best water removal during a downpour?

5. Because River Run stone is round and smooth, and the stone the quarry guy suggested as the "base" stone has sharp edges, wouldn't that slow the water down using his suggestion as the first stone to use for cost reasons?

That's the best information I have to describe the problem for now, but will be more than happy to listen to any advice, answer questions or listen to suggestions from professionals who have experience with this problem. I didn't attach any pictures because I didn't think it complicated enough to take a picture of a trench.

Regards,
Robert


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