# Flooding from the rain



## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

In the past 24 hours, I got hit with 3.78" of rain. Several heavy downpours throughout the day.

Last fall, during the backyard renovations, in order to stop heavy overflow from a gas station behind my house, a slight berm was built along the back wall (arborvitae are there now). It was angled so as to go with the natural flow/ slope. When the gas station was torn down and rebuilt, they put blacktop over the existing cement, thus making them higher. There is a field between the back of their property and mine.

I got my drone out this morning, to survey the damage. One neighbor to my right and two neighbors to my left both have significant flooding in their backyard. The neighbor to my right, almost half of their yard in the back is flooded, they get about five or 6 inches of water before it eventually spills over on my side of the fence. Three different homeowners, since I've been living here and none of them have really cared to solve the problem. What I noticed last night and this morning, is when the water spills over on my side, it was filling up the trench edging, then going to the edge of the lawn along that trench edging and making its way to the other side. Eventually we had so much rain, about 6 to 8 feet of the back part of the lawn flooded.

At the end of August, I had already scheduled a company to come out and bury my downspouts. I talk to them this morning, showed them pictures and explained everything, and they are sending someone out in a few weeks to see what they can do. With normal heavy rainfall, it doesn't flood in my yard anymore, I just don't want to take chances again. I also have a sewer in the back of my property, to which they can probably drill holes in to allow the excess water to naturally flow into. More than likely, I will have a French drain or dry well installed somewhere. When I'm cutting the grass, I don't notice any significant change in the slope until I get towards the back left corner (by the neighbors flooding side). When the yard was back filled, it rectified the flooding I got in specific areas.

Has anybody dealt with this similar type of issue before? Looking at these pictures, what would you do in my situation?


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Water in your basement? How long does it take for the water to disappear? It's seems far away from the house but if you have a basement I'm concerned about static pressure water needs to go somewhere.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

No, thankfully there was no flooding in my basement. I don't live in a flood zone. That was requirement number one.

It will take about 3-5 days, depending on how much more rainfall we get until Tuesday. I do have a basement, and last fall, the landscapers main concern was ensuring that the soil was in better condition closer to the foundation.There has been zero pooling of water anywhere near the front and the backyard, it just comes from other directions and seems to congregate in one area.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

I would wait for your contractor to come and give you some recommendations to resolve it you're on the right path to not ignore and hope for the best. You have no water in the basement so it's not a full blown emergency that's a huge relief.


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## creediddy2021 (Mar 27, 2021)

Sorry to hear about this Jeff! I have experienced flooding but only in the trench edges. However push the water with a broom into the middle of your lawn. This should help.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

M32075 said:


> I would wait for your contractor to come and give you some recommendations to resolve it you're on the right path to not ignore and hope for the best. You have no water in the basement so it's not a full blown emergency that's a huge relief.


Based on what they told me over the phone earlier, it should be relatively easy to fix. I am imagining possibly having French drains along the back part of the trench edging, and having it flow towards a city sewer in my backyard.They told me that around here, various cities allow them to drill holes into the sewer line, thus allowing the water to flow naturally that way, with some type of a flipper or stopper to prevent it from backfilling into the yard. I have spent almost $8000 last September renovating the entire backyard, so I'm going to spend whatever it costs to alleviate this from happening again.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

creediddy2021 said:


> Sorry to hear about this Jeff! I have experienced flooding but only in the trench edges. However push the water with a broom into the middle of your lawn. This should help.


Could it be, that the trench edging is not deep enough in some areas? I'm wondering, if the trench edge along the back part of the lawn where my arborvitae are, should be deeper, allowing rainwater to somewhat pool up without going anywhere else.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Jeff_MI84 i moved this to the landscape folder. It is not a cool season lawn one.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@g-man 
My apologies.


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## Thejarrod (Aug 5, 2018)

Are you friendly with the neighbors? it might be lower cost per home if two or three build one connected system. even if you prefer to keep the pipes separate, it might be cheaper to have one contractor build it all at once.

cost can be staggering. i priced a drainage system in my yard that gets lots of flowing storm water. for 200 feet of 8" pipe and large catch basin (like you see in a commercial parking lot), it was $16-20,000. ...i'm considering other options.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Thejarrod 
They have only lived next door for about a year. I told him about it and he said he'd call the same company, so they would look at their yard too and depending on the cost might have work done. My main selling point to him was dirty swamp water + dog= bad time and they like to host parties and you can't do it outside with a temporary lake.

My other neighbor is a single mom who might not have the same means to do repairs of this magnitude, flooding doesn't seem to bother her much.

I would consider cheaper options as well. I had this problem before my backyard was re-leveled in the fall, but it did not do it until we had over 5 inches of rain for several days straight.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

As you can see, the heavy rain washed away the edging in the entire backyard. I have to get my half-moon edger and redefine everything.

Thankfully I will have an entire week of no work and be able to get it all done again.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

I had a maintenance company come out and survey what could be done to prevent future flooding. After showing him an aerial picture of three backyards, he looks over the fence and says "I'm willing to bet that your next-door neighbor has a storm drain that's either blocked or completely covered."

So now I have to deal with local government bureaucracy and wait for someone to come out and tell me if in fact there is a storm drain that is causing this issue. Otherwise I'd have to have three dry wells installed.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

I resolved the ponding I was getting on my property with gypsum. It helps loosen the particular clay I have. It is cheap and easy enough I would try it before dropping thousands.
Obviously if there is a blocked drain that needs fixing too.

If you can make the soil in your whole yard more permeable it might also lessen the water that flows to there not just speed drainage.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

I had gypsum put down in the spring. I'm getting the backyard core aerated in the fall.

I got a call from the city sewer supervisor a little while ago. Their map shows that my neighbor with the lake in their yard, do in fact have a storm drain and they'll inspect it/ clear it out.


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## Ngilbe36 (Jul 23, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> I had gypsum put down in the spring. I'm getting the backyard core aerated in the fall.
> 
> I got a call from the city sewer supervisor a little while ago. Their map shows that my neighbor with the lake in their yard, do in fact have a storm drain and they'll inspect it/ clear it out.


That would be a great end to this story! Problem solved for free


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Yeah. I'm glad that the contractor was honest about it and not out to get money for something unnecessary.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Another 2.5" of rainfall and the problem reoccurred. Less water is coming over the property line.

The back left corner, I'm wondering if I should raise the grade of the flower bed, so the last four arborvitae are no longer in standing water?




From the fourth arborvitae in the back all the way to the right, if I should level the lawn a little higher and/ or raise the berm/ flower bed higher and slope it more, grading the bed so the trench edging prevents less standing water on the back of the lawn?







Perhaps shallowing the flower bed around the sewer so it can pool up in the back? I figure I should raise the flower bed slightly where the ornamental grass is. I would like to try to alter the area before needing to go the route of the dry wells.


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## Thejarrod (Aug 5, 2018)

that is a lot of water for a dry well. Is there an option to connect to a storm drain?


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> Another 2.5" of rainfall and the problem reoccurred. Less water is coming over the property line.
> 
> The back left corner, I'm wondering if I should raise the grade of the flower bed, so the last four arborvitae are no longer in standing water?
> 
> ...


Did they ever come and unclog the neighbor sewer?


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@M32075, my neighbor called the sewer department and they turn around and say there is no storm drain. I reached out to them to ask why the different stories. More or less, it's a grading issue. The city only brings clay in to fix grading if it impacts the foundation.

I'm thinking as far as my yard, next year I might just change the grade of the back where the arborvitae are by the fence. See if I can lower it a little bit,. Have the same company look into doing something. Maybe have a swale at the end of the lawn.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Thejarrod said:


> that is a lot of water for a dry well. Is there an option to connect to a storm drain?


My best guess, is that it accumulates around 75 gallons plus, when rainfall is about 1-2.5" in a 24 hour period.

The company I head over, said that they would want to do a total of four dry wells spread out through the back. As I found out yesterday, I was misinformed by the city (bureaucrats am I right?) that there is no storm drain, so nothing to connect to.

I very well may just see how it goes when I make gradual little changes to the sloping of the flowerbeds. I might just say the hell with it, remove most of the arborvitae and make that area into a trench so water can just flow down towards the fence. Maybe add those faux shrub/ vine things to the fence for privacy.


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