# Drainage problem



## bp2878 (Feb 13, 2019)

I have this one part in my flower bed that will not drain. The soil in that portion is mostly clay. I'm clearing out all my beds and redoing them and I'm wondering if I need to install some sort of drain here or if replacing the clay with a foot of 2 of topsoil will do the trick.

I have to dig out anyway to remove all the rocks, they are plentiful!


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## jjepeto (Jan 27, 2019)

Need to see a farther out picture to understand the surrounding context. Do you currently have underground drainage pipes you could tie into? If so, it should be a fairly easy job assuming they are close. If you don't already have underground drainage pipe this would be a pretty small area to drain to daylight and may not be worth the effort if you have to dig a long trench to daylight it. At a minimum I'd add soil and give it a positive slope away from the house. What are you planning to put in there, grass, flowers, shrubs?


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## bp2878 (Feb 13, 2019)

It's the area under the window. Not really sure what I plan to put there. Probably just flowers, my wife hates shrubs. There was a shrub there that was living just fine but we pulled all of them up including that one. Water pools in this region, but the entire area, reaching about 10 feet out remains really wet and spongy after rain or irrigation.


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## jjepeto (Jan 27, 2019)

I would just add topsoil so it's higher at the house and lower at the lawn edge. That should remove most of the bulk water. I probably wouldn't even bother with the rocks or clay, but if they bother you go for it. The concern I'd have with removing clay is if the surrounding ground is clay you are essentially creating a bathtub for water to sit, with 3 sides of that bathtub being your house. That's a bad deal. I'd just add topsoil to create drainage and plant some flowers in it. Certain types of plants will suck up more water so that might help out. Just don't add so much that you cover the weep holes in the base of the brick or you will compromise the wood behind the brick.

Also - you could add a gutter to the parts of the house that drain into this area and connect them to a downspout that moves the water away - that would be ideal.


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## TonyC (May 17, 2018)

Be careful with changing the grade around your foundation. Are you on a slab or crawl? If you raise the grade above the foundation joint you're asking for trouble where water will find it's way in. I don't think you're at risk of this for a couple of inches, but definitely know at what height above the grade your wall meets the foundation. The bricks are just the outer surface.


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