aj

A couple of question before a meaningful discussion can commence.

Are you the low lot in the area? Does water stand in your neighbor's yards as much as yours?
Does water come into your backyard from all the neighbors yards or just on side?
How long does it take to drain the water from your back yard?
Does most of the drainage happen across your lawn by the sides of your house to the street or into the catch basins?
How often does this happen?
Does the water stay close to your house foundation or drain away when the water subsides?
There are many things you can do or maybe none at all. There have been some good threads in this forum similar to yours in the last few weeks. Aloha

I think what the man is saying aj is that although there was that old story about the little boy stemming a dyke with his finger, size of hole and finger are important to know. Best to have a local boy have a look.

Thanks for the responses. Here is some more info and I am going to try and draw this out after as well.

We are not the low lot. However, a part of our neighbors yard and are yard share a point where the water collects (just by the fence on the left side). It actually comes from the house DIRECTLY BEHIND MY NEIGHBOR who has a low point that slopes in our direction. It only happens on the left side where we put the small catch basin.

When we get heavy heavy rain, 5-7 inches over 12 hours or so, the drain simply cannot keep up with it. It starts to pool and get bigger and bigger as you see in the pics. This has happened about 5 times in the 5 years we have lived here. That was the reason why I put in the small catch basin there.

The issue is when it pools up badly back there, it eventually gets to the patio area by the house. That has led me to have to raise up a door there in order to prevent any water from coming over it into the basement. That has only happened 2 times, and NOT ONCE since we raised the door.

Once the rain lets up, the small catch basin seems to catch up eventually, and the area on my side of the fence drains out. The side with the LARGE catch basin is a little higher and further away from that point. I have never seen it pool up there much if at all.

aj,

When you say a french drain are you talking about an enclosed gravel ditch with a collection pipe(w/ filter sleeve) in the gravel to help collect water running through the soil. I believe you have described just a drainage system using a series of pipes buried underground connected to catch basins that collects surface water and routes to the street? The capacity of your drainage system will be based on gravity flow for the size of the last segment of pipe in your system(4"). You are designing your system for a large once a year flood, you will need large pipes(just a guess). If the pipe going to the street is 4 inches, it is not large enough and when you increase the flow by connecting another pipe to it, it is even more, so not big enough. Three things you could do, others may fine tune this, when you do your sketch is: 1) create a good sized open ditch that runs along the flooded side of your property(probably need a permit for construction). This ditch could be lined with grass, pavers or wire mesh and slurry concrete. The end of the ditch can flatten out and run under the sidewalk in place of the curb(City's have details for this outlet type) 2) Increase the size of the pipe from your connection point to the street to 8" and your other lines to 6". Also get as much downhill slope on the pipes as you can. 3) Just increase the last leg of your drainage system to 6" or 8" and just live with some flooding(less than before) once every year.

Describe how many linear feet of french drain and pipe for the estimate.
Describe what he will do to complete his work.
Ask the contractor to itemize the work steps and associated costs for each step.
Ask three contractors to give you cost proposals.
JMHO Aloha

Also, you mention your belief that at least some of the water pooling in your yard is coming from a drainage system of one of your neighbors. Does your city allow this? Most (maybe all) cities will allow passive run-off, but many will not let you devise a drainage system that dumps your water onto someone else's property. So you might be able to convince your city inspector to apply some pressure on your neighbor, which is only fair. That might solve much of the problem, and not at your expense.

It's hard to tell from the pics, but are your neighbors yards holding just as much water as yours is?

How old are the houses there? Were they all built by the same builder? Seems to me like the soil conditions and drainage factors might not have been fully considered, when the houses were built.

One more thing--how old is the french drain? Many block up, either from improper installation, or just because they can, after just a couple of years. It may not be working at all. That's the problem with such a system--you have to dig it up to prove it isn't blocked, unless you have easy access to their destination and can check for proper outflow.

Dave,

Yes, enclosed gravel with collection pipe, filter, holes facing down. I think the problem I am having with the catch basin that I put in is that I tied it into another system that already had a french drain and several downspouts from the house. That is 4 inches. The one I tied in is probably just too much for that system to handle.

As of now I am pretty sure that a separate line for this smaller catch basin at 4 inches should do the trick. My town will not allow me to dig the ditch you propose, nor run a line that wide.

The run we is 144 linear feet. I am currently getting other estimates than the one posted and will be sure to make sure he itimizes the work.

The water pooling in my yard is simply due to slope of a neighbors yard and NOT a drainage system. This area is old, and the homes here were built 85 years ago. The neighbor who I think has the most pooling gets a small pond in the rear of her yard when this happens. However it is behind her garage and in an area she does not care about. Also, she is a older woman on her own and cannot deal with the issue. The soil is pretty thick around there, so it could be a combination of that and the slope.

The french drain running off the other system has got to be at least 10 years old. I have no clue if it works, but I can see it coming out of the LARGE catch basin in the back. I don't want to mess with that system because it works. I think running a separate line with a larger catch basin, versus a french drain might be my best bet. Let's hope I get some reasonable quotes.

Thanks,
Adam

Adam,

Would the Town allow you to put in two 4" pipes side by side? That also helps if you have too little slope. Maybe one for downspouts on for the catch basin. Good Luck. Aloha