Need help with stinky, bad drainage clay soil

21 years ago

Hi. My name is Lori and I am new to the forums. I have read and followed several forums here, but this is my first cry for help.

I have been in my home for almost a year now. Almost as long as I have been there, I have a nasty smell in my front yard that I originally thought was a problem with a neighbors septic tank. This past weekend, I began working the bed in front of my home and as I dug out the red sticky soaking wet clay, I realized it was in my yard. 6 inches deep and the water was puddling and smelled so bad. I know that I need to add organic matter to the clay, probably with a tiller that I do not have yet, but do I need to do anything else for drainage? A friend suggested digging out at least a foot and adding pea gravel and drainage tiles? Will I always have problems like this if I only treat the top 6 inches with compost and humus? The smell is so embarassing when people visit.

Thanks for any help and suggestions

Featured Answer

stephwebb

21 years ago

Sorry, I was hoping it was going to be an easy solution to your problem! Could it be an old sewage pipe not connected to the septic system, or a neighbor's pipe?

If that's not the case, I would check with a drainage expert (lot's of landscaping companies deal with drainage). They may be able to install a French drain or other type of drain that would be easier and maybe cheaper than you digging up a bunch of dirt and hauling in pea gravel, etc. My neighbor had a drainage problem next to her house and they put in a French drain which drained away the water to a lower elevation and solved her problem.

Be sure and post what happens. Now you have me curious! Good luck

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Comments (6)

stephwebb
21 years ago
Well, I had a very similar problem in that I had a mushy area that smelled like sewage. It turned out to be a leak in the sewage pipe. Do you know if yours is anywhere near the sewage line?

I suggest you call Roto-Rooter or similar company and have them come out. They can insert this wire thing with a camera on the end and diagnose the problem to see if it's a leak. I can't imagine soil ever making it stink like that. (We have heavy clay soil too and even though it's a pain to work with, it never stinks)

The good news is that IF it's a leaky pipe, once it's fixed both the odor and drainage problem should be fixed. Good luck!
lorinc
Original Author
21 years ago
I have this problem all across the front of my home, and my septic tank and pipes are in the back of the house. The home and septic system is new as of May of last year and I have had this smell almost since we moved in last year. I may go ahead and have that checked out anyways, just in case. Thanks for your response
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wanageshik
21 years ago
I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM and solved it. It's called anearobic... or something like that. It's very bad smelling, like sewer. Yep, know it all too well. Here's what I did and now the smell is GONE!

I'm not sure exactly which of my remedies worked because I did them all around the same time. Oh, I should tell you first what DID NOT work. Amending the soil made it WORSE. Adding lime and peat made it WORSE.

I dug 8 hole, about 18 inches deep and threw in a bunch of rocks I bought in bags at Walmart. Then I added 1 bag of playsand (about a dollar or so at Walmart). Then I capped them off with their old soil 'hat'. Then I sprinkled another few bags of the playsand all over the yard, especially in the wet, mushy, smelly areas. Then I threw some Perfect Seed grass seed (also at WalMart) on top and my yard quit stinking.

So... in effect, I made some french drains, removed some of the clay soil and replaced it with sand and then top treated the whole thing with sand. The grass took off and now I can be in my yard without any problem.

Do a search on the forums for this anaerobic soil condition (some kind of bacteria build-up I think) and you will probably recognize your situation right away. And the posts may have better solutions than mine for you to try.

Best of luck!
Sheryl
eltigre
21 years ago
I sprayed my yard down EarthRight and the stink and water drainage issues went away. Neighbor tried the french drain and soil amendant route with little success.

Here is a link that might be useful: Earth Right soil conditioner
Dieter2NC
21 years ago
Is the soil a grayish color with black streaks in it? It could be a vein of bulltallow, which is not uncommon in NC. It has the consistency of bubble gum, stinks to high heaven and turns hard as rock if it dries out. You will have to provide drainage and 6" of soil on top to grow grass on it, more if you want shrubs or trees.