Drainage Question, help appreciated

13 years ago

We live in a 0 lot line house and have a fairly small back yard. The area behind our house is an elevated runoff from a park. After moving in, during storms, our backyard became a river. After years of talking to the HoA, last summer they put in a Berm to prevent these issues. Afterwards we had a new retaining wall put in, and the drainage seems to not be a huge issue anymore.

Unfortunately 2 years of being a river killed a tree, and all of the backyard grass. We are in the process of getting bids on sprinklers and have also asked about grading the back yard, it has some lumpy spots and low spots.

Most recommendations have been to regrade the yard to a catch basin, and have that drain to the street. Does this sound reasonable. The are to be grassed in is probably about 10' x 8 '. So far the bids have been $2,500 +.

Part of me thinks this is overkill since the source of the drainage issue has been plugged up, the other part of me worries that if said berm brakes down I'll be right back in my current situation. If we are going to do it now would be the time.

Any help or opinions from the experts here would be much appreciated!

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Comments (3)

lehua49
13 years ago
sw,

Drainage to the street is always the best way for a long term solution. My question is where does the water go if it no longer goes into your yard? Did the HOA do a long repair or something that will erode over time?
Give us the breakdown of bids for $2,500 work. Is your house newly constructed? Who owns the Park? Do your neighbors have the same problem? Aloha
southwick7320
Original Author
13 years ago
There is a shallow ditch, 8ish feet wide, that leads from the park to a large city drain. The HoA put in a dirt berm covered by grass, so one would assume it may erode over time. This drainage area is probably 4ft higher than our yard elevation. This issue had affected everyone on my side of the street as we became the primary runoff for the park runoff. This seems to have been rectified by the berm, for now.

The bids center around grading the backyard to a catchbasin that would then drain to the street. The backyard downspout would be tied into this.
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lehua49
13 years ago
sw,

If all your neighbors put pressure on the HOA or original developer, you could put in a concrete line ditch inside the earth swale. That should have been done originally during development. It was illegal to let the park drain into your yard. Otherwise, wherever the water has to turn into another direction erosion will occur and you have to watch that area over time. Do you have a breakdown of your bids? Your prices seems high to me. Especially in a time when Contractors are looking for work. How many bids did you get? aloha