Need advice on stopping water flooding sidewalk

9 years ago

So I bought my house a couple of years ago, have had to do quite a few upgrade projects since then. I've finally made it down my list to a problem I can't figure out how to solve. The way my backyard is, when I get heavy rain (or lots of melted snow), the water gathers down a minor slope and onto the sidewalk to my garage. It has done a number on my sidewalk, the garages foundation, and can sometimes partially flood the one side of the garage itself.

For a better understanding, I'll provide pictures. My garage is on the right, backyard on left in photo. Arrows reflect the motion of the water when it flows.

The ground at the end of the sidewalk (behind it), is significantly higher than the sidewalk itself.

This is where the water normally sits. You can kind of see cracks in the blocks of cement from the water eroding them, and seeping into my garage.

This is if you were standing in the doorway of garage. Some water also flows towards my back deck steps and floods under them.

Last picture I swear! For temporary relief, I've dug little trenches next to the sidewalk on the left and between it and the red landscaping blocks. It allowed the water to run into the driveway.

Is there any way to salvage the sidewalk, garage and driveway aside from my mini trenches that allow it to slowly drain into my driveway? I can provide more info if needed!

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

9 years ago

Agree. The simple way to put it is you need to lower the level of soil and make the house the highest point around.

This is what happens when people apply a 1/4-inch of topdressing over and over for several years. Top dressing with real soil never goes away. It also never improves your soil, so in my opinion it should be outlawed by the insurance industry. ...or something like that '-P A landscaper with a box blade on the back of a tractor could do this job in 15 minutes. Of course you'd have to redo your entire lawn, but the job would be done and done right. He would remove all the necessary soil and cut the swale so that the water runs away from the house and toward the street or other appropriate drain spot. Since you're not allowed to flood someone else's property, you might end up with a small pond in your yard. And the landscaper will remove that excess soil from your yard so you're not tempted to make this mistake in the future. You might want to get your county engineer involved.

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Comments (6)

krnuttle
9 years ago
I think the first thing you need to do is to do a survey of the total area around the garage. It looks like your house is lower than the road assuming the road is at the end of the driveway in the one picture.

You may need to sit down, or lay down, in various spots around the garage to see the slopes. Of your lot is so level that you can not do it by eyeball, then you may need to do it with a long board and level, or one of those laser levels. Bottom line is you need to determine where the water drains to on your lot.

Only after you completely understand the topography of the lot, It may be necessary to cut a swale from you garage to the low spot from which your lot drains. Depending on the size, you may need some large equipment, or you may cut the sod off, shape the swale and then re install the sod.

There are french drains corrugated pipe and many other techniques, BUT you have to know where to construct them so the water goes where it naturally wants to go.
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dafts
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for your replies and suggestions. The road is actually about 80-90 yards+ from my garage. The sewage/septic is directly behind the house, which is why I think the ground there was topped off so much. Then I'm guessing after a couple years, the previous owners built the garage in just a terrible spot without thinking. There's a long ditch that runs from the road back a couple hundred yards, which is where everything is supposed to drain to. They built the garage directly between the topped off soil and the ditch.

I'll provide an aerial view for a better description. Even though it's about an eight year old picture by the looks of it.

The green square is the higher leveled ground. Blue arrows show which way the water normally flows. Am I going to have to go around the garage completely? Or change the landscape to make it all drain to the back?
purslanegarden
9 years ago
You could make some french drains along the sidewalk next to the garage and redirect it out to the street, or make it drain back out to the direction where the other water usually flows (downward direction in your picture with the blue arrows). You could also drain it to the ditch if there are no regulations about what drains to that.
krnuttle
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I think your only long term option, and probably the cheapest, to to regrade the yard and create a swale. I would create it on the right of garage (as seen in picture) and run it on the left side of the green square from about the patio? to about 5 feet beyond the back of the garage. It should end so the water drains between the back of the garage and the out-building

Assuming the lot drops of to the right from the green square, the swale does not need to be deep. About 8" lower and sloping from the garage. It should drain to the back of the garage, and move the water to the back, to the natural drainage.

I suspect you could cut it through the green square, but you would have your leach bed to consider (How deep are the lines)

The swale could be create with a sod cutting machine. Cut the sod from about a six foot wide section the length of the garage. Once the sod is remove dig the right three feed down about 4 to 6 inches and stack the dirt next to the garage. once you have all grades correct and flowing correctly replace the sod.

I think you could cut it across the drive way, but I think that opens a whole knew set of problems.

Also you could run a pipe from the house along the left side of the square, but the swale would be the less maintenance in the long term.
dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
Wow! Picture is worth a thousand words. Yes, the garage should have been built a little differently. It is right in the big middle of the drainage direction toward the ditch. Had the garage been built on a slab about 4 inches higher than it is, that would have worked. Since it wasn't, then the drainage has to go around it.

It's easy to do this on paper and not have consequences, but just looking at it, my first thought would be to carve a swale beginning at about the middle of the house and curve it between in the middle back and between the back of the garage and the out building down toward the ditch. It needs to drop about 6 inches below the bottom of the garage and house at 10 feet away from the structures. That ensures you don't get flooding again - at least it ensures it to the bank and other lending institutions.