I would look into re-grading the yard to create a dry creek channel to move the water away from the house and out to the street. Check with zoning laws to be sure that is acceptable.

Thanks, Prunin. The area around that little tangerine tree back by the fence was actually the deepest (8") compared to the right side area (3-4"). I've been manually grading but water still pools so I'm guessing either the soil is too compacted or the slope isn't steep enough.

I think the question is, if it's deepest back by the fence, where can the water go from there? If there's not a downhill path out of your yard on the other side of the fence, then it's just going to sit there. Since you don't have control over what happens in the neighbors yard, you may need to provide an exit path through your own yard. I think what kiminpl is recommending is that you try to make a dry creek from the back, around the side of your house, to the street in front. It would need to be consistently sloped downhill in order to work. Do you think that's possible? How high is the street compared to your back yard?

Not sure if that would work... we have pavers along the side of the house all the way to the street and they're sloped so water runs off them into the backyard.

That would be your problem right there -- water directed into the backyard dead-end, nowhere to go except pool up. Exactly what I mean by regrading -- pull out the pavers, dig down a bit and re-set them so the water runs the other direction, toward the front, out to the street. Do you have gutters at your street? You will benefit from hiring someone with experience.

Thanks, Kiminpl. You're right - that does sound like the best way to go. But just to clarify, we should grade so the very back of the yard is the highest and then gradually slopes down to the pavers, which will also be sloped down toward the street? There is a storm drain on the street next door to us.

I watched the flow yesterday when it rained and the majority of water definitely seems to be coming from the roof of our porch and then runs down along the pavers and pools in the yard

Yes, to confirm, that's your problem. You need to change the slope so that the direction of the water flowing off the roof (and through the yard in general) is toward the street instead of toward the back.

Do you have gutters on the porch roof? If not, gutters sloped towards the front of the house to a downspout would help direct the water quite a bit.

No gutters on porch roof or house roof. Wasn't sure if gutters could even be installed on that type of roof but I might have to look into it.

That could have a huge effect upon the amount of water channeled into your yard. Ask around, I'm sure someone can figure out how to attach gutters. I've had gutters attached to metal roofs on several occasions. I remember one person saying "It can't be done"; while another went ahead and did it. You just have to find the right person.

Would raising the floor of the porch up help at all? It's ground level right now (7" lower than the house). If we raise the porch and remove those pavers, that's 7 more inches we could grade the soil away from the foundation.

I'd raise the floor of the porch for sure! I do feel your pain. A few years ago I owned a house with a courtyard. The builder didn't put in proper drain pipes, so when it rained hard, I'd have 2 inches of water to wade through to get to the garage. Had to wear high heeled boots just to go to work through the flood. Don't live there anymore, but I do know what a pain all that water can be. I'd look into the gutters too.

Hi

had a similar problem with mine i live in Palm Beach county I removed the grass from the backyard creating shrub palm islands Using gravel in the paths . Don't know about your soil but mine is mostly beach sand so drains easily if you don't block it I put gutters on the roof and direct it to the water gardens from there to marsh gardens then to the neighbors.lol It has worked well except when there was a 31 inch rain.!! Was collecting fish from the neighbors for weeks lol

Summer is the rainy season so expect heavy rains !!! I'm almost 14 inches below normal this year so depending on the hose for my floods lol Good luck gary

A lot more rain is forecasted for this weekend so I've been working all week to slope the yard away from the pavers/porch and make a trench as a temporary fix before all the water hits again and it seems to have worked. I removed all the stones, edging and leveled out all the soil. Still pooling, but at least it's away from the porch now.

This was 10 days ago after the last torrential downpour...

This was yesterday after 2" of rain...

both and you may need a french drain.

but it does look better