# Grading problem and solution needed, water can't escape...



## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

I'm regrading a friends backyard as the property currently slopes towards the house and keeps flooding the basement. Heres' the problem, all the houses surrounding her property including her own all slope the the rear corner of her property and there is no way for me to get the water off the property. Also, we are only a mile from the ocean so there is always a ground water problem. I'm goin to regrade the lot so that the water will seep in across the entire property instead of the one corner, but at the same time give positive pitch away from the house. Is there any way to get the water to drain at the rear of the property using maybe a pipe installed vertically below the water table, filled with stone, fabric over it and capped with soil??


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

Install a catch basin in the back and pipe it to the front.


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## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

Rino,

No where to pipe it to up front. I was hoping there was some catch basin or something close but nothing, closest inlet is about 200 feet down the street.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

You said that you want to install a french drain below the water table with fabric and stone. If there is no way to run a pipe out the front, then how are you going to do this ??


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## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

This was just a few ideas from guys that swear it works. They said the water will gather to the low point at the back of the yard, go down the vertical pipe through the stone and just flow out with the water at the water table, i'm very skeptical. This weekend i'm gonna regrade the yard pretty level and even and see what happens after the rain, if it doesn't help, i could give it a try.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

Little said:


> This was just a few ideas from guys that swear it works. They said the water will gather to the low point at the back of the yard, go down the vertical pipe through the stone and just flow out with the water at the water table, i'm very skeptical. This weekend i'm gonna regrade the yard pretty level and even and see what happens after the rain, if it doesn't help, i could give it a try.



I understand what they are saying and it could work for moderate rains. Depending on how high the water table it, maybe you could put in a underground barrel with holes and surrounded by stone. Surface water would gather in the pit and seep into the ground.


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

Little said:


> Is there any way to get the water to drain at the rear of the property using maybe a pipe installed vertically below the water table, filled with stone, fabric over it and capped with soil??


Provided the water table remains below ground level, and the soil is adequately permeable, than you can in fact relieve surface water to the water table. It'd be no different than allowing surface water to drain into a well.
It's not clear to me why you'd want to cap/cover the thing. Once it filled with dirt or debris it would be useless.
Not knowing how deep your talking about digging to reach the groundwater table it's kind of hard to offer specific suggestions. A seven foot deep fix is a lot different than 12 or 14 foot deep solution.


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## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

I can reach the water table at 3 1/2-4 feet. I found a 6 foot cut length of 18" HDPE in our yard this morning that i could use. I was thinking of putting filter fabric over the top of the pipe maybe 6" below the ground surface, then capping with like a few inches of really sandy topsoil to the top.


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## MC Excavating (Jan 26, 2006)

What about a catch basin in the rear and sump pump it to the curb in front? We do this all the time in Pasadena, CA. Huge flat lots with no fall to the curb.


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

IMO, relying on the permeability of the soil above the buried pipe to sufficiently convey surface water down into the pipe is an "iffy" proposition. If your only talking about 3 to 4' deep I'd install something with no bottom in it and a grate at grade. Home Depot probably has something made of some kind of plastic or polycarbonate you can make work.
Dig down to 6 to 12 inches below the water table, dump in 6 inches of gravel, set the the pipe or bottomless catch basin on the gravel, put another foot or so of gravel around it, backfill, cut it off to grade and install the grate.
You might even consider adding a 3 or 4 inch layer of sand in the pipe once its in place. Then the owner can periodically remove the top layer that will eventually choke up (the "schmutzdecke" as germans refer to it) and replace it with clean sand. That'll keep the gravel from choking up with dirt and debris over time.


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## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

Sounds good brother, i'll run that by them, utilizing the grate.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

MC Excavating said:


> What about a catch basin in the rear and sump pump it to the curb in front? We do this all the time in Pasadena, CA. Huge flat lots with no fall to the curb.



Not in a area where there is frost.


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## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

Well we got our first few rains since i've regraded the lot so its fairly level but pitches from the house and all looks great. No more water the addition. Now just gonna york rake it and throw down some fast grow and i'm done.


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