Backyard help

Horvath · Outlaw Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 136 City: Berea

My backyard is a swamp. I'm guessing there's about an inch or more of standing water during a good rainfall or defrost. Either this summer or next, my girlfriend and I are going to till the back yard and get everything nice and level, and put down some new seed. My idea to avoid further swamping is to dig a trench and lay down some gutters or PVC tubing with some holes in them, which would be on top. I'm leaning towards the gutters because all of Berea's gutters are underground and drain in to the main. I have a gutter system that comes down the side of the house and am willing to bet that I could tie in to. Plus, I'm thinking that this is going to help with the moisture that I have in one corner of my basement.

Thoughts?

jjaszkow · Posted: Apr 03, 2009 5:10 pm Post subject:

Horvath, I have the exact same issue. I've been building up the ground around my house, and will shortly be redoing the landscape to improve drainage. The key here is that your yard shouldn't be perfectly level, but rather slope away from the house (at least the first few feet).

The swamp in my yard now forms far away from the house, now I just need to drain it out of the yard Twisted Evil

NKCrider · Posted: Apr 03, 2009 5:39 pm Post subject:

you guys dont know the meaning of having a swamp in your backyard...

JeffreyCH · Posted: Apr 04, 2009 6:24 am Post subject:

http://www.askthebuilder.com/619_French_Drain.shtml

ccrider89 · Criminal Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 54 City: Montreal

Had the spring swamp and fixed it.
First you have to figure if you can drain the water.
If you have a culvert in the front or if the front road is lower than the back you can do it.
Take a laser level and attach it at 90° to a stick (broken hockey stick). Measure(A) from the bottom of the stick to the level
Get the boots on and look for the lowest spot in the swamp.
Aim the level at the end you want the water to drain to. Measure (B) the height at the laser spot. Now measure the distance between sticks.
B-A= height difference
Minimum slope required is 1/8" per foot for the water to flow.
Trench sould be minimum 6" underground at begining with a loose soil or sand covering.
http://www.bigodrain.ca/prod_tubing.php
get the drain with the covering.

Or if you don't feel like trenching you can always dig a big plstic bucket into the ground and put in a submersible float actuated sump pump and just run the drain on the surface.