Five Signs Your Yard Has a Drainage Problem (and What Actually Fixes It)

The first big rain of the season is the best yard inspection you'll ever get, and it's free. Walk outside during a storm, or the morning after, and your yard will show you exactly where the water wants to go.

Most of the time, that's fine. But sometimes the water is going somewhere it shouldn't: toward the house, under a wall, across a path, or nowhere at all. Here are five signs to look for this winter, and what actually fixes each one.

Sign 1: Puddles that are still there the next day.

A little standing water right after a downpour is normal. Water that's still sitting a day or two later means the ground can't take it in and there's no path for it to leave. Over time it kills lawns, rots plant roots and turns low spots into mud.

Sign 2: Water pooling against the house.

This is the one to take seriously. Look along the foundation after a rain, and check under the house if you have a crawl space. Water that collects against a foundation, or a crawl space that's damp or musty, means the ground near the house isn't moving water away from it.

Sign 3: Soil, mulch or gravel washing onto paths and patios.

If you're sweeping dirt off the walkway after every storm, water is running across your yard fast enough to carry the ground with it. On a slope, that's erosion, and it doesn't stop on its own. Each storm cuts the channel a little deeper.

Sign 4: White crust or stains on walls and concrete.

A chalky white residue on a foundation, a block wall or the bottom of a concrete step is left behind when water soaks in and then dries out. It's a sign the masonry is staying wet.

Sign 5: A wall or fence that's started to lean.

Wet soil is heavy. When water builds up behind a retaining wall or around fence posts, it pushes. A wall that's leaning or bulging, or a fence tipping toward the low side of the yard, often has a water problem before it has a structural one. (Our October post on how retaining walls are really built explains why.)

What actually fixes it.

The fix depends on where the water is coming from and where it needs to go. In most yards it comes down to some combination of three things.

Give the water a path. A French drain is a trench with perforated pipe bedded in clean gravel. Water drops into the gravel, finds the pipe and gets carried away to a safe spot instead of sitting in the yard. Done right, you never see it again: the trench gets backfilled and finished with gravel, plants or lawn.

Move the water away from the house. Sometimes the ground itself needs to be reshaped so it slopes away from the foundation instead of toward it. Downspouts that dump water right at the corner of the house are a common culprit too, and they can often be tied into a drain line that carries roof water away.

Hold the slope. Where a hillside is washing out, the answer is often a retaining wall with drainage behind it, or planting that holds the soil in place.

What doesn't work is covering up the symptom. Filling a low spot with dirt, or laying new sod over soggy ground, looks fine for a season and comes back the next time it rains hard.

Why now?

Because the rain shows you the problem. Drainage is hard to diagnose in August, when everything is dry. During the wet months you can see exactly where water collects and where it runs, and that makes for a better fix. The next time it rains hard, take a few photos. They help us a lot at the estimate.

Free estimates. Hablamos español. Call (707) 704-8127 or request a quote at becerraslandscapingllc.com.