How to stop flooding in front yard?

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ilyaz

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Every time it rains heavily, our front yard gets flooded. No issues in the basement but we do want to do some sort of landscaping work to stop the flooding. By the way, we have lived in our house since 2000 but I don't remember if it was flooded like this from the beginning or started later. Not sure if it's relevant but right underneath the flooded area shown in the photo we have our main sewage pipe that had to be snaked and cleaned from roots every few years since we moved into the house but not lately. I am thinking that the roots are from the big maple in the photo but not sure.

So... is there some sort of minimal work that needs to be done to stop the flooding?

Thx!

IMG_6743.jpg

IMG_6744.jpg
 
OK so I guess the idea is to remove the downspout on the right and add another one on the left as shown. Question: is it possible to patch up the existing gutter after the downspout is removed, or do I really need a new gutter? The one I have now is less than 2 years old.

gutters.jpg
 
Is there enough slope to run underground drain piping from the existing down pipe to the yard away from the pounding area? Moving the downpipe to the drive may create an issue if you live in a cold climate where freeze could cause an ice rink on the drive.
 
Is there enough slope to run underground drain piping from the existing down pipe to the yard away from the pounding area? Moving the downpipe to the drive may create an issue if you live in a cold climate where freeze could cause an ice rink on the drive.

Didn't think of that, thanks. I live in MD, so we definitely have below freezing temps. Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough slope in front. Of course, another option would be to break the concrete in the driveway and put an underground pipe there but it would be much more expensive. Do you see any other options? For example, is it possible to do anything to the soil or whatever is below it, for it to absorb water better. As I said in my OP, my recollection was that flooding was not as bad when we bought the house. Does it mean that something changed in the ground sicne then?
 
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All the water from the front half of the 2 story side of your house pours out on your roof from the upper gutter and then runs down the roof to the front gutter and combines with the water from the front of the single story roof.

First I don’t like water coming out sideways onto the lower roof. I would extend the route that upper gutter takes to bring it down the slope and directly into the lower gutter. Then the lower gutter just spill right into the landscaping close to the house. That is an invite to basement leaking at some point. At minimum I would extend that spout about 10’ away from the house. You may be able to direct that longer spout so it avoids the low spot.

If not then I would add a drywell or a French drain away from the house to give the water a place to collect until it can slowly be absorbed into the ground.
 
Do a perk test and see f it will drain when you are blow the clay level.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6VV6OU3ssA[/ame]
 
Do a perk test and see f it will drain when you are blow the clay level.

Thanks. So he talks about adding organic matter. Does it mean I would have to dig up the area that not gets flooded to clay level, add compost or mulch or whatever and then cover it with the soil I dug up? Or something different?
 
Before you go to a lot of trouble, try getting some 4" corrugated pvc non perforated pipe and run from the down pipe to the side of the house away from the driveway. Looks like from one of the earlier photos that it slopes to the back. Keep as much water out of the front yard as possible...just my :2cents:
 
Thanks. So he talks about adding organic matter. Does it mean I would have to dig up the area that not gets flooded to clay level, add compost or mulch or whatever and then cover it with the soil I dug up? Or something different?
If you have clay over gravel you could do a French drain. You would like to find where water goes away fast. I don't have all the answer just some good questions, you need all the info you can get to help decide what to do. I would do the perc test and see what happens at 1 ft and 2 ft then 3 ft deep.

Are you on city sewer, does the city have a storm sewer system.
 
Yes, why is this important?
If you are on a septic tank system, adding more water to the yard may not be a good idea.
Our cities have storm sewer that we connect yard drain house perimeter drain and downspout drains to.
 
Hard to tell without seeing in person, but it looks like your yard is higher than the sidewalk but lower than your walk at the house.
Perhaps you can re-grade your yard so it slopes to the sidewalk with no low spots between the two areas.

Might want to consider getting rid of that large tree along the road and regrading there too. This might also solve the roots in the sewer pipe problem.
If the roots are an ongoing issue, there are companies that can lay a pipe within your exist pipe. Some kind of extruded plastic casing. Might be worth looking into.
 
Hard to tell without seeing in person, but it looks like your yard is higher than the sidewalk but lower than your walk at the house.
Perhaps you can re-grade your yard so it slopes to the sidewalk with no low spots between the two areas.

Might want to consider getting rid of that large tree along the road and regrading there too. This might also solve the roots in the sewer pipe problem.
If the roots are an ongoing issue, there are companies that can lay a pipe within your exist pipe. Some kind of extruded plastic casing. Might be worth looking into.

The tree is city's, unfortunately. Hard to convince them to remove a healthy tree. I was thinking about cutting its roots that are on my side of the sidewalk but not sure if it's a good idea.
 
OK so based on some of the responses in this thread, I am thinking about putting a corrugated pipe along the front of my house to take the water from the downspout to the side of my house (photo #1). However, if I simply connect the pipe to the downspout what I am afraid might happen is leaves and other organic stuff being flushed from the roof through the downspout will eventually clog the pipe. Since I am thinking or burying it in the ground rather than simply laying it in front of the house, cleaning up the clog might be major pain.

So can I do this instead: capture the water into the pipe at the bottom of the concrete splash (photo #2). Is there any sort of "adapter" between the splash and the pipe that I can put to ensure that I capture only/mostly water and leaves etc stay on the splash for easy cleaning?

Thx!

front1.jpg

front2.jpg
 
They make PVC ground drains for that application that have grills to filter out the larger debris, that can be cleaned off from time to time. If you run the PVC tile straight, it would be easier to snake out, in the event the tile does plug up.
 
They make PVC ground drains for that application that have grills to filter out the larger debris, that can be cleaned off from time to time. If you run the PVC tile straight, it would be easier to snake out, in the event the tile does plug up.

Is this what you mean?
 
Buy a length of drain pipe and lay across the ground before you dig any trenches. See if the problem clears up before putting in the effort. We are all assuming that the downspout is the only issue. If the horizontal pipe clears the problem, invest the time and effort to bury it. Be mindful of where you send the water. You don't want to soak your neighbor.
 

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