Water run-off troubles (HELP!!!!)

[mammabooh]

Whoever built our house (and the neighbor's house) was an idiot. Both houses are pretty much built in a hole. There is a nice little hill behind both houses (maybe 200' or so), but the word in the neighborhood is that, when the houses were built(1965), it cost an extra $50.00 to get an extra pole set...so the houses were built just far enough from the street that the pole wouldn't be necessary. Not sure if that's true or not and it doesn't even really matter...

ANYWAY...we bought the house in 1997 (not realizing that the soil in this area is all clay and, although it is a great area for ponds, it's NOT the greatest area if you'd like to have any sort of drainage) and promptly had water on our back porch and in our basement with every heavy rain. We put up with it for several years and then, two and a half years ago, we had a bunch of drainage tiles installed and some grading done. Our basement and back porch have been dry ever since. HOWEVER, the water that previously would have gone into our basement is now rushing over to the neighbors' house and standing right over their septic tank. It gets so full sometimes that they can't even flush the toilet. (I need to clarify...not all of the water goes to their place...most goes through tiles out to the street.)

So...any ideas what we can do? I've thought about getting a bunch of dirt and making a sort of ridge right on the propery line to slow the water down a bit...thought maybe if it was moving slower some of it might seep into the ground instead of running over there. I've thought of digging a little garden pond and lining it with rocks...it would be mostly dry during dry times and then could fill up with the run-off water whenever we receive a heavy rain. (Oh, yeah, the property line is a pretty thick line of trees, so we can't really do any drain tile there.) I've also considered planting some water-sucking plants in that area, like a willow (but I think it wouldn't be wise to plant a willow so close to their septic tank).

Any suggestions? We want to be good neighbors, but don't have a bunch of money to spend.

One more thing...ours isn't the only water they are dealing with. They, of course, get run-off from the hill behind their house...ours just adds to the problem.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have!

[SteveD(TX)]

It's pretty hard to give advice without knowing more about the lay of the land between you and your neighbor, how wide a path the water is taking, etc. Almost have to look at it in person to make a decent guess. But I've owned two properties with major drainage issues that I have corrected. Both involved installing black plastic underground drain pipe with collector basins at regular intervals. At my lake cabin, I also installed a long, narrow flower bed made our of new railroad ties that was the "first line of defense" before the water got to the house. Sodded berms could also help, or even a concrete curb installed properly to divert the water. The water has to have somewhere to go, and it will take the path of least resistance. Good luck.

[uncle Will in In.]

Sounds like they need some drainage tile out to the street also. Many septic fields are required to have a perimiter drain tile around it to keep the excess surface water drained away. Find a local person who puts in drainage tile and get their oppinion before doing much.

[mammabooh]

Originally Posted by SteveD(TX)

The water has to have somewhere to go, and it will take the path of least resistance. Good luck.

Therein lies the problem. That side of the house is below street level. There is probably only 75'-100' between our houses, so there isn't much area to work with. I thought about calling the county engineer to see if they had any suggestons, but I'm sure that would end up causing headaches and regrets!

[rambler]

Septic systems are touchy in some areas, many regulations, once the can of worms is opened, no going back....

The berm/ holding pond on your property is a good idea, with a tile inlet & piped out to the street - if that is legal. For clay soils, you either need an open tile that will take the water directly, or a rock/gravel covering over the tile so the water filters down quickly to the tile.

--->Paul

[mammabooh]

Originally Posted by rambler

Septic systems are touchy in some areas, many regulations, once the can of worms is opened, no going back....

The berm/ holding pond on your property is a good idea, with a tile inlet & piped out to the street - if that is legal. For clay soils, you either need an open tile that will take the water directly, or a rock/gravel covering over the tile so the water filters down quickly to the tile.

--->Paul

Soo...maybe a gravel-lined pond with a soil berm behind it would help? I'm not sure if we could get any tile in there because of the mature trees that line the property (they were all planted by the neighbor lady about 35 years ago).

I'd like to get this done as efficiently and cheaply as possible (and with no governmental regulations imposed upon us!).

I think that they have had troubles for years and this recent change has just made it worse. The neighbor lady told me that she and her father-in-law put in drain tiles a long time ago (probably before she planted those trees), but I'm sure that the roots have since broken them up and they aren't doing anything helpful.

[rambler]

Dad got a transit (survey machine) back in the 50's, and helped put in many 100's of miles of field drainage tile on the farms around here. There are several miles of tile under my small farm. I have 7 open tile inlets, as well as lots of underground lines. Some have sand/gravel on them to help the water soak in more quickly.

There are many options, but one needs to work with what you have. The lay of the land, the hieght of the street & the pond, the area and the typical rainfall amounts, etc. So it is difficult to advise without seeing what is best to do. Something along those lines should help the problem tho.

--->Paul

[kmaproperties]

do you have a ditch or swale out front to take water down the road or are you on city sewers??
If you have a swale or ditch you can run a trench with gravel in it from back to front inbetween the houses. that will direct your water to the ditch and they could run one side to side between the hill and house which ties into yours. you can put perf pipe in the bottom of the trench if you want to do it right.
It will cost a bit for gravel but it works well. we have 2 of them.

[Mike in Pa]

Sump pump. Dig a sump hole and use a sump pump if necessary. Can plug in manually or use a float to kick on when it sees good water. Can fill with aggregate.
Will need to run a ditch with aggregate and perforated PVC pipe to the sump hole ... probably 2 while you're at it. Basically a cut off trench. Can go halves with the neighbor and make a trench from their house to the property line with a sump hole. Unfortunate you sit below street level. Can be done fairly cheaply ... especially if both chip in.

[fordy]

..................The way to prevent damage from runoff is to Remove the "energy" from water by slowing it down and then preventing it regaining that energy by interrupting the "flow" . Don't know if this applies to your particular situation but just food for thought . fordy...

[mammabooh]

Well, we decided to go the easiest route first...Hubby is stopping to get a truckload of dirt on his way home from work. We'll make a berm with that and see how it works out. If we need to do more, we'll add a little pond area in front of that. Hopefully, the dirt will slow it down enough.

thanks for all of your suggestions, Everyone!

[fordy]

Originally Posted by mammabooh

Well, we decided to go the easiest route first...Hubby is stopping to get a truckload of dirt on his way home from work. We'll make a berm with that and see how it works out. If we need to do more, we'll add a little pond area in front of that. Hopefully, the dirt will slow it down enough.

thanks for all of your suggestions, Everyone!

..........mamma , also , look into having some rock they call "riprap" that some folks use in preventing damage from runoff. It's fairly large pieces of rock (basketball size or larger) that didn't get crushed at the pit and should be fairly cheap , and can't be moved by strong flowing water from runoff . Best have a well thought out plan cause it takes a fairly large frontend loader to Move those rocks around , IF you change your mind . fordy...