Whats the best way to drain standing rainwater out of my backyard without re-grading?

Question

I bought a new house recently and when it rains there is water left standing in my back and side yards and it takes a day or two to drain out. All my sod is brand new and its getting ruined. Would burying a plastic drain conduit (with perforations on top) work to help drain some of the excess water out? The water seems to be collecting at a low point in the yard and turning the area around it into mud, which my dog is beginning to discover on her bathroom breaks. The rest of my yard is uneffected for the most part but I want to make sure that this will solve my problem before I go digging up my yard.

Answer 1

You can install a drywell. At the lowest point, dig a hole about 4'x5'x3'. Line the bottom and sides with permeable drain cloth. Fill with 1" gravel. About 1' below the top, install a plastic pipe, and run this to any convenient drainage area. Add more gravel to bring it almost to the surface. Cover with permeable drain cloth, and cover in earth. Re sod this area, and you should be done.

Alternatively, masonry supply houses stock pre-fabricated drywells, which are basically just big fiberglass tanks.

Answer 2

Mike, I can only suggest a couple of things for the present as an immediate fix.
I live in Oregon and right this minute its raining cats & dogs and I must say I have my fill of overwhelming puddles about too.
Like today and what I do frequesntly is to place a 50' hose in the middle of the puddle and the other end at a lower spot off the property that is not a landscaped area.
It'll drain itself during the rain and releave the area of to much rain.
The dogs are another thing and need to be sequestered elseware and away from the low area.
mark the surroundings of the low area with tent stakes at its widest point and in the spring when the rain subsides, slowly mound the area within the stakes with top soil. as the grass grows, it'll grow through the topsoil and continue to fill and roll the area to the desired elevation.
you may want to take an out of the way area to dig down(if you don't already know) and check the soil below. you should have had 6" of top soil over the clay or hard pan to offer proper drainage for the new sod that was applied in the new construction. Remember, when you build a new home, there is a lot of back fill and a lot of equipment pounding that ground down firmly and packing it in and unless the landscaper rototilled properly...you have like a brick under there that they placed the sod on...
check it out and hope you solve your delemma too.

Answer 3

Do you by chance have clay soil; or is your sod laid on top of hard pan? You may have to install french drains. A french drain is a trench that runs underneath the grass and spreads the rainwater out over a larger surface; enabling it to sink down to the ground water. I had a double 'Y' french drain system under my sod and it worked very well; before I installed it I looked out into my back garden one morning and saw two ducks floating on top of my grass! The drains work very well; just be sure to water well during the dry months as grass will 'brown-out' easier over the trenches. A good landscaper should be able to install a system without 'digging up' the yard too bad. Good luck!

Answer 4

Aside from regrading the yard, there is also the option of purchasing "fill soil", which is another way of levelling off the property. That's still pretty expensive, and will take a year or two to get the sod to take again.

My uncle used to "tap the ground" (he was a farmer in upstate New York), which is using any of a number of tools to drill narrow, deep holes in the soil to allow the water to drain down deeper more quickly. The problem is that the surface soil becomes super-saturated, and drains slowly, and providing a means by which the water can drain to the lower, less-saturated soil, was how he kept water from remaining for excessive periods. He also put lawn decorations and such right next to the "tap holes" to keep track of their locations and prevent others from becoming injured by them.

Answer 5

Yes.....It should work, assuming that you have an even lower spot to drain it too. You're going to make a real mess trying to dig in new sod.

Don't forget to use a sock on the drain pipe, or it'll drain away your soil.

That was some really BAD grading.....I hope that the rest of the work there was done better!!

Answer 6

if its a new house call the builder and see if they can fix it???some have warrabty protections? if it keeps water it will be a skeeter hole come warm weather!!you might need a "french drain"? a hole about 5 ft deep filled 3/4 full of gravel and drains run into it from the standing water to drain it down deep?

Answer 7

Your going to be forced to run drain tile to the nearest ditch. They do that in all the fields around here in Michigan, they run drain tile to the nearest ditches.

Answer 8

Talk to a landscaper. You might consider a willow tree to suck up the water.