My backyard is flooded any tips how to absorb the water?

Question

Its been raining all day i park in the back. There's no concrete only the ground Im scared Im going to get my car stuck (again) what can I do to help absorb the water and prevent it from next time. dirt, soil ?????

Answer 1

Find out how your property drains. You can make minor repairs to drainage yourself with a shovel. To avoid getting your vehicle stuck, try laying down some gravel. Depending upon the type of soil you have, your worries about getting stuck may be unfounded, especially if you drive over that area of soil often (the ground will already be compacted). Good luck on your endeavors, and I hope you are able to mitigate against any future flooding.

Answer 2

What you really need to is change your drainage so the water drains toward the street and doesn't just pond in your yard. If the water is ponding, it means you have depression, so you need to fill the low area and redirect the water away from your house and your neighbor's properties (you don't want to flood your house or your neighbors' properties!). You might need a civil engineer or a grading contractor to help you do this correctly.

Absorbing the water won't work - most times the rain will come down faster than the water can be absorbed by the soil.

Answer 3

I agree with the other answers about properly grading your yard or installing french drains if this happens a lot to prevent it from happening again. You can get fill dirt and slope your yard away from the house.
In the meantime, if water is standing in pools, you can buy a sump pump from a home improvement store and pump the water out into the street or into a drain with an attached garden hose.

Answer 4

depends on what you mean about flooded? you can try digging a trench a few feet away from where you park and divert the water elsewhere! this works great if there is a slope or change in level. you might dig a 5-6" trencxh out to the street even... later dig a few inches more get a pipe with holes and place gravel over it so it can drain the water from above.
you can also purchase water sucking plants like willows...
bamboo... becareful with because they are intrusive .

put grey stone on your parking spot or lay planks of plywood wood down for now until the wet seasons over.

Answer 5

Can't help you while it is still raining but you need to grade the ground so the water drains away from your house and yard. you could also cover the ground with gravel.
If your yard has a deep depression that is holding the water, you could get a pump (like they use in ponds) to pump the water out to the street.

Answer 6

It helps my drainage problems to poke holes in the yard, down into the soil. I do it with a manual tool I step on that has little spikes on it. Others do it with power tools. If the top layer gets too compressed or thatched, water cannot seep through. Happy gardening!

Answer 7

you could have a small drain installed in the lowest point in your yard. then pipe it out to the street or other low area. a small concrete box with a grate would work. not the prettiest thing but then neither is a yard full of water.

Answer 8

Build a french drain along your property line and VOILA! problem solved!!

Make sure that you use courrigated pipe with holes punched in it. Dig the ditch, fill a little bit with gravel, place your pipe, back fill with gravel. Make sure that your trench/ditch is sloped on one side or the other to allow for run-off of water.

WIKIpedia:

French drain refers to a ditch filled with gravel, rock that redirects surface and ground water away from an area. They are commonly used to prevent ground and surface water from penetrating or damaging building foundations.

French drains are also used to accommodate water that flows from the outlet of a typical septic tank sewage treatment system.

In addition to this; French drains are used behind retaining walls to relieve pressure from ground water.

The earliest forms of French drains were simple ditches, pitched from a high area to a lower one filled with gravel. An inclination of 1 in 100 to 1 in 200 is typical. Lining the bottom of ditch with clay pipe increases the volume of water that can flow through the drain. Modern French drain systems can be made with perforated pipe surrounded by sand or gravel and landscaping textile such as Bidim. Landscaping textiles are used to prevent dirt and roots from entering and clogging the drainage pipe. The perforated pipe provides some underground storage volume but the prime purpose is for the perforations to drain the area along the full length of the pipe and to discharge any surplus water at its end. The direction of percolation will depend on the relative conditions inside and outside the pipe.

Some variations:

filter drain is to drain groundwater
collector drain (or inteceptor drain) combines groundwater drainage with the interception of surface water or run-off
dispersal drain distributes the waste water from a septic tank
fin drain uses a perforated pipe with a thin vertical section (the fin) of drainage composite above. The advantage is that the fin drain is narrower (200mm or 7 inches) than a traditional french drain (450mm or 17 inches and up), and cheaper to build.
In the US, municipalities may require permits for building drainage systems as federal law requires water sent to storm drains to be free of certain contaminants and sediment.

In the UK, local authorities may have specific requirements for the outfall of a French drain into a ditch or watercourse.

French drains can be led to dry wells or environmentally friendly rain gardens where the extra water is held and absorbed by plants, when city water systems, or other waste water areas can not be used.

Answer 9

You don't want to absorb the water if it is too much. You need to drain it to wherever it is supposed to drain to. Find out why it isn't draining and fix the problem.

Answer 10

The only thing is to get your drain snaked. To get all of that gunk out.