QUESTION: Our sump pump works but it seems our house is the lowest spot on our street. Our house was built in 1996 and our sump pump was replaced in the last couple of years. Our street is in a newer development and water collects around our house. The owners on our west side raised their property a couple of years ago and compromised the grade and since then water collects between our houses, especially on our property because ours is lower. Their downspout and our downspout are located approximately across from each other.
The sump pumps from our house and our neighbour's house on the east side are also located approximately across from each other and the water collects on our property in the early spring because we have taken the hoses off that normally drain onto the front of the property in the summer. This water creates a pond and freezes when the temperature is below zero. There is no sewer drain where it should be, and it is about 30 metres further down on the east side.
Water collects in front of our house and is there permanently. We sweep it away to the sewer drain on the east side but it fills up as soon as we sweep it away. We feel threatened by the possibility of our basement being flooded.
What is your recommendation?
-- Eldon and Bernice Dimond
ANSWER: The problem of poor drainage and excess water in yards and even on some streets in newer developments is a common complaint of homeowners. This is often caused or accentuated by excessive runoff from sump pump hoses and can lead to potentially dangerous conditions when the water freezes. Unfortunately, there may little you can do for the street water, but the water in your own yard may be manageable by following some suggestions I will recommend.
Newer housing developments are surveyed prior to roads and sewers being laid out and constructed. These surveys will determine the location and height of grading of the new roads and drains, which should provide adequate drainage of rainwater from surrounding properties and roadways after the homes are built. Like any construction project, many variables are involved that may conspire to create situations that don't go as planned. Soil may settle, concrete may heave and crack and plans may be misread or not properly followed. Any of these can lead to the poor drainage problems you are experiencing. Unfortunately, there may be little you can do to correct the situation, unless you are willing to fight city hall to install an additional sewer drain in front of your home. The good news is there is little correlation between water on the street in front of your home and the potential for basement flooding.
As for your own yard, there may be a number of things you can do to improve the drainage. The first thing to accomplish is improvement of the grading to channel the excess water away from the foundations and low areas. Distributing several metres of mixed soil and grass around the home will help with the drainage. What your neighbour to the west has done is not a slight to your home, but good maintenance to their own. When the homes are first built, the normal process is to grade up the soil excessively along the sides of the houses to provide a generous slope to a swale created between the two. This swale will normally slope toward the front street, channelling excessive water in that direction. As the freshly graded soil quickly settles in this area, it must be built back up to recreate the swale. If your neighbour has done this and your have not, you will get the brunt of the water.
On the other side of your home, the sump pumps may create a temporary problem twice a year, but in the late spring and summer, a long flexible hose should be attached to the sump pump discharge pipe. This pipe should be regularly moved and relocated in different areas of your yard to prevent excess ponding. Many homeowners install too short a hose and leave it in the lowest part of the swale, too close to the home. Simple repositioning of this, especially after a big rain or heavy snow melt, will help.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the President of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P. O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
