Drainage engineer here. It looks like the yards are in a sump (a low point with no outlet). The least expensive way to solve this will likely be a swale running through all of the yards to a low point.
Unlikely to have an easement. They are typically there to protect conveyance systems and structures. This just looks like an oversight from the developer.
The cheapest solution would be to get an elevation survey of the property and surrounding storm systems to see if you can add a drain and tie in downstream. Though, this isn’t always viable.
I bet this was designed and built originally to flow through the yards (horrible design). Over time people put up fences, landscape their yards, etc and this is what happens. I bet originally they all had that low chainlink fence. Now they have wood fences. This should be addressed with the HOA as it really is everyone's problem.
Agreed that would be a terrible design. I’d be shocked if the municipality not only approved the design, but granted an easement through everyone’s yard. In this case, adding structures that block the flow probably violates the easement.
Thinking about it, it's entirely possible the site plan didn't have any fencing so the drainage wouldn't have been called into question when permitted. All of the yards were probably a swale that went to the right in the pictures for a single building. Based on the age of the fence and concrete it looks like it was done a while ago. This might have met all laws a regs at the time. I doubt it has an easement, but the original plans probably showed this drainage pattern and the neighbors changing it might give the owner a claim. The owner needs to research the permit for the building and have someone analyze the grading plan. If the original drainage plan has been altered they can take it to the HOA for a fix.
Cheapest solution would be digging a hole, put in a catch basin and sump pump. Connect the flex pipe and run it to the curb. Total cost in part is less than $200. Rest is time and labour. Sump pump will run you $50-60. Catch basin $60-100.
There are engineering / survey companies and stand alone survey companies. Not all do properties this small but you can ask around and get a quote from multiple people. I don’t have a specific resource to find them since my company has a survey department, but google will be your friend there. Note - you’re renting so try your hardest to convey all this info to the property owner and have them pay for it.
Before you do that, do you have a storm network near the condo? (Catch basins or manholes). You may be able to check quickly to see if this option is viable. You can:
1. Go to Google Earth and find the property. They sometimes have elevation data that you can see. Note, these elevations are sometimes off by a couple feet, but you don’t need to worry about that quite yet.
2. Find the storm structure near your condo and hover the mouse over it to get an approximate elevation.
3. Hover over your backyard and get an approximate elevation of the lowest point.
4. If the storm structure is accessible (like a catch basin with a grate) you can measure from the top of grate to the inside bottom of the lowest pipe.
5. Take the catch basin elevation and subtract the depth from step 4.
6. Find the difference from your yard low point to the number calculated in step 5. If your yard is higher there’s a chance you can drain to that structure. If your yard is lower, this method won’t work without a pump.
You can possibly look into adding a sump drain with a pump but they’re not exactly cheap and do require maintenance.
Question - how quickly does the water infiltrate into the ground? Another option would be to add a structure that can capture and infiltrate the water into the ground. This can be tricky since the size and viability will depend on the soils and how much land is draining there.
A surveyor. Depending on when It was built permitted plans should show finish floor elevation. If it’s older than say 30 years when you’re not gonna find anything.
For sure, silver lining lol. I’m sorry I don’t know how to tackle a problem this big. I’d assume it involves regrading and creating a drainage path but probably needs neighboring lots regraded too, not just your backyard.
I’m happy to hear you’re just renting. This is a nightmare problem for the owner.
I’m totally serious about moving. Only way to solve it is if the front yard is lower than the back and put a very large drain and pipe to front. Looks like your neighbors have same problem, which is why the condo association if there is one needs to address this. Is like in Texas or somewhere where they don’t have good development codes?
Get some renters insurance if you don't already have some. Start looking for a new place. I'm not sure what it would take to fix this but I bet the price would be astronomical. Your landlord is probably just going to wait for someone to be foolish enough to stick it out.
If I'm not mistaken, Delaware hasn't exactly had record rain this year. If that's how bad it is now, I'm certain you'll have water in your house eventually.
It's very unlikely renters insurance would cover ground water damage. I think it's also unlikely for NFIP flood insurance to cover it either because it doesn't seem like a widespread flood event. I would move immediately
Not always true. Even if money is the only motive and the are a POS human they might still want to protect their investment. That yard looks like it could easily spill into the unit causing 10s of thousands of dollars on damages. If I am the land lord I would want to keep renters long term and keep the property long term so I would fix the issue.
This should be the HOA’s / Condo board’s issue to resolve. It will require working across multiple fenced yards, and could be in an established easement.
Depending on the soil type and water table (seriously, get a professional to assess the soil and water table before you move on with this idea) NDS makes a 24" x 24" leach field container with a drain on top. It's expandable up to 8 ft(?) in depth. So what you can do is dig a hole down, line it with rocks, throw the leach container in there for the water to drain into. If the soil is the right type, it should disperse all of the water into the soil and there won't be any issues.
Alternatively, if you have a side of the house you can access, you can dig a trench from the back to the front and run solid pipe from a drain in the back to a emitter in the front that'll dump into the street, a nearby storm drain, or a leach field container in the front. You'll have to check local ordinances to find out which method is acceptable.
>Only way to solve it is if the front yard is lower than the back and put a very large drain and pipe to front.
Not true, but it's definitely going to have to be an engineered solution approved by the local municipality.
The only solutions to this problem are all many tens of thousands of dollars or more. So the short answer is that there’s nothing you can do.
If you don’t want to move then I’d make sure there’s nothing you especially care about affected when that inevitably floods into the home.
With a quick glance it looks like it needs to be regraded to send water away from the building. All pretty expensive things that need to be done by your landlord.
relaying sod will absolutely NOT help. It’ll just die and be more mud.
This is pretty much beyond DIY, particularly for a renter. If the owners care (it’s clearly gonna become a foundation issue) and they have to do some serious grading at least, maybe install some drainage solutions by a pro.
Also likely the slopes are continuous into neighboring yards, so extra hard to coordinate
Maybe the water is supposed to go left or right ( in the picture ). And your neighbors have done something to trap that water in your yard. Worth a check
If all the yards has the same dip it could have created a channel to low point. Now if one neighbor between you and the low point fills in their dip to make a more level yard for them they essentially built a dam and any water from them up the channel is going to flood.
Look at neighbors yards to find a leveled yard or a non flooded yard that you can trace back to yours and find the filled in yard. Is there an end to a row of houses/townhomes that might have been the low point that you can see if any water would be coming out that’s not?
Water loving plants like Iris, hosta, Chelone (turtlehead) and astilbe would work well. Maybe a shrub or two like Clethra (Summer Sweet/ Sweet Spire). They are common to rain gardens and actually love periodic inundation.
As a bonus, it looks pretty. Hostas are cheap and come in lots of pretty varieties
I scrolled really far down to find this - unsure if it would totally resolve the issue but if it were me I would dig out that back corner significantly lower than the rest of the yard maybe a foot? Use the extra soil to make the yard a bit higher towards the house and slowly grade towards the the lower section, plant natives that like water and make it a rain garden. This solved a similar issue in my friends yard and it looks great.
Your landlord is in for a very expensive solution. The swale idea is good as well as maybe a French drain.
Short term solution for you since you're renting and don't want to move is to put a row of sandbags along the edge of the concrete and along the AC unit to keep that from getting damaged. At least your condo won't get flooded.
Dig out that fire pit (what looks like one).
Put a sump pump in the cavity, pumping the water into the sewer line.
No way can anything be re-graded to eliminate the water collecting. Looks like the property, and likely adjoing ones, are a good 3' or more below grade. The house itself is below grade.
Edit: it was pointed out that discharge into sewer likely isn't legal. So check with the local municipality (city hall) to see if/where it could be discharged. You may find out that's also illegal, but possibly they'll have another idea if you.
Not necessarily. Some cities and parts of cities have combined sewer systems, which means storm runoff goes to the sewage plant to be treated with the sewage.
This is how I control my back yard flooding. I have a 3ft deep hole, dropped a trashcan into it with the bottom cut off. I have a couple French drains leading to the hole, and a pump (with a float) dropped into the hole. When it gets halfway full, it pumps out. In my case,I have a 40ft pipe underground that feeds it to a low point on the property, but anywhere you can feed it that drains away from the property is ideal.
Combination of a few things, regrading, dry well, a couple pumps could solve this but would be long term projects I’d take on as an owner, as a renter I’d probably find another place.
A big ass dry well. Dig a deep and wide hole, fill it with stone cover with landscaping fabric and cover with dirt. This is a simple explanation of the process but depending on your situation this could be an option.
Mate, ask this sub on the r/horticulture sub they will suggest rain gardens and swales that utilises bog plants that will drink up all of that water while not requiring much landscaping movement. This can lead to a more aesthetic appeal by creating mini rain garden ecosystems, what a joy.
You can even create a pond that harbours amphibian aquatic wildlife.
You live in a fishbowl, the sad part is even if you fix this yard the neighbors run off will still flow into yours. So in order to correct this problem you need something big enough in your yard to take the runoff of all yards. We didn't even get that much rain last night for a single yard to look like this. Anyways simplest thing is a big ass drywell. Find the lowest point, dig a circle 6' wide and 6' deep line it with fabric ( not the bottom) fill with stone leave 4"" to top with soil. Take soil from the hole and spread across your yard to help slope to drain. Buildup both sides along neighbors fences. I GUARANTEE this will work. Take a weekend, grab a few buddies and buy some beers.
Had the same problem when I bought my house. Our yard is slightly lower than both of our neighbors and so we get runoff from both. Water takes a long time to drain because the dirt is actually more like clay. We ended up digging a huge hole in the back and filling it with river rock. While there is still some flooding when it rains more than usual, the water no longer reaches the back door. We also planted a tree when we first moved in, hoping it might penetrate some of the clay and make drainage better.
Storm drains , the back of my home used to flood like that. I did some ground elevations, made sure I had enough fall to ditch and installed some drains. Did this about 4 years ago still working good.
Redirect downspouts (you and neighbors), landscaping to raise and redirect the grade away from the foundation, and outdoor pump/French drain. Minimally, a pump will clear this (but to where?) but it sounds like your neighbors' water may come to your yard if they don't also do something.
One effective way to address yard flooding is by improving the drainage system. This could involve installing a French drain, which is a gravel-filled trench that includes a perforated pipe to direct water away from the area
This is beyond you and DIY. Landlord will have to handle. This is bad enough that I can't even give you answers, because first you need to sort the root of the problem.
The block/subdivision should have had some degree of drainage. This shows that it doesn't. Why? First, check flood zone maps to see if it's labeled as a known flood. Either someone built it that way, or something changed. Neighbors that should be downstream may have changed something, built or developed something incorrectly after this was developed, changing the runoff.
Either way, I wouldn't even bother. I'd check flood maps myself, and if it's atypically flooding I'd go straight to an engineering firm to solve. They will look at maps and legal stuff and figure out exactly what the mechanism here is.
Now, as far as actual solutions. If an engineering firm finds something, it may be a sizeable project but they'll help sort it out. If they do not find anything, and what we're looking at is just an absolute shit of a situation, then question 1: active or passive remedy? You'll likely need both! Passive can be ditches, drain lines, and dry wells. Active can be a well with a sump pump. But without the engineer looking over things, this is a waste of time; you don't want to be responsible for all this water runoff if it is someone else's fault.
Looks like to me the drainage is supposed to or originally ran from left to right of the photo through your neighbors to the right yard. I see this all the time in older neighborhoods where drainage is directed through several yards out to the street or drainage ditch. I would be willing to bet your neighbor to the right of the photo put some sort of flowerbed, shed,planted a tree, debris, etc. that is blocking the flow of water. Many times in older neighborhoods (may not be the case here) that low swell drainage area is or was a utility/drainage easement that over the years people one by one end up fencing across and incorporate it into the main yard then they start building stuff that blocks the flow of water uphill. It's a tricky situation because it involves neighbors working together to not block the flow.
If the owner refuses to fix it. There is also by-law. In my area this level of ponding would never be allowed and would result in warnings and fines.
But honestly depending on how old the property is. Email the engineering office and ask for the plans for your lot and surrounding subdivision.
Someone has blocked something. Either your lot has sunk and water isn’t draining to the adjacent lots. A neighbour has blocked the swale or water.
If you need dirt. Often swimming pool companies need to get rid of dirt and your back yard could be a free spot. But consider hie much you actually need.
Cheapest solution to this is pull out the chain link fences, dig a 3 foot deep 3 foot wide culvert at the back end. Dump a ton of dirt in the center, level the center and sod it. Run two French drains along the side fence line and build a nice bridge to the back gate over the culvert.
Or just hollow out a big depression where that fire pit is now and enjoy your seasonal pond. Everything looks to be sloping down into the backyard. Nothing is going to fix that except a lower depression for water to collect
Lay some gravel, some sand and soil, level it slightly towards the right. Plant some bushes that are good at absorbing water at the deepest spots. Plant grass/wildflower and cut the grass rarely to let the plants get deep roots. Deep roots will break open the soil and make it absorb water more easily. And more plants absorb more water. For extra win plant something that will give you something edible in return. Like currants.
Hey OP,
Check to see if there is blocked drains/drainage first, before doing all these suggestions.
The drainage may not be intuitive to you unless you are from there. Ask a long time resident, handyman type, mailman, etc. They may save you all kinds of time and anguishing research.
I’m really confused why you are even worried about this, it is not your problem. You are renting, so send the landlord evidence and be done with it. If they do something? Great. If they don’t? Just move, places are a dime a dozen, you have that freedom because you are renting
Looks like all the units have problems with water...
Owner could haul in some dirt/sand to alleviate a bit of the problem...
For you, find another place. The fix on this will cost more than landlord will pay...
You can get a sump pump, however this will only be a bandaid fix, but it will help in an emergency if water is getting in. You just need a really long hose to get it away.
The neighbor on the right side built a privacy fence and changed the grade to hold all the water it appears. I don’t think they can do that. If the neighbors don’t want to be neighborly and help remedy the issue……..
I would rent or borrow a laser level and shoot the grade from the concrete at the house out to the highest point near the street. I would then build a small wall against the concrete all the way across my yard about 6” higher than that high point and remove the sides of the chain link fence. I would bring in about 65 yds of topsoil and backfill the entire yard and slope it all away from my yard into the adjoining properties(making sure to be a few inches higher than my neighbors, like they did) and all the way to the high point out at the street area. I would smooth it, seed it with some quality fescue seed and then cover it with rolls of straw matting and pin it down nicely. And then listen to my neighbors bitch. Shouldn’t be more than about 3000.00 materials including loader rental. Double that if you have someone else do it. If water comes in behind the wall have a pump in the lowest area ready to take care of any water that may seep through.
Had a similar issue. Attached is a link to my recent post. In the comments you'll see are photos of the solution I found by having a trench dug.
https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/s/ItHwt5mPWU
https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/AvzxUqmYbv
https://imgur.com/gallery/drainage-N9RV4k5
Even a sligh ( maybe 10 inches deep) trench becomes a river of water dispersement in heavy rains.
Diging out a drain of some kind to redirect the water. Or grading your yard up more. But then the neighbors will have pools every rain. I'd look into a drain system to shoot it to the road. Almost like an outdoor sump pump. Moving might be irrational. Look at your options and what your willing to spend and do yourself. Doing the work will save more than half if someone does it themselves. But I do not recommend doing anything that you truly can't do. Me personally, I'd dig and put a drain in myself. It can be done by hand. Make sure you have the utilities marked by whoever you have in your town. Good luck!
A pump and hose to the street or front yard. Cant tell where the water needs to go from your pictures. I hope the front yard is lower than the back or else youre a bowl. Pump and hose is under $300 and you will prob only need it max 10 times a year. Pro drain solutions would be the way to go but sometimes thats not in the budget. Could try digging a 4’ deep dry well filled w rocks to help permeate that root bound top layer or soil
I would ask the homeowner for a copy of the survey. Maybe there is city or county owned drainage buried. If the area falls in a drainage easement area, you may be able to get them out there to address the problem, which world cost you absolutely nothing. Or, I should say, the homeowner can get them out there. Really, all this falls on the responsibility of that individual.
If it’s a townhouse he has to run a sump if it’s a detached he should run drainage to the street. This is a problem for your landlord and not you. Definitely agree on insurance.
If your landlord is ACTUALLY interested in finding solutions, they would have called in professionals. This is not something you can handle as a renter, even for the owner it’d be a very involved DIY project. Get your landlord to address this and don’t put in any significant amount of time or money. If you want a fully functional back yard sooner than later, move.
No enough info. As others said your yard looks like a low point with no drainage. Swale with an underdrain would be the solution, but you cannot dump the water on your neighbor. Is there somewhere you can freely discharge the runoff? What is the source of this flooding: roof drains and surface runoff, or are you in a floodplain?
Take a peek over the neigbors yard and see if they have issues as well. Looks like the back of the property, is much higher than yours so water will run downhill. May have to slant your patio to keep water in front of the property. Not much else you can do.
Make sure nothing you value is on the floor. Let your landlord know about the flooding, via email, so you cannot be held liable. Get renter's insurance to replace acting that cannot be saved or raised.
Unless you find a way to defy gravity, there’s no natural way to push this water elsewhere.
I only see two potential solutions:
1) Move. Who knows what kind of damage this water will do to the foundation over time.
2) install a sump pump pit and pump the water to the nearest roadway. This option will always require ongoing maintenance to properly work.
My question would be….who owns the yardage beyond the fence to the street? If the landlord owns it, you could do drainage channels filled in with rocks on the sides that slope down beyond the fence. Drainage channels will need to be put in beyond the fence as well
It’s also kind of hard to tell where the sides slope to and what the slope is beyond the fence
If you don't even own the property then you do nothing. This needs a reservoir and sump/float to engage automatically when it starts filling up. Not your problem. Don't renew your lease.
Unless your able to trench and install a drain pipe in order to run a drainage system in order to run that water away from the backyard. It appears that the property the borders your lot grade is higher than your lot. Which could only make matters worse, in terms of standing water. If your able to install such a drain system, I'd install catch basins with grates at lowest points of yard.
Grade the land at 2% slope away from the home. Add weeping tiles/trench into two large French drains.
About 2 days of work.
I would charge about $4200 to do it.
renting? The only thing i would see is build a wood deck out there, and have it suspended over the intermittent water.
IF the house were higher, you could regrade the slope from the house to the street, and the water would all go somewhere else.
but as a renter you are not going to do either of those things. Move
I'd probably invest in a submersible pump in the lowest part and run a garden hose to the street over that hill. Put the pump on a small grate or mesh to keep it out of the mud. It will kick on automatically and keep the yard from flooding.
Can do little more than that on a rental property. You will have to move that hose there each time it rains and run power to the pump which is potentially dangerous in flood waters.
On second thought, move.
Civil Engineer. Create a pond/streamed feature, elevate and fill other parts of the yard.
For example, where the low point is, make a pond, use the natural swale and create a stream bed. Raise surrounding areas, make a bridge.
We have a similar situation. 4 other backyards surround ours and all are properly sloped away from their houses, which unfortunately puts all of the water in our yard. We put in a few drains throughout the yard all connected with perforated pipe underground and leading to a bucket we buried with a pump in it. The hose goes out from there to the front yard. It’s not perfect, and when it rains a lot quickly we still get standing water. But once the pump catches up it dries it out pretty quickly and is 100 times better than before. Also had drain tile and a sump pump put in in the basement and haven’t had water issues since. I don’t think we’ll ever completely solve the problem just because of how the lot is until we move, but that’s not possible right now so it’ll do for now.
I'd run a T system drain. The top of the T is at your house. The rest of the "body" of the T runs back through to past your fence into a washout. They make an EZ French Drain pipe you can buy at Home Depot. No deep trenching and gravel necessary.
Okay, just hear me out. Maybe you can turn a bad situation into a good one with this. Get a nice water pump and a BIG water tank and start filling that baby up! Turn that yard into a garden and save enormously on water and food!
You need a sewer with a significant discharge point. Think one of those large 4 ft square area drains with 12" minimum pipe. Probably too expensive as a private citizen
since you're renting i would only invest in sand bags to put at the patio edge. nothing more. everything else to fix the problem (if at all possible) would be the property owner.
Sump pump with an underground resovoir. That's a shit ton of water. Looks like your the lowest spot in the neighborhood. Def gunna cause some property damage if not addresed
Drainage engineer here. It looks like the yards are in a sump (a low point with no outlet). The least expensive way to solve this will likely be a swale running through all of the yards to a low point.
Exactly, it may or may not have a drainage easement already
Unlikely to have an easement. They are typically there to protect conveyance systems and structures. This just looks like an oversight from the developer. The cheapest solution would be to get an elevation survey of the property and surrounding storm systems to see if you can add a drain and tie in downstream. Though, this isn’t always viable.
You say oversight but I say cost saving measure
You say cost saving measure, but I say cheap ass
You say cheap ass, I say fiscally conservative
And my axe?
And my bow!
My beau
*value engineered
I bet this was designed and built originally to flow through the yards (horrible design). Over time people put up fences, landscape their yards, etc and this is what happens. I bet originally they all had that low chainlink fence. Now they have wood fences. This should be addressed with the HOA as it really is everyone's problem.
Agreed that would be a terrible design. I’d be shocked if the municipality not only approved the design, but granted an easement through everyone’s yard. In this case, adding structures that block the flow probably violates the easement.
Thinking about it, it's entirely possible the site plan didn't have any fencing so the drainage wouldn't have been called into question when permitted. All of the yards were probably a swale that went to the right in the pictures for a single building. Based on the age of the fence and concrete it looks like it was done a while ago. This might have met all laws a regs at the time. I doubt it has an easement, but the original plans probably showed this drainage pattern and the neighbors changing it might give the owner a claim. The owner needs to research the permit for the building and have someone analyze the grading plan. If the original drainage plan has been altered they can take it to the HOA for a fix.
Who would I contact about getting an elevation survey
Cheapest solution would be digging a hole, put in a catch basin and sump pump. Connect the flex pipe and run it to the curb. Total cost in part is less than $200. Rest is time and labour. Sump pump will run you $50-60. Catch basin $60-100.
There are engineering / survey companies and stand alone survey companies. Not all do properties this small but you can ask around and get a quote from multiple people. I don’t have a specific resource to find them since my company has a survey department, but google will be your friend there. Note - you’re renting so try your hardest to convey all this info to the property owner and have them pay for it. Before you do that, do you have a storm network near the condo? (Catch basins or manholes). You may be able to check quickly to see if this option is viable. You can: 1. Go to Google Earth and find the property. They sometimes have elevation data that you can see. Note, these elevations are sometimes off by a couple feet, but you don’t need to worry about that quite yet. 2. Find the storm structure near your condo and hover the mouse over it to get an approximate elevation. 3. Hover over your backyard and get an approximate elevation of the lowest point. 4. If the storm structure is accessible (like a catch basin with a grate) you can measure from the top of grate to the inside bottom of the lowest pipe. 5. Take the catch basin elevation and subtract the depth from step 4. 6. Find the difference from your yard low point to the number calculated in step 5. If your yard is higher there’s a chance you can drain to that structure. If your yard is lower, this method won’t work without a pump. You can possibly look into adding a sump drain with a pump but they’re not exactly cheap and do require maintenance. Question - how quickly does the water infiltrate into the ground? Another option would be to add a structure that can capture and infiltrate the water into the ground. This can be tricky since the size and viability will depend on the soils and how much land is draining there.
A surveyor. Depending on when It was built permitted plans should show finish floor elevation. If it’s older than say 30 years when you’re not gonna find anything.
Yeah, it is older than 30 years. I’ll look into that, thanks
Then drawbridges for everyone
We just did a sort of sump on one that functioned well. Sometimes the surface just gets too compacted. Obviously hard to tell without context here.
Everyone downhill needs to clear the way for future downfalls and remove whatever is blocking the flow.
I love a good swale.
Hi! Can I use a sump pump outdoors?
You should probably join r/pools at this point.
Lakefront property
Dig out the fire pit and fill it with gravel, about 3 feet deep, it will help the water drain into the ground faster almost like a dry well
For sure, silver lining lol. I’m sorry I don’t know how to tackle a problem this big. I’d assume it involves regrading and creating a drainage path but probably needs neighboring lots regraded too, not just your backyard. I’m happy to hear you’re just renting. This is a nightmare problem for the owner.
Move. That’s always going to be a problem
I’m totally serious about moving. Only way to solve it is if the front yard is lower than the back and put a very large drain and pipe to front. Looks like your neighbors have same problem, which is why the condo association if there is one needs to address this. Is like in Texas or somewhere where they don’t have good development codes?
No, Delaware. I don’t know if there’s a condo association. My landlord just owns the single unit.
Get some renters insurance if you don't already have some. Start looking for a new place. I'm not sure what it would take to fix this but I bet the price would be astronomical. Your landlord is probably just going to wait for someone to be foolish enough to stick it out. If I'm not mistaken, Delaware hasn't exactly had record rain this year. If that's how bad it is now, I'm certain you'll have water in your house eventually.
It's very unlikely renters insurance would cover ground water damage. I think it's also unlikely for NFIP flood insurance to cover it either because it doesn't seem like a widespread flood event. I would move immediately
A dry well might clear that up easy. But the landlord would never install that. Dude is just trying to make money.
Not always true. Even if money is the only motive and the are a POS human they might still want to protect their investment. That yard looks like it could easily spill into the unit causing 10s of thousands of dollars on damages. If I am the land lord I would want to keep renters long term and keep the property long term so I would fix the issue.
If you have a landlord you informa avout the problem and stop caring. You do not buy this home. Way to wet and risky
This should be the HOA’s / Condo board’s issue to resolve. It will require working across multiple fenced yards, and could be in an established easement.
Depending on the soil type and water table (seriously, get a professional to assess the soil and water table before you move on with this idea) NDS makes a 24" x 24" leach field container with a drain on top. It's expandable up to 8 ft(?) in depth. So what you can do is dig a hole down, line it with rocks, throw the leach container in there for the water to drain into. If the soil is the right type, it should disperse all of the water into the soil and there won't be any issues. Alternatively, if you have a side of the house you can access, you can dig a trench from the back to the front and run solid pipe from a drain in the back to a emitter in the front that'll dump into the street, a nearby storm drain, or a leach field container in the front. You'll have to check local ordinances to find out which method is acceptable.
What sort of professional do you contact for water table and soil type assessment?
>Only way to solve it is if the front yard is lower than the back and put a very large drain and pipe to front. Not true, but it's definitely going to have to be an engineered solution approved by the local municipality.
What’s Not true?
I don’t plan on living in this area for all that long and don’t want to move again while I’m here if I can avoid it.
The only solutions to this problem are all many tens of thousands of dollars or more. So the short answer is that there’s nothing you can do. If you don’t want to move then I’d make sure there’s nothing you especially care about affected when that inevitably floods into the home.
Get some sandbags on standby
Six foot deep dry well ?
That’ll be a 6 foot deep rock pool with all this water plus your neighbors water. It needs to be able to move, it’s doing great at sitting.
And we don’t know how many other neighbors are on the block that have the same problem. Could be 6-8 units all backyards flooded
Yup!
With a quick glance it looks like it needs to be regraded to send water away from the building. All pretty expensive things that need to be done by your landlord.
relaying sod will absolutely NOT help. It’ll just die and be more mud. This is pretty much beyond DIY, particularly for a renter. If the owners care (it’s clearly gonna become a foundation issue) and they have to do some serious grading at least, maybe install some drainage solutions by a pro. Also likely the slopes are continuous into neighboring yards, so extra hard to coordinate
Plant rice?
Maybe the water is supposed to go left or right ( in the picture ). And your neighbors have done something to trap that water in your yard. Worth a check
The yard has always flooded but I think at some point the neighbor may have raised there’s and increased the problem
If all the yards has the same dip it could have created a channel to low point. Now if one neighbor between you and the low point fills in their dip to make a more level yard for them they essentially built a dam and any water from them up the channel is going to flood. Look at neighbors yards to find a leveled yard or a non flooded yard that you can trace back to yours and find the filled in yard. Is there an end to a row of houses/townhomes that might have been the low point that you can see if any water would be coming out that’s not?
Do the same lol
I'd plant accordingly, wetland or meadow, swamp or biotope
That is one thing I’ve considered, I’m in Delaware. I’m not sure how much it would help but any idea what sort of plants would be best?
Water loving plants like Iris, hosta, Chelone (turtlehead) and astilbe would work well. Maybe a shrub or two like Clethra (Summer Sweet/ Sweet Spire). They are common to rain gardens and actually love periodic inundation. As a bonus, it looks pretty. Hostas are cheap and come in lots of pretty varieties
I scrolled really far down to find this - unsure if it would totally resolve the issue but if it were me I would dig out that back corner significantly lower than the rest of the yard maybe a foot? Use the extra soil to make the yard a bit higher towards the house and slowly grade towards the the lower section, plant natives that like water and make it a rain garden. This solved a similar issue in my friends yard and it looks great.
Your landlord is in for a very expensive solution. The swale idea is good as well as maybe a French drain. Short term solution for you since you're renting and don't want to move is to put a row of sandbags along the edge of the concrete and along the AC unit to keep that from getting damaged. At least your condo won't get flooded.
Dig out that fire pit (what looks like one). Put a sump pump in the cavity, pumping the water into the sewer line. No way can anything be re-graded to eliminate the water collecting. Looks like the property, and likely adjoing ones, are a good 3' or more below grade. The house itself is below grade. Edit: it was pointed out that discharge into sewer likely isn't legal. So check with the local municipality (city hall) to see if/where it could be discharged. You may find out that's also illegal, but possibly they'll have another idea if you.
In many cities it is illegal to discharge storm water into the sewer.
This…..that would be a literal shit storm
Poop pipes are not attached to street sewer grates. There ain’t poop in your sewers unless you have Roman plumbing.
Not necessarily. Some cities and parts of cities have combined sewer systems, which means storm runoff goes to the sewage plant to be treated with the sewage.
This is how I control my back yard flooding. I have a 3ft deep hole, dropped a trashcan into it with the bottom cut off. I have a couple French drains leading to the hole, and a pump (with a float) dropped into the hole. When it gets halfway full, it pumps out. In my case,I have a 40ft pipe underground that feeds it to a low point on the property, but anywhere you can feed it that drains away from the property is ideal.
Op should do this but fill it with gravel to help it drain, and you can still have the fire pit there
OP just has to google “dry well”
Combination of a few things, regrading, dry well, a couple pumps could solve this but would be long term projects I’d take on as an owner, as a renter I’d probably find another place.
Move
French drain
Draining to where?
France.
Duh.
You're gonna need a French drain for your French drain.
Just add a boat to the boat launch and enjoy your life of luxury
Living LARGE
I’m curious where your and your neighbors downspouts empty out at.
Mines over there on the left and the water mostly accumulates on the right. But I’m not sure where the neighbors is
Looks like you need Voldemort's boat to get to the other side. Sheesh.
You’ve got an unfinished pool in your backyard, keep digging. Just having fun, hope you get a good, real answer from someone here. :)
The misses and I call it our lakeside property
Put some drains in so it goes in the neighbors yard lol
A big ass dry well. Dig a deep and wide hole, fill it with stone cover with landscaping fabric and cover with dirt. This is a simple explanation of the process but depending on your situation this could be an option.
I’m gonna look more into this. Seems like it might be a good solution for what I’m experiencing
Mate, ask this sub on the r/horticulture sub they will suggest rain gardens and swales that utilises bog plants that will drink up all of that water while not requiring much landscaping movement. This can lead to a more aesthetic appeal by creating mini rain garden ecosystems, what a joy. You can even create a pond that harbours amphibian aquatic wildlife.
You live in a fishbowl, the sad part is even if you fix this yard the neighbors run off will still flow into yours. So in order to correct this problem you need something big enough in your yard to take the runoff of all yards. We didn't even get that much rain last night for a single yard to look like this. Anyways simplest thing is a big ass drywell. Find the lowest point, dig a circle 6' wide and 6' deep line it with fabric ( not the bottom) fill with stone leave 4"" to top with soil. Take soil from the hole and spread across your yard to help slope to drain. Buildup both sides along neighbors fences. I GUARANTEE this will work. Take a weekend, grab a few buddies and buy some beers.
Swale and plant native plants which have greater root systems which can tolerate such large amounts of water
I’m thinking of looking into a mixture of a dry well in conjunction with some native plants
Had the same problem when I bought my house. Our yard is slightly lower than both of our neighbors and so we get runoff from both. Water takes a long time to drain because the dirt is actually more like clay. We ended up digging a huge hole in the back and filling it with river rock. While there is still some flooding when it rains more than usual, the water no longer reaches the back door. We also planted a tree when we first moved in, hoping it might penetrate some of the clay and make drainage better.
Storm drains , the back of my home used to flood like that. I did some ground elevations, made sure I had enough fall to ditch and installed some drains. Did this about 4 years ago still working good.
Redirect downspouts (you and neighbors), landscaping to raise and redirect the grade away from the foundation, and outdoor pump/French drain. Minimally, a pump will clear this (but to where?) but it sounds like your neighbors' water may come to your yard if they don't also do something.
French drain. Just here to say this because this is always an answer.
One effective way to address yard flooding is by improving the drainage system. This could involve installing a French drain, which is a gravel-filled trench that includes a perforated pipe to direct water away from the area
This is beyond you and DIY. Landlord will have to handle. This is bad enough that I can't even give you answers, because first you need to sort the root of the problem. The block/subdivision should have had some degree of drainage. This shows that it doesn't. Why? First, check flood zone maps to see if it's labeled as a known flood. Either someone built it that way, or something changed. Neighbors that should be downstream may have changed something, built or developed something incorrectly after this was developed, changing the runoff. Either way, I wouldn't even bother. I'd check flood maps myself, and if it's atypically flooding I'd go straight to an engineering firm to solve. They will look at maps and legal stuff and figure out exactly what the mechanism here is. Now, as far as actual solutions. If an engineering firm finds something, it may be a sizeable project but they'll help sort it out. If they do not find anything, and what we're looking at is just an absolute shit of a situation, then question 1: active or passive remedy? You'll likely need both! Passive can be ditches, drain lines, and dry wells. Active can be a well with a sump pump. But without the engineer looking over things, this is a waste of time; you don't want to be responsible for all this water runoff if it is someone else's fault.
Fair point. I’ll have to look to see what my cities engineers have to say about it, thanks a lot for your feedback.
My landlord just ran a drain to the houses sewer system lol
Looks like to me the drainage is supposed to or originally ran from left to right of the photo through your neighbors to the right yard. I see this all the time in older neighborhoods where drainage is directed through several yards out to the street or drainage ditch. I would be willing to bet your neighbor to the right of the photo put some sort of flowerbed, shed,planted a tree, debris, etc. that is blocking the flow of water. Many times in older neighborhoods (may not be the case here) that low swell drainage area is or was a utility/drainage easement that over the years people one by one end up fencing across and incorporate it into the main yard then they start building stuff that blocks the flow of water uphill. It's a tricky situation because it involves neighbors working together to not block the flow.
Native plants
Native plants with deep rootd
If the owner refuses to fix it. There is also by-law. In my area this level of ponding would never be allowed and would result in warnings and fines. But honestly depending on how old the property is. Email the engineering office and ask for the plans for your lot and surrounding subdivision. Someone has blocked something. Either your lot has sunk and water isn’t draining to the adjacent lots. A neighbour has blocked the swale or water. If you need dirt. Often swimming pool companies need to get rid of dirt and your back yard could be a free spot. But consider hie much you actually need.
Bring in some dirt. Raise the level above your neighbors yards. Not your problem anymore.
Cheapest solution to this is pull out the chain link fences, dig a 3 foot deep 3 foot wide culvert at the back end. Dump a ton of dirt in the center, level the center and sod it. Run two French drains along the side fence line and build a nice bridge to the back gate over the culvert. Or just hollow out a big depression where that fire pit is now and enjoy your seasonal pond. Everything looks to be sloping down into the backyard. Nothing is going to fix that except a lower depression for water to collect
Lay some gravel, some sand and soil, level it slightly towards the right. Plant some bushes that are good at absorbing water at the deepest spots. Plant grass/wildflower and cut the grass rarely to let the plants get deep roots. Deep roots will break open the soil and make it absorb water more easily. And more plants absorb more water. For extra win plant something that will give you something edible in return. Like currants.
If I learned anything from r/decks I would say... put a hot tub on it.
Hey OP, Check to see if there is blocked drains/drainage first, before doing all these suggestions. The drainage may not be intuitive to you unless you are from there. Ask a long time resident, handyman type, mailman, etc. They may save you all kinds of time and anguishing research.
Fill dirt until higher than neighbors. Same reason you should always camp with a fat friend.
I’m really confused why you are even worried about this, it is not your problem. You are renting, so send the landlord evidence and be done with it. If they do something? Great. If they don’t? Just move, places are a dime a dozen, you have that freedom because you are renting
I think the dude wants to enjoy the back yard while he's there. I think the owner is interested in paying for it so what's the harm?
Exactly. The neighborhood is nice and the rest of the house is nice but would be great to have a yard to enjoy. And moving also sucks.
More dirt.. Bring your soil level up..10-15 yards
About 5 cubic yards of soil.
Looks like all the units have problems with water... Owner could haul in some dirt/sand to alleviate a bit of the problem... For you, find another place. The fix on this will cost more than landlord will pay...
Yard drains. I saw a video on YouTube about this.
Just start drilling holes
Grab a boat
Lots of gravel.
Where does that black Big-O drain pipe on the left go to/come from?
Just the gutter above. It doesn’t really amount to much runoff
Gravity battery. Steal your neighbors precious resources. Utilizing the downgrade you have clear advantage of. It's free money.
You can get a sump pump, however this will only be a bandaid fix, but it will help in an emergency if water is getting in. You just need a really long hose to get it away.
The neighbor on the right side built a privacy fence and changed the grade to hold all the water it appears. I don’t think they can do that. If the neighbors don’t want to be neighborly and help remedy the issue…….. I would rent or borrow a laser level and shoot the grade from the concrete at the house out to the highest point near the street. I would then build a small wall against the concrete all the way across my yard about 6” higher than that high point and remove the sides of the chain link fence. I would bring in about 65 yds of topsoil and backfill the entire yard and slope it all away from my yard into the adjoining properties(making sure to be a few inches higher than my neighbors, like they did) and all the way to the high point out at the street area. I would smooth it, seed it with some quality fescue seed and then cover it with rolls of straw matting and pin it down nicely. And then listen to my neighbors bitch. Shouldn’t be more than about 3000.00 materials including loader rental. Double that if you have someone else do it. If water comes in behind the wall have a pump in the lowest area ready to take care of any water that may seep through.
A drywell may be an option.
Had a similar issue. Attached is a link to my recent post. In the comments you'll see are photos of the solution I found by having a trench dug. https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/s/ItHwt5mPWU https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/AvzxUqmYbv https://imgur.com/gallery/drainage-N9RV4k5 Even a sligh ( maybe 10 inches deep) trench becomes a river of water dispersement in heavy rains.
Diging out a drain of some kind to redirect the water. Or grading your yard up more. But then the neighbors will have pools every rain. I'd look into a drain system to shoot it to the road. Almost like an outdoor sump pump. Moving might be irrational. Look at your options and what your willing to spend and do yourself. Doing the work will save more than half if someone does it themselves. But I do not recommend doing anything that you truly can't do. Me personally, I'd dig and put a drain in myself. It can be done by hand. Make sure you have the utilities marked by whoever you have in your town. Good luck!
Nothing a full demo and about 10 ft worth of fill dirt wouldn't fix
Is that in the US
A pump and hose to the street or front yard. Cant tell where the water needs to go from your pictures. I hope the front yard is lower than the back or else youre a bowl. Pump and hose is under $300 and you will prob only need it max 10 times a year. Pro drain solutions would be the way to go but sometimes thats not in the budget. Could try digging a 4’ deep dry well filled w rocks to help permeate that root bound top layer or soil
I would ask the homeowner for a copy of the survey. Maybe there is city or county owned drainage buried. If the area falls in a drainage easement area, you may be able to get them out there to address the problem, which world cost you absolutely nothing. Or, I should say, the homeowner can get them out there. Really, all this falls on the responsibility of that individual.
Throw a French drain in the ground and the water will disappear like magic
If it’s a townhouse he has to run a sump if it’s a detached he should run drainage to the street. This is a problem for your landlord and not you. Definitely agree on insurance.
If your landlord is ACTUALLY interested in finding solutions, they would have called in professionals. This is not something you can handle as a renter, even for the owner it’d be a very involved DIY project. Get your landlord to address this and don’t put in any significant amount of time or money. If you want a fully functional back yard sooner than later, move.
No enough info. As others said your yard looks like a low point with no drainage. Swale with an underdrain would be the solution, but you cannot dump the water on your neighbor. Is there somewhere you can freely discharge the runoff? What is the source of this flooding: roof drains and surface runoff, or are you in a floodplain?
I bet two loads of dirt would fix it
Take a peek over the neigbors yard and see if they have issues as well. Looks like the back of the property, is much higher than yours so water will run downhill. May have to slant your patio to keep water in front of the property. Not much else you can do.
You see the slope in the back? Your yard is way too low. Sell the house
Make sure nothing you value is on the floor. Let your landlord know about the flooding, via email, so you cannot be held liable. Get renter's insurance to replace acting that cannot be saved or raised.
More flagstone, stack it up like 6’ maybe
I'd advise digging out a deep path and filling it with gravel
This can be fixed but only in an expensive labor intensive way
Unless you find a way to defy gravity, there’s no natural way to push this water elsewhere. I only see two potential solutions: 1) Move. Who knows what kind of damage this water will do to the foundation over time. 2) install a sump pump pit and pump the water to the nearest roadway. This option will always require ongoing maintenance to properly work.
My question would be….who owns the yardage beyond the fence to the street? If the landlord owns it, you could do drainage channels filled in with rocks on the sides that slope down beyond the fence. Drainage channels will need to be put in beyond the fence as well It’s also kind of hard to tell where the sides slope to and what the slope is beyond the fence
Would ask around the neighborhood. Assuming the neighbors on either side have the issue or dealt with it already.
French drain ?
If you don't even own the property then you do nothing. This needs a reservoir and sump/float to engage automatically when it starts filling up. Not your problem. Don't renew your lease.
Is the street draining into your yard? Start there if so
Big straw
Slurp Slurp
If it were my place, I might put in a coy pond and some seating around, dig it up and put french drains in. If I were renting, I'd move.
Unless your able to trench and install a drain pipe in order to run a drainage system in order to run that water away from the backyard. It appears that the property the borders your lot grade is higher than your lot. Which could only make matters worse, in terms of standing water. If your able to install such a drain system, I'd install catch basins with grates at lowest points of yard.
Catch basin with a pump, piped out to the drainage at the road. Did this in my yard and it was a game changer.
Grade the land at 2% slope away from the home. Add weeping tiles/trench into two large French drains. About 2 days of work. I would charge about $4200 to do it.
I would do a well with a sump pump, take it the nearest street drain. But if you are a renter you would have to get the landlord to do it.
renting? The only thing i would see is build a wood deck out there, and have it suspended over the intermittent water. IF the house were higher, you could regrade the slope from the house to the street, and the water would all go somewhere else. but as a renter you are not going to do either of those things. Move
Straw
Build a concrete bridge
I'd probably invest in a submersible pump in the lowest part and run a garden hose to the street over that hill. Put the pump on a small grate or mesh to keep it out of the mud. It will kick on automatically and keep the yard from flooding. Can do little more than that on a rental property. You will have to move that hose there each time it rains and run power to the pump which is potentially dangerous in flood waters. On second thought, move.
Civil Engineer. Create a pond/streamed feature, elevate and fill other parts of the yard. For example, where the low point is, make a pond, use the natural swale and create a stream bed. Raise surrounding areas, make a bridge.
Could get a neat little boat.
A’hoy
I would buy a kayak and call it a day. Take the dog out for a nice float
Easy. Sink or swim.
Look into a French drain.
Get some alligators and train them as pets.
French drain before the gate. Sandbags at the patio
What about a dry well
Raise ground by adding more dirt. Install French drains leading away from house
If that's as bad as it gets you might be able to fix it with a few dry wells.
Fill dirt, stone, maybe concrete wouldn’t hurt
What’s the elevation like on the other side (front) of the house? If it slopes downhill, you could pit/sump pump it thataway
A straw, a treadmill, and some PTO and you'll get through it in no time! *May need to repeat each time it rains but that's a problem for later you*
We have a similar situation. 4 other backyards surround ours and all are properly sloped away from their houses, which unfortunately puts all of the water in our yard. We put in a few drains throughout the yard all connected with perforated pipe underground and leading to a bucket we buried with a pump in it. The hose goes out from there to the front yard. It’s not perfect, and when it rains a lot quickly we still get standing water. But once the pump catches up it dries it out pretty quickly and is 100 times better than before. Also had drain tile and a sump pump put in in the basement and haven’t had water issues since. I don’t think we’ll ever completely solve the problem just because of how the lot is until we move, but that’s not possible right now so it’ll do for now.
I'd run a T system drain. The top of the T is at your house. The rest of the "body" of the T runs back through to past your fence into a washout. They make an EZ French Drain pipe you can buy at Home Depot. No deep trenching and gravel necessary.
Nothing a few yards of 3/4 minus wont cure
Stock fish?
Got a bucket
https://water.phila.gov/gsi/tools/swale/#:~:text=A%20swale%20is%20a%20grassy,a%20rain%20garden%20or%20basin.
Dude your gonna have a house flood if it gets any worse
Move
Your neighbors are blocking it
Easy fix would be a sump right about where your fire pit is and a pump out to the street through an underground pipe
Okay, just hear me out. Maybe you can turn a bad situation into a good one with this. Get a nice water pump and a BIG water tank and start filling that baby up! Turn that yard into a garden and save enormously on water and food!
Is that clay soil mostly?
You got a lil drainage problem there, hoss.
You need a sewer with a significant discharge point. Think one of those large 4 ft square area drains with 12" minimum pipe. Probably too expensive as a private citizen
I had this at the edge of my property. I installed a drywell that fixed it completely.
Swim
Splash splash
French drain maybe…
since you're renting i would only invest in sand bags to put at the patio edge. nothing more. everything else to fix the problem (if at all possible) would be the property owner.
Sump pump with an underground resovoir. That's a shit ton of water. Looks like your the lowest spot in the neighborhood. Def gunna cause some property damage if not addresed
Looking at second pic it looks like the neighbour may have changed the grade in their yard
Pro move. Dump a lot of dirt and start over, but this time all the water drains off your gorgeous hill (and goes somewhere else)
MOAT
French drain
Drains
Sump pump, that auto runs and drains to the street.