How to Solve Water Drainage in Yards

A poorly drained yard creates issues with mosquitoes, limits grass growth, and can create water infiltration into basements. No homeowner likes the look of a swamp in their yard. Both simple and more complex remedies should be considered to solve water drainage in yards. Improvement of surface drainage may successfully solve yard drainage problems. In some cases, placement of an underground perforated tile system can help. A careful evaluation of the yard topography, including monitoring the water flow after a rainfall event, will help identify drainage problems in the yard.

Level
Stringline with bubble level
Soil
Shovel
Perforated plastic drainage pipe
Filter fabric
Gravel
Hand tamp

Instructions

- 1
  Evaluate the site drainage. Determine where the water from the yard goes. The ideal site drainage has a swale or other lower area behind the backyard. The front yard typically drains to the street or ditch parallel to the street. Look at the grading around the house. Determine if the ground around the house slopes away from the structure. Place a level on the ground near the house to see which way the grade falls.
- 2
  Place new soil in any low areas that stops the flow of surface water off the yard. Use a string line with a bubble level to check the grade. Using two wooden stakes, set the string line in a horizontal level position. Use the bubble level to get the string line level. Measure the distance from the string to the top of ground along the string.
- 3
  Improve yard areas with no flow of water. For low yard areas that have no logical direction for drainage, find a point lower nearby. It could be a ditch, creek, or pond. Cut a shallow swale into the yard to direct water to the lower point. Use the string line and level setup to control the grade.
- 4
  
  Place a gravel bedding before placment of the perforated pipe.
  
  Place underground perforated tile in low yard areas with no lower area nearby. Outlet the tile into a street storm sewer system or, if there is no underground system nearby, build a French drain. Excavate a trench in the soil 3 feet below the surface 12 inches wide. Slope the bottom of the trench a minimum of 1 percent grade toward the outlet. Place a 4- or 6-inch perforated plastic tile wrapped in filter fabric on a bedding of 2 inches of gravel. Backfill the gravel to a minimum of 4 inches above the tile. Use the excavated soil to backfill the trench, compacting the soil during placement. Outlet the tile into a catch basin or manhole. In areas with no storm sewer, excavate a larger area at the outlet to receive water. Extend this excavation a few feet below the outlet.. Fill this area entirely with stone up to the top of the outlet pipe. Backfill this area with the excavated soil, compacting with a hand tamp during placement.

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