Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"Joseph Meehan" wrote:

46erjoe wrote:
-snip-
97% of the time grading IS the one and only problem.


Should he use just ANY old dirt? Or is there a certain kind - maybe
clay - that will do a more effective job?

While I would lean towards clay, I would tend to think your
question may vary depending on the local conditions.

I wouldn't use clay within a couple feet of my walls. Actually a
couple years ago when I rebuilt 1/2 my foundation I had 40 tons of
backfill trucked in. It was a sandy mix with rocks in it. I
called it 'creek-bed' - my brother-in-law, who has worked on
construction sites more recently than I had another name for it.
[maybe rubble-- at any rate it was what we called something completely
different 30 yrs ago & 50 miles away]

Clay holds unbelievable amounts of water that you don't want near your
foundation. As the base for a pond it might be good-- but I
wouldn't introduce it to my landscape.

I believe you will find that clay does not hold the water, but rather
forms a barrier. It is not what you want if you want the water to drain
though it. However when you are grading away from your home, then clay is
good as it tends to send the water down hill over the top of the clay and
away from the home. You certainly don't want it if the grade is reversed,
that would just push more water against the foundation.




Jim



--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit