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Al Bundy

(Stacia) wrote in
:

Hey all, I was hoping you guys had some advice. My husband and I are
in our first home and we've noticed that the grading in the front
yard, well, blows. The front yard is a bit of a hill which declines
down to the house, and water pools pools right next to the foundation
in a 12-foot long trench that keeps getting formed due to rain and
erosion. The water usually soaks into the dirt within 12 hours. No
plants or grass will grow there for obvious reasons.

We don't have a basement or a crawlspace, but I still am not
comfortable with water pooling there. We need the yard completely
regraded but we can't afford it for a year or so, so we're looking for
some temporary solution.

Last week we moved some dirt from a landscaping mound to where the
water pooled, but it didn't help. If we add more dirt it'll end up
covering the bottom of the siding and that seems like a bad idea, so
more dirt is out of the question.

Is it better to let the water sit in the liner or should we just let
it get absorbed into the ground? Any thoughts on what we could do
until we can get professionals to grade the lawn?

Stacia

My husband and I are in our first home

Is this a recent purchase?. When you purchased the home did you get a
disclosures statement from the seller? In some/all states it is
mandatory. See if the disclosure and an item about "standing water". If
the seller disclosed it then the problem is all yours. If they didn't you
may have recourse. It can become subjective as to what "standing" water
is and the wording in the disclosure. 12 hrs of standing water does
indeed blow.

Sample from NC. Item #3: http://www.ncrec.state.nc.us/forms/rec422.pdf