My front yard slopes towards the house. I went to a a nursery to buy dirt
to build up the yard so
it slopes away from the house. The nursery guy told me to go to a
landscaping company because
there are different kinds of dirt - some hold water others don't - to find
out which kind of dirt I need. Do I need dirt that holds or or repells
water?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike wrote:
My front yard slopes towards the house. I went to a a nursery to buy dirt
to build up the yard so
it slopes away from the house. The nursery guy told me to go to a
landscaping company because
there are different kinds of dirt - some hold water others don't - to find
out which kind of dirt I need. Do I need dirt that holds or or repells
water?

Thanks,

Mike

First, check the vertical distance from ground to wood or top of slab.
It's best to check at several poinst if possible.
Top of grade should be six or eight inches below the top of slab or top
of masonry supporting wood sill plate.

Starting at the desired top of grade, look to see if you can add fill
dirt or need to excavate to get the slope you want.

Do you have water in your crawl space or basement?
The group could use that info to give suggestions.
TB

`
First, check the vertical distance from ground to wood or top of slab.
It's best to check at several poinst if possible.
Top of grade should be six or eight inches below the top of slab or top
of masonry supporting wood sill plate.

Starting at the desired top of grade, look to see if you can add fill
dirt or need to excavate to get the slope you want.

Do you have water in your crawl space or basement?
The group could use that info to give suggestions.
TB


It's a full basement w/ some mositure (not water) on the floor where the
floor meets the wall. There is paneling over the wall.
The basement window in that section is about 6"-8" above the ground. The
ground slopes toward the house. If I run the dehumidifier overnight it'll
usually dry the floor. I'd prefer not to destroy the landscaping by
excavating, if possible.

Mike

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:32:27 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

My front yard slopes towards the house. I went to a a nursery to buy dirt
to build up the yard so
it slopes away from the house. The nursery guy told me to go to a
landscaping company because
there are different kinds of dirt - some hold water others don't - to find
out which kind of dirt I need. Do I need dirt that holds or or repells
water?

Thanks,

Mike

Clay or clay soil is best. You want something that will not allow
water to seep through nor hold water. It should be much cheaper than
dirt. If you want to save some money try to avoid nurseries--they are
usually 2 or 3 X the cost of getting your "fill dirt" from somewhere
else. Check contractors, farmers, Yellow Pages, etc. Expect to pay
at least $50 just for the delivery. Around here (E.TN), clay soil can
be had for free.

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:32:27 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

My front yard slopes towards the house. I went to a a nursery to buy dirt
to build up the yard so
it slopes away from the house. The nursery guy told me to go to a
landscaping company because
there are different kinds of dirt - some hold water others don't - to find
out which kind of dirt I need. Do I need dirt that holds or or repells
water?

Thanks,

Mike

Just dig a one foot wide wide trench along the wall and install a
drainage system using 4 inch plastic pipe. The low end of the pipe
connects to drainage pipe that discharges into your storm sewer
system.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...

Clay or clay soil is best. You want something that will not allow
water to seep through nor hold water. It should be much cheaper than
dirt. If you want to save some money try to avoid nurseries--they are
usually 2 or 3 X the cost of getting your "fill dirt" from somewhere
else. Check contractors, farmers, Yellow Pages, etc. Expect to pay
at least $50 just for the delivery. Around here (E.TN), clay soil can
be had for free.

I've been buying topsoil in 40 lb bags and the price varies considerably.
The topsoil holds water. I'll find someplace that'll deliver clay based
soir\l

Mike

"JimL" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:32:27 GMT, "Mike" wrote:



Just dig a one foot wide wide trench along the wall and install a
drainage system using 4 inch plastic pipe. The low end of the pipe
connects to drainage pipe that discharges into your storm sewer
system.

how dep should the trench be?

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 21:34:10 GMT, "Mike" wrote:


"JimL" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:32:27 GMT, "Mike" wrote:



Just dig a one foot wide wide trench along the wall and install a
drainage system using 4 inch plastic pipe. The low end of the pipe
connects to drainage pipe that discharges into your storm sewer
system.

how dep should the trench be?


Your damp floor indicates that you have minor seepage, so I'd dig as
far as I could and call it a day. In a perfect world the drainage
would be about a foot beneath the basement floor.

Of course, the house should never have been built with drainage
moving toward the house. So all you are doing is giving the ground
water a quick escape away from the house.

The 100 year flood plain solution is a sump pump in your basement.

"JimL" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 21:34:10 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

Your damp floor indicates that you have minor seepage, so I'd dig as
far as I could and call it a day. In a perfect world the drainage
would be about a foot beneath the basement floor.

Of course, the house should never have been built with drainage
moving toward the house. So all you are doing is giving the ground
water a quick escape away from the house.

The 100 year flood plain solution is a sump pump in your basement.

The house is 70 years old

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 03:30:01 GMT, "Mike" wrote:


"JimL" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 21:34:10 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

Your damp floor indicates that you have minor seepage, so I'd dig as
far as I could and call it a day. In a perfect world the drainage
would be about a foot beneath the basement floor.

Of course, the house should never have been built with drainage
moving toward the house. So all you are doing is giving the ground
water a quick escape away from the house.

The 100 year flood plain solution is a sump pump in your basement.

The house is 70 years old

I understand. Also, I meant the surface rainwater falling on the
ground and running toward the house should be quickly moved away from
the house. Ground water is something else and I shouldn't have used
that word.

In my neighborhood, 20 year old houses were not graded properly and
many have water standing in the backyard after every rain. My
suggestion is what they did to get the water away from the house.
Gravel and 4 inches of sandyloam provide excellent drainage and st
augustine covers it all up. The only clue is the pvc pipe dumping
water into the street sewer system.

having been tere done this suck it up and install a interior french
drain preferably with the drin dumping water below the level of the
basemnent floor well away from the home. gravity is far better than a
pump.

this is the sure cure for water moisture troubles.

"JimL" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 03:30:01 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

The 100 year flood plain solution is a sump pump in your basement.

The house is 70 years old

I understand. Also, I meant the surface rainwater falling on the
ground and running toward the house should be quickly moved away from
the house. Ground water is something else and I shouldn't have used
that word.

In my neighborhood, 20 year old houses were not graded properly and
many have water standing in the backyard after every rain. My
suggestion is what they did to get the water away from the house.
Gravel and 4 inches of sandyloam provide excellent drainage and st
augustine covers it all up. The only clue is the pvc pipe dumping
water into the street sewer system.

I don't have any experience w/ this. Can you direct me to a website where I
read attempting to understand what I need to do?
Your explanation is helpful, of course just I'd like to get more background
on it.

Mike is on the right track. Installing a drain system, either inside
the basement or outside, is not a subsitute for correct grading. If
the yard slopes toward the house and can easily be fixed by regrading,
that is exactly what should be done first.

A lot depends on how much soil needs to be added and what goes over it.
If it's a few inchs and grass will go over it, then straight topsoil
is going to be the correct solution. And IMO, that is likely to be the
only practical solution period, as I think Mike is going to find it
hard to find a suitable soil that is high in clay content as has been
suggested, while std topsoil is readily available.

Forget about buying it in bags. This is impractical and expensive.
For any reasonable size job, you want it delivered by dump truck.
Look in the yellow pages or local newspaper classifieds for screened
topsoil.

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 14:12:09 GMT, "Mike" wrote:


"JimL" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 03:30:01 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

The 100 year flood plain solution is a sump pump in your basement.

The house is 70 years old

I understand. Also, I meant the surface rainwater falling on the
ground and running toward the house should be quickly moved away from
the house. Ground water is something else and I shouldn't have used
that word.

In my neighborhood, 20 year old houses were not graded properly and
many have water standing in the backyard after every rain. My
suggestion is what they did to get the water away from the house.
Gravel and 4 inches of sandyloam provide excellent drainage and st
augustine covers it all up. The only clue is the pvc pipe dumping
water into the street sewer system.

I don't have any experience w/ this. Can you direct me to a website where I
read attempting to understand what I need to do?
Your explanation is helpful, of course just I'd like to get more background
on it.

Here you go.
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lazy...nch_drains.htm