Expert: Dan Griffin - 9/30/2009

Question
QUESTION: I saw that this is one of your pet peeves.
I'm a first time home owner.
The front of the house slopes about 3 feet down from the street.
It then continues the slope all the way to the back alley.

Can I make some kind of concrete swale   
or can make a swale and then use some kind of material to make the land slope away from the foundation?

What kind of material
should I use to build up around the foundation?

Or could I put somekind of concrete step around the foundation?

I had an estimate done for french drains and it was more than $4000.  
And they said it would clog up after several years.
What good is that besides a money drain?

The house has been standing here since 1932 and the foundation looks good...I don't see any cracks and the crawl space looks dry.

But, it's been raining more than ever before.
Crazy weather.  
I want to be prepared incase the Gulf evaporates and falls on me here in Oklahoma.

ANSWER: Ann, I'm sorry it has taken so long to answer.  I volunteer at the fair and work has been hectic.  Where in Oklahoma?  I'm in OKC.

I think you may be worrying too much.  If the place has been there since 32 and is dry, things must be working fairly well.  This Oklahoma red clay and sod are great for making the slope away at your foundation.  Don't get the dirt so high that it gets close to the siding.  The important thing is that water can find a good path around the house on its way to the alley.  This may mean digging and maintaining a swale 5 to 10 feet away from the house.  The problem comes as a surface swale silts in and the grass grows into it and the swale disappears.  To fix this will require removing a strip or two of sod and dropping the grade.

We had a 3" rain a few weeks ago (when the fair started).  That's a great time to watch where the water travels and/or ponds.  Make sure that the "water travel" is a few feet away from the foundation, and things should be all right.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I'm in Lawton, OK.  

Hope the fair was fun.  
I'm taking courses in badminton and racquetball at Cameron and a course in Tai Chi at a martial arts place.  Ah, the joys of retirement.

I figured I better stay healthy while I'm going through the unpacking and problems solving required with my new home.

I can see now that the previous owner was having drainage problems.
Looks like the swale across the driveway was a do it yourself thing.
It's high in the middle.  This makes the water go into the garage on both sides.  
There is dry rot underneath the siding of the garage toward the front.

They put gardens on both sides of the porch in front next to the foundation that go forward about 5 feet and go across the front of the foundation (except where the sidewalk and little porch are)

And they put a pile of stones and big rocks next to the foundation in one of the front gardens that is higher than the porch.  Mosquitos swarm around it.  

On the other side there is a small deck that makes the porch wider but that stays wet underneath.  

The soil they've put in for the gardens
is soft black top soil with rocks around it.
It holds the water in from the roof next to the foundations when it rains.   
The mud is higher than ankle deep underneath ponds that form in the gardens when it rains.  
I'm pretty unhappy about it.  I'm aleric to mold.
I guess it's not an emergency.  but I sure want to try and find a fix.

The water definitely doesn't travel away from the foundation.  
It's been poorly maintained.  The soil is washed away.
I've had several people look at it but so far no good answers.  
I have an archetect coming out to look at it Monday.

I think the gardens
and the pile of rocks
and the little deck
are all going to have to go. They just hold water and make mud.

On the other hand, the rocks around the garden would help keep out the
water from the street if it comes over the curb.
(but they trap the roof water and cause a bigger problem than they solve).  

Guess you can tell I'm exasperated by this.  
I have zero experience.  I'm a little afraid to go out and start moving dirt around myself.  Don't want to make an eye sore here.

This is good writing to you.  It clarifies some of the problems.  But a solution hasn't crystalized yet.

What kind of specialist should I hire to help me with this?
Do you know of anyone?  

Answer
Ann, none of us wants to live in a "concrete/asphalt jungle" so we want flowers and a touch of beauty.  I wish I did know someone to suggest in Lawton, but alas . . .  A good landscaper would probably be my suggestion, some of these folks really understand the issues.   They may not pour concrete or install gutters, but probably work with and know others that do.