Drainage issues in your yard can be a costly problem, and not just in the short term. According to LawnStarter.com, a well-landscaped home can increase your home’s value by over 12%. Drainage issues can ruin all of your best-laid landscaping plans, so you need to be able to identify them in order to enact drainage solutions. This article will explain the most common signs that your yard will have drainage problems.
Downspout Failure
If your home’s downspout is not properly installed, it’s likely you’ll have drainage problems. If the downspout is not installed in the perfect way to both circulate water around your yard and keep it away from your home, then you can have pools of water collecting where you definitely don’t want it to. This can lead to your lawn or basement flooding. Make sure to extend your downspout if it’s too short, and get it regularly maintained so there are no blockages. Also, make sure it’s sending water to some sort of drain rather than your neighbor’s lawn.
Pitch of Yard
Your yard’s pitch is also a good signal as to whether or not you’ll have drainage problems. If your lawn isn’t perfectly sloped, then you will need to invest in some sort of irrigation system, such as a French drain, to ensure proper water runoff. French drains and other irrigation methods can utilize pipes and drains that remain underground. You won’t see the drainage system, just its effects, ensuring your yard is both aesthetically pleasing and functional.
Impacted Soil
Impacted soil will stop water from properly draining into the ground. This is especially common in clay soil, which will retain water for a long period of time and cause excess buildup. This problem requires an in-depth solution. To really fix it, the yard needs to be tilled and amended with different varieties of soil to prevent clumping. While you’re doing this, you may as well grade the yard so the pitch is optimal and add in a drainage system, too. It may be more costly, but it will prevent even more expensive water damage restoration.
Drainage issues are common problems, especially in the Southern US. If you see signs of impending drainage problems before wet weather comes along, don’t wait. Call a professional landscape design company like us at Austin Drainage + Landscape Development to figure out how to set your yard and home up with a proper drainage system and prevent flood damage.