Posted by Dee on November 17, 2004, 1:28 pm
A couple years ago, we moved into a 1-story, 20-year-old brick house in
south Texas. Our back yard slopes toward the back of the house and one side
of the house sits inside a retaining wall between our neighbor's house and
ours. Lately we've gotten so much rain that the water collects along the
back and sides of the house and seeps into the bedrooms. Not just a
little -- a LOT. Twice it's even crept down the hall, and we have to wet-vac
and use every towel in the house just to keep the water away from the tiled
living area. Needless to say, our carpets are trashed. I used to love
storms, but now every time there's a cloud in the sky I cringe.
Do you think rain gutters alone would be sufficient to keep the water from
collecting at the base of the house?
We're also very concerned about mold. Assuming we get the leak problem taken
care of, do you think replacing the sheetrock, insulation, carpets and
padding will be sufficient to get rid of any mold?
Thanks very much for any advice. We've had more rain this year than I've
ever seen in this area and this leaking has become a horrible problem.
Posted by John A. Weeks III on November 17, 2004, 1:53 pm
wrote:
> A couple years ago, we moved into a 1-story, 20-year-old brick house in
> south Texas. Our back yard slopes toward the back of the house and one side
> of the house sits inside a retaining wall between our neighbor's house and
> ours. Lately we've gotten so much rain that the water collects along the
> back and sides of the house and seeps into the bedrooms. Not just a
> little -- a LOT. Twice it's even crept down the hall, and we have to wet-vac
> and use every towel in the house just to keep the water away from the tiled
> living area. Needless to say, our carpets are trashed. I used to love
> storms, but now every time there's a cloud in the sky I cringe.
>
> Do you think rain gutters alone would be sufficient to keep the water from
> collecting at the base of the house?
You may need to get the opinion of someone who is in excuvation and
landscaping. Your problem could be poor drainage (ie, the water is
not moving away from the house), or water collection (water moves
away, but collects, and the collection pond runs into your house).
If you have a drainage problem, rain gutters can help, but only if
you move the water away from the house. You would probably have
far better luck in doing a bit of grading to make the water run
away all by itself.
If the water is collecting, then you need to figure out why. It
could be that you are in a natural depression with no outlet. Or
there might be an outlet, but it has been plugged up. You probably
need a little help in figuring this out.
Another potential solution would be to put in a drainage system in
your home. This involves digging around the edge of the house, and
putting in drain pipes along with some pea gravel. You then have a
catch basin and sump pump that drains the water that gets close to
the house.
-john-
--
====================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================
Posted by Bill on November 17, 2004, 2:06 pm
Well you need to get the ground near your house to slope away from the
house so water drains *away* from the house.
I understand that this may not be possible to do with the entire yard.
Maybe build a retaining wall about 10 ft from your house in the back yard
and slope the ground for that 10 ft. away from the house and add drainage
and gutters to the house?
So far as the retaining wall on the side next to your neighbors house, I
don't know how much room you have to work with there. But the idea would be
to move the retaining wall back and make the yard slope away from your
house and add drainage. If there is not enough room to do this because the
houses are right next to each other, then maybe building the wall up higher
and sealing the top between the houses so water can't drain down?
Anyway, this sounds like you will need a contractor, maybe
architect/engineer, and possibly a loan to pay for it. May be able to look
in yellow pages for architects, ask them what to do - who to call, then get
estimate/loan. Also check with your city/county for FEMA loans/grants to
pay for this work. FEMA is the Federal government agency with pays for
flooding when it occurs. They have mitigation programs to permanently
prevent flooding in the first place so they will not have to pay for
repairs each time it floods.
Other city departments which handle FEMA grants/loans are called the
planning department. Who knows what Texas calls it....
"Dee" wrote in message
> A couple years ago, we moved into a 1-story, 20-year-old brick house in
> south Texas. Our back yard slopes toward the back of the house and one
side
> of the house sits inside a retaining wall between our neighbor's house
and
> ours. Lately we've gotten so much rain that the water collects along the
> back and sides of the house and seeps into the bedrooms. Not just a
> little -- a LOT. Twice it's even crept down the hall, and we have to
wet-vac
> and use every towel in the house just to keep the water away from the
tiled
> living area. Needless to say, our carpets are trashed. I used to love
> storms, but now every time there's a cloud in the sky I cringe.
> Do you think rain gutters alone would be sufficient to keep the water
from
> collecting at the base of the house?
> We're also very concerned about mold. Assuming we get the leak problem
taken
> care of, do you think replacing the sheetrock, insulation, carpets and
> padding will be sufficient to get rid of any mold?
> Thanks very much for any advice. We've had more rain this year than I've
> ever seen in this area and this leaking has become a horrible problem.
Posted by v on November 17, 2004, 5:03 pm
On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 11:06:21 -0800, someone wrote:
>...Also check with your city/county for FEMA loans/grants to
>pay for this work. FEMA is the Federal government agency with pays for
>flooding when it occurs.
Nope. Not a FEMA matter. Their "flooding" has to do with the rising
of established bodies of water like lakes, rivers and streams, which
affect large populations. They do not get invovled when an
individual's yard has a grading problem. Even though in a general
sense the word "flood" can refer to an inundation, that's not what
FEMA is about.
Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.
Posted by Harry K on November 17, 2004, 10:46 pm
> Well you need to get the ground near your house to slope away from the
> house so water drains *away* from the house.
>
> I understand that this may not be possible to do with the entire yard.
>
> Maybe build a retaining wall about 10 ft from your house in the back yard
> and slope the ground for that 10 ft. away from the house and add drainage
> and gutters to the house?
>
That was my solution. Steep slope going way up the hill. I actually
have two retaining walls 5' one at the back lot line and a 4' one
about 10' out from the house. Both left high enough above the ground
fill to act a wall to divert any heavy run-off. I had two instances
of water flowing past the house on both sides 2' deep before I did the
retaining walls.
Harry K
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> south Texas. Our back yard slopes toward the back of the house and one side
> of the house sits inside a retaining wall between our neighbor's house and
> ours. Lately we've gotten so much rain that the water collects along the
> back and sides of the house and seeps into the bedrooms. Not just a
> little -- a LOT. Twice it's even crept down the hall, and we have to wet-vac
> and use every towel in the house just to keep the water away from the tiled
> living area. Needless to say, our carpets are trashed. I used to love
> storms, but now every time there's a cloud in the sky I cringe.
>
> Do you think rain gutters alone would be sufficient to keep the water from
> collecting at the base of the house?