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Knowing how to prevent water from damaging your home can help you avoid numerous problems. At Anytime Flood Restoration in Denver, we know how important proper landscape drainage is. Many homeowners rarely give their landscape drainage a thought until it has become a problem, often in the form of flooding. Paying attention to how water is pooling on your property can help you spot potential issues in advance of costly and/or serious damage.

Signs of Poor Drainage

Sometimes drainage issues have been longstanding problems on a property, particularly with older homes. Sometimes drainage issues develop over time and symptoms start to appear along the way. Unfortunately, some drainage problems are not apparent until a heavy rain or a particularly wet year comes along.

If a property’s drainage is set up correctly, excess water is flushed away to naturally outlets, such as lakes, rivers, or streams or the water is diverted to sewers. If a property has poor drainage, there are signs that are quite obvious and others that are much more subtle.

Obvious signs:

• Large puddles that are still sizeable after a few hours.
• Pools of water in your driveway
• Flooding in your basement 

Subtle signs:

• Water stains on your basement walls or floor
• Foundation cracks or cracks that are growing wider or larger
• Cracks developing in your outside concrete areas such as your patio and/or driveway.

Ignoring signs of a drainage issue can cause bigger problems over time.

Long-Term Problems

Lack of drainage for water can damage a building’s foundation. Water that doesn’t drain away can degrade your patio, your sidewalks, retaining walls, and your driveway. Water can cause your sump pump to work overtime, which can cause excessive wear and tear. Water causes dampness and humidity that will invite mold or mildew issues and can even encourage insect infestations. Water issues can even be inviting to rodents.

Types of Drainage Issues

When there are large pools of water on your lawn or sizeable puddles that stay on your concrete driveway, you have a surface water problem. The water is staying because it has nowhere to go.

The second type of drainage issue can be a little trickier to spot. When water becomes trapped underground because it has no place to drain, this is a sub-surface drainage issue. This type of drainage issue can be much more costly. It is harder to spot and so the damage can build before it is discovered. Sometimes the sub-surface water freezes and pushes against paved areas and foundations. This can create structural damage such as cracking and heaving.

Drainage Solutions

To avoid water damage to your home, it needs to be able to drain away rainfall and stormwater. Depending on your property, there are a number of solutions to take care of your drainage issue. Sometimes, you may need to take advantage of more than one solution to fully eliminate your drainage problem. Here are some solutions you may find to be useful:

• Dry creeks: Dry creeks are attractive and subtle as well as creative. A shallow ditch or trough is lined with rocks and stone to provide a place for excess water to go.
• Trench drains: If your property is heavily paved, this may be a good option for you. Trench drains direct water via concrete channels. These are frequently used in parking lots, for example. Grates and filters are placed to avoid any clogging of the channels.
• French drains: These drains are a fairly intricate way to direct the flow of water on a property. Perforated pipes are covered with gravel and rocks to assist with filtration. The pipes channel the water in a specified direction. The rocks and gravel also help keep the pipes in place. Such a drain can be hidden under a gravel walkway, for example. This drainage solution is particularly helpful when used to avoid basement flooding.
• Site grading: Many drainage issues stem from improper grading when the house is built. The landscape is shifted to ensure that water flows away from the house. Sometimes grading can be difficult to accomplish depending on the layout of the property.
• Dry wells: These are alternative drainage solutions that have been used for many years. Dry wells are generally filled with gravel and surrounded by gravel as a holding place before water is then diverted via a series of pipes. Building a good dry well can be difficult and so it is a good idea to use a professional. It is important to understand both your water table as well as the soil composition for a successful dry well.

Consider a Rain Garden

A rain garden is a depression or hole that is filled with flowers, plants, and even trees as a way to help keep water away from your home. The garden acts like a sponge, absorbing water and directing it to plants instead of into your basement, foundation or crawl space. Rain gardens are both sensible and attractive additions to any home landscape. They are also environmentally friendly and can provide a means for cleaning water naturally before it flows elsewhere.

Sidewalk Removal

Sometimes your sidewalks are placed in such a way that they help keep water near your home. If some of the other alternatives are not helping with your drainage issue, you may need to remove or rethink your sidewalks. You could replace your sidewalk with a gravel walkway with a French drain underneath. Removing the sidewalk entirely may allow you to correct the grade of the ground so that water flows away from your home.

Now that you know how to prevent water from damaging your home, we hope you are able to correct whatever drainage issue you are experiencing. If you already have damage to your home or basement as a result of your drainage issue, call us here at Anytime Flood Restoration in Denver. We provide comprehensive services, from drying and addressing water damage, dealing with mold issues via mitigation, and even reconstruction of damaged areas.