Drainage and Excavation Options for Protecting Your Home

Proper drainage is needed to protect your home and your property. When water collects around a home's foundation this can cause pressure and in turn water leaks. If there is too much drainage on your property this can mean soil erosion and very dry grass that won't grow. There are a few options you have for proper drainage and excavation when it comes to protecting your home, so you might note these and discuss them with a contractor or install them on your own.

1. Downspout extensions

Your home's downspouts direct water away from your home, but if moisture tends to build up around the home's perimeter after a rainfall, you may need extensions for these. Extensions are put at the end of downspouts to help keep water directed away from your home, and they can even have the flow of water turn left or right, toward the driveway or walkway. This will allow the water to continue to run away from your home and not puddle or pool in your yard. You can find gutter extensions that look like large, long hoses and which can be buried right under the downspout so they're out of sight.

2. Swales

Swales are like very shallow ditches and these are often used on homes that sit on the bottom of a sloping yard. This slope often causes water to pool around the house. A swale can be built around the home that leads and directs water to a storm sewer or even a collection pond. This will keep the water from pooling around the yard, and since a swale is very shallow, it is also unnoticeable so it won't detract from the look of your yard.

3. Soakwells

A soakwell is like a standard water well except it doesn't collect and hold water for drinking. The soakwell collects water that seeps into one area of the property and then transfers it down a channel, away from your home. You may have seen a soakwell channel on some properties; it is a slight hole in sloped ground and is connected to a path of rocks as it continues to slope downward. The rocks don't allow the water to seep back into the ground as it's directed away from the home. 

It's usually best to have a contractor from a company like Minpex Drainage dig a soakwell on your property as they need to be installed in an area where the water will collect and then also continue to slope downward to encourage proper water flow. If you were to dig a drywell without proper slope, the water may simply collect in the area of the well and not actually drain away.