Standing water in yard after big storms

Hi all,

After Ida, and again this morning (so with intense rainfall in short periods), standing water builds up in my yard, and floods my basement through the back of the house. It’s a townhouse in Bushwick. The yard used to be mostly grass, but I had bluestone and pavers put in, and there’s one drain that was always there closer to the house.

So I think I have two problems:

insufficient drainage in my yard (at least for these super intense storms – normal heavy rain is fine) and some kind of opening in the back of the home to allow water into the basement.

Any ideas on how to remediate?

Guest User | 2 years and 11 months ago

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andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Put it where the water stands last. Make it deep. The weight of the water above will disperse water into the surrounding soil. Me thinks.

JohnHancock | 2 years and 11 months ago

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But, if you’re not sure where the water comes in you could be doing a lot of work without a solution to your problem

Arkady | 2 years and 11 months ago

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I did the same as doorsby & it works really well. It’s a pyramid shape so at the bottom it’s about 2 feet & at the top it’s only a few inches.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 11 months ago

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We had this issue. I dug a pit and trough and put 6 or 8″ pipes the holes in them (wrapped in cloth) and backfilled them with gravel and sand and covered the lot. The pit is close to 8′ deep. We have clay soil here so drainage is poor. This thing drains off water from most moderate rain but if we have a lot of rain in a wet season some will stand for an afternoon. The other day when we had the deluge, there was no water out there, probably because the soil was dry.

JohnHancock | 2 years and 11 months ago

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You have to be down in the basement when it starts pouring in so you know the source. Only then can you start working on a targeted solution. This sounds easier than it is, you have to be able to be there at the right time

stoopsitter | 2 years and 11 months ago

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After we failed to grow a lawn (two attempts but too much shade) in the center of our backyard, we created a gravel area with sand below. It acts as a dry well and we never — fingers crossed– get standing water. Would you consider replacing some of your hardscaping with gravel? It can designed to look pretty good.