Does putting in a backyard alter the grading / slope of the lot? Neighbor claims we are flooding his yard.

[SnowballCamper]

How do you know that the water didn't drain in that direction naturally - before any building? My guess is that you or the new neighbor don’t know. If the properties are all new, maybe the neighbor needs to do his landscaping before you know exactly where you stand and what you're dealing with.

Personally, I'd get a person from the government to help better understand the situation. In my area, that would be the county that controls water flow. Generally, there's a natural path that water will take and, as a home owner, you're not supposed to interfere or redirect that path. It sounds like you're willing to do some reasonable accommodations so I would engage the neighbor in an effort to first truly understand what's going on and then to see if together you can come to a reasonable solution.

One property I had just held water. It was on clay and there was no where for the water to go. I would have liked to redirect the water, but that was not allowed. Take some time and work with the neighbor expressing to them how critical it is to understand what is actually happening and whether or not something has changed. I seriously doubt that your landscaping changed the natural flow of water unless, as mentioned above, you did something significant like install a berm or a swale.

I think this would be a much more neighborly approach than my suggestion above. Depending on the municipality, there might be a site map with some topography lines that had to be filed. In the end the water comes from somewhere and has to go somewhere that neither you or your neighbor have complete control over, so to blame a new neighbor for installing landscaping in a new development seems a bit presumptuous to me.

 

[Ronstar]

Or just go over a see if your soil/water is running over the next time. Should be easy to see where/if the runoff is and where it's coming from.

That works until the situation gets contentious and calls for something on paper by a professional that proves that you are right.

So say it rains and you think you see that your grading is not flooding your neighbor. Yet he still says you’re responsible. At that point, what good does your unprofessional analysis do you? The neighbor’s opinion is still just as good as yours at this point.

 

[Scrapr]

A civil engineering firm

a less expensive way may be to bring out a well experienced landscaper to talk. But not the landscaper for the builder. You will know the "one" by his beat up pickup truck & his dirty blue jeans. BITD there would be a dog with him. He (or she) may not say much as they get the lay of the land

But first I would try to engage politely with the neighbor to work together to see what is going on. I've seen new construction scrape the lot & leave only clay at the bottom....which creates a bowl after the dirt is returned. I've also had spring pop up on my lot which made my crawl space we

 

[Ronstar]

a less expensive way may be to bring out a well experienced landscaper to talk. But first I would try to engage politely with the neighbor to work together to see what is going on. I've seen new construction scrape the lot & leave only clay at the bottom....which creates a bowl after the dirt is returned. I've also had spring pop up on my lot which made my crawl space we

That might work. My advice is to have a knowledgeable unbiased 3rd party assess the situation and give their opinion. If a landscaper can resolve the dispute, then great. But if things get ugly and the neighbor still clams that the OP is at fault, then OP will need some heavy firepower to refute the neighbor’ claims.

 

[engineernerd]

No, I did not have an :"outsized" water bill. However, the bill was higher than for the last two months because the builder's rep came around and increased the irrigation time for the plants in my front yard after I complained that they looked very ill. That could be it.

Can I DM you, please?

Sure.

 

[engineernerd]

You expect too much. A decently landscape/hardscape small backyard where I live can cost around 6 figure. Builder won't add that cost to already sky high home price.

In my area, bare dirt = fines and no occupancy permit. Hardscapes are discouraged but plantings are required.

 

[Sunset]

That works until the situation gets contentious and calls for something on paper by a professional that proves that you are right.

So say it rains and you think you see that your grading is not flooding your neighbor. Yet he still says you’re responsible. At that point, what good does your unprofessional analysis do you? The neighbor’s opinion is still just as good as yours at this point.

Except no real need to spend money now, maybe the neighbor is just cheap and lazy and wants someone else to solve a self-perceived problem.

Simply checking out the water flow, when it rains will let OP know what the perceived issue is all about. Maybe it's really the neighbors water flow that is flooding his backyard.

If OP looks and see's the issue really is the neighbor, then let the neighbor get a professional analysis and pay the $$ to be told to take care of his own problem.

 

[engineernerd]

Simply checking out the water flow, when it rains will let OP know what the perceived issue is all about.

Yes, and taking photos and videos of the water flowing would be an excellent idea.

 

[marko]

That works until the situation gets contentious and calls for something on paper by a professional that proves that you are right.

So say it rains and you think you see that your grading is not flooding your neighbor. Yet he still says you’re responsible. At that point, what good does your unprofessional analysis do you? The neighbor’s opinion is still just as good as yours at this point.

OP said he was willing to pay for a solution. My suggestion of a French Drain might run him about $1000. I think it's simple: next big rain storm, go out and see if you're offending. If so fix it, if not then get a professional to figure it out. Why hire someone for $3k when you might be able to learn the you are the problem for free? Then go get a pro if need be.

In my case, my neighbor was at fault but I paid to have it fixed anyway.. Neighbor doesn't even know he caused a problem.

 

[pjigar]

Our county has a base guideline for plat development: Preserve the existing water flow. i.e. if x gallons came to property and y gallons left the property on any rainy event then after plating the same must hold true. Like others said, you need to figure out how the water flows from your lot. It must NOT disrupt the water flow through your lot. Most residential lots in North Texas slops sway from foundation and out on the sides of the lot. The sides eventually drain towards the street if grade allows it otherwise through the back neighbor's sides and out to the street of the back neighbor.

 

[sengsational]

You would only be responsible for "flooding" if the neighbor could prove that a change you made after he bought the property caused a significantly increased amount of water to go in his direction. If water went they way before, and it's still going that way, then that's "too bad" for him. If he didn't like being down hill from your lot, we should not have bought there.

I'd not spend a dime on anything. He's got to prove that from before to after your change caused significantly more flow. That's going to cost him money, and he probably won't bother.

Now, if I went out in the rain, and I saw that my changes DID cause more water his way, I'd apologize and fix it.

 

[Music Lover]

Rather than paying a landscape professional or an engineer start with a $5 string level, some string, and put a couple stakes in the ground.

You should easily be able to ballpark if your property is higher than your neighbors and if it's causing a problem.

 

[Lorenzo]

Have you actually observed where the water is going during a rainstorm? Before coming up with a drainage solution, our landscaper asked us to go outside and take some video during a heavy rainstorm. It was very helpful.

 

[jazz4cash]

Did anyone mention permeability? I did not see it mentioned but I skimmed through. Using hardscape materials may cause surface runoff of rainwater that would have soaked into the ground previously. Also downspouts may exacerbate.

We had to review and sign-off on the water drainage plan the county had approved for the builder (new construction).

 

[Route246]

Similar situation with new construction. Neighbor was flooding us.

We had a French Drain installed at the property line and it diverts rain/irrigation runoff away and out to the conservation land behind us. Sort of a gutter if you will.

Same here. Protects the foundation (ours), too. Make sure it is OK with the city to do this. Some cities have strict regulations regarding rainwater retention and diversion.

 

[Blanche]

Hi everyone, thank you all so much for your feedback.

I absolutely will pay for him to build a French drain on his yard, IF it comes out that our landscaping is to blame for his woes. So far, Jeff (neighbor) has a clay yard and told us that he intends to pour concrete. But we don't know. It's his property, his business.

My questions:

1. Should we be pushing the issue now (when it's still just clay) and have it investigated to figure out what's going on? I'm assuming it would be harder to install a French drain once he's fully developed his yard (including concreting it from fence line to fence line)?

2. Assuming we are at fault, if he does do any landscaping that makes it impossible to install a French drain in his yard, is there anything we can do on our yard to prevent rain water from flowing into his yard? We intend to tone down watering our own yard but anything that might prevent rain water rushing into his yard?

Thanks again! Appreciate all your time and effort.

 

[Scrapr]

You could build the drain on your property. First I would want to know where the water is draining from though. Your neighbor may be in a hurry to get the hard surfaces done so they can move in. I'd try to expedite together to figure out where the water is flowing from/to

 

[John Galt III]

Just curious why anyone would want to concrete an entire back yard. It is the entire back yard he wants to fill with concrete, yes ? Saves on mowing costs?

He could have the concrete sloping in any direction he wants, presumably onto a neighbor's property. He also should be sure the water flows 'over' the concrete, not under it. Something else to worry about, for everyone. Water flowing under the concrete could erode the ground beneath.

 

[swakyaby]

My experience was of the aggrieved next door neighbor, so the answer is yes. My new neighbor began grading his backyard in preparation for landscaping and hardscaping. An unusually heavy October downpour caused a flood of muddy water to begin pouring from his backyard into our backyard, overwhelming our landscape drainage. I was upstairs and got a birds-eye view of the ensuing disaster as a large amount of muddy water began rising across our garden and lawn towards our built-in swimming pool. DH immediately ran outside with a shovel and rapidly dug a diversion for the flood waters on my neighbor’s property so the water travelled to the front of my neighbor’s house where their drains were present.

I hastily posted a letter on the front door of my neighbor’s house. He called me hours later, apologizing, and had his landscape contractor construct some french drains and perhaps some other landscape features so that the flooding no longer occurred.

 

[Blanche]

Just curious why anyone would want to concrete an entire back yard. It is the entire back yard he wants to fill with concrete, yes ? Saves on mowing costs?

He could have the concrete sloping in any direction he wants, presumably onto a neighbor's property. He also should be sure the water flows 'over' the concrete, not under it. Something else to worry about, for everyone. Water flowing under the concrete could erode the ground beneath.

He is older so I suppose that drives his decision. I cannot comment on his motives but I do worry about how to take care of my yard so that we do not create problems / challenges for him in his yard. He has drains near our fence line and his gutter downspout is near these drains BUT I saw water pooled there today when I looked (we had rains this week). Our yards slope back (higher) to front and he sits slightly above me (although with the dirt we laid, we're even now). Could that be the issue?

 

[Blanche]

You could build the drain on your property. First I would want to know where the water is draining from though. Your neighbor may be in a hurry to get the hard surfaces done so they can move in. I'd try to expedite together to figure out where the water is flowing from/to

We had rains this week. I could not see water from my yard drain into his yard (granted I was trying to figure this out by looking at it in pouring rain). I do see that there is stagnant water near his gutter downspout (a little away from where his drains are located). I will be looking at my cameras later today to see if they caught any waters draining into his yard from mine. Is there any other way to determine where / how the water is flowing?

 

[marko]

Hi everyone, thank you all so much for your feedback.

I absolutely will pay for him to build a French drain on his yard, IF it comes out that our landscaping is to blame for his woes. So far, Jeff (neighbor) has a clay yard and told us that he intends to pour concrete. But we don't know. It's his property, his business.

My questions:

1. Should we be pushing the issue now (when it's still just clay) and have it investigated to figure out what's going on? I'm assuming it would be harder to install a French drain once he's fully developed his yard (including concreting it from fence line to fence line)?

2. Assuming we are at fault, if he does do any landscaping that makes it impossible to install a French drain in his yard, is there anything we can do on our yard to prevent rain water from flowing into his yard? We intend to tone down watering our own yard but anything that might prevent rain water rushing into his yard?

Thanks again! Appreciate all your time and effort.

The way my French Drain works is they dug a trench about a foot wide and a foot deep all along the offending area, about 30 feet. Then they installed a half pipe about 6 inches in diameter and then filled it with gravel. Then they just covered it with soil and mulch. Works like a charm. When it rains, I can see gallons flowing out the end of the pipe. And what the town doesn't know won't hurt them.

 

[Jerry1]

I would alert the city to the issue and inform them of the intention of your neighbor to pour concrete. My intention would be to make sure his pouring of concrete is up to code and that, as part of his project, water run off is considered. This may happen automatically but I don’t know if your city will require a permit (and thus a plan and an inspection) which would address water flow before it becomes a problem. Once someone pours concrete, you’ll have a hell of a time getting it corrected if it does cause a problem. Hopefully you’re on good terms with your neighbor and you both can work this problem together so it doesn’t get worse.

 

[Blanche]

I would alert the city to the issue and inform them of the intention of your neighbor to pour concrete. My intention would be to make sure his pouring of concrete is up to code and that, as part of his project, water run off is considered. This may happen automatically but I don’t know if your city will require a permit (and thus a plan and an inspection) which would address water flow before it becomes a problem. Once someone pours concrete, you’ll have a hell of a time getting it corrected if it does cause a problem. Hopefully you’re on good terms with your neighbor and you both can work this problem together so it doesn’t get worse.

My town does not require permits for paving backyards, so doubt they will talk to the neighbor about their "flood" issues. Also, these rains are really causing anxiety as I want to make sure it wasn't our watering that is causing their "pools". We did leave them a note to call us, hoping they want to work with us to resolve this / determine where their problems are actually coming from.

 

[Music Lover]

Maybe a shared French drain done in conjunction with their concrete pour could be the ideal solution.