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While filling in low spots can help with ponding, you still need to direct the water away from the house. Gutters and downspouts are needed, AND you need to direct the water form the downspouts away from the foundation.
The ground around the house should slope away from the foundation. The norm is 6" fall over 10 feet.
Inspector looked at the house and said I need gutters to prevent the pooling on the sides, he didn't have much to say about the rest of the yard.
Would laying sand or dirt stop this?
You really really want to divert water well away from the house. You can build up the low areas to drain water away from the house exterior. Water will pretty much eventually rot the siding/stucco/wood and soak into concrete. Extend the down spout away from the house a few feet so the water draining off the roof will soak into the lawn. Which will be sufficient for normal rain areas. But if you're in a heavy precipitation area you can go further with your drainage. Dig a trench and put the downspout of the gutters into a drain. Dig a ditch with a downgrade and use perforated drainage pipe wrapped in a cloth sock ( to keep dirt out) all the way to the gutter. You can tunnel under the sidewalk and then call a concrete coring co to drill a hole in the curb for the drain. Draining water from the roof will go into the drain pipe and will soak in the lawn through the perforations on light rain/drizzle and on heavy rain it will drain all the way to gutter.
The only time you use perforated pipe is for foundation perimeter drains, or French drains.
For downspouts, always use solid pipe; tree and grass roots will help clog perf'd pipe in a year- "socked" or not. You want debris from the gutters to flow through.
Either pipe to the street or use pop-up immiters within the yard- at least 15' from the house.
Inspector looked at the house and said I need gutters to prevent the pooling on the sides, he didn't have much to say about the rest of the yard.
Would laying sand or dirt stop this?
Maybe.
Depends on grade and soil composition. In general you want to move water 8'+ from the foundation. If you can do that with soil and sand, great. Some houses that is certainly possible, others will require a perimeter drain.
I had this exact same problem. In 2009 I bought a house, which was built in 1984. It never had gutters. I added gutters, but there was a visible low spot, like a crescent moon around the corner of my house. The water from my yard and the water from my house pooled up right there, and there was a lake on the corner all the time.
So I installed a french drain that went all the way across the back of my house. I corrected the surface drainage from the house to the drain so that no more water would pool there. The french drain carries all the water from my property to a rain garden, which I also built during this project.
But now I have a low point in my foundation!! I estimate that there is about 3" difference from one end of my kitchen to the other! This spans only 18 feet!! The house slopes so much toward that corner that eggs roll off the counter and water pools in the corner of the tub! Its a real pain the neck. I plan to have the house leveled by a professional next spring. Hopefully this will correct the problem forever.
I had this exact same problem. In 2009 I bought a house, which was built in 1984. It never had gutters. I added gutters, but there was a visible low spot, like a crescent moon around the corner of my house. The water from my yard and the water from my house pooled up right there, and there was a lake on the corner all the time.
So I installed a french drain that went all the way across the back of my house. I corrected the surface drainage from the house to the drain so that no more water would pool there. The french drain carries all the water from my property to a rain garden, which I also built during this project.
But now I have a low point in my foundation!! I estimate that there is about 3" difference from one end of my kitchen to the other! This spans only 18 feet!! The house slopes so much toward that corner that eggs roll off the counter and water pools in the corner of the tub! Its a real pain the neck. I plan to have the house leveled by a professional next spring. Hopefully this will correct the problem forever.
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Same problem: almost fixed!
