Drainage issue (house, landscaping, construction)

[snakechrmr8]

Hi I live in Prince William County. A neighbor to the side and towards the rear of me of last summer ripped out all the trees but 3 on a half acre + lot and built a house. There was never anything on that lot to begin with except lots and lots of trees. Now whenever it rains I have more water than ever before running into my yard from their yard. It creates a river of water that runs out to the road in front of my house and my yard stays soggy. The water was so bad after the other days rain that it actually flooded my crawlspace. I had never had this type of water problem before when there was no house and just the trees. I do have a 4" french drain that runs close to the area but now it just can't keep up even with a light rain. Is there anything that I can do as far as going to the county? I questioned the builder at the time of construction as to the loss of the trees and the addition of impermeable soil from the house but he said there shouldn't be any problems. Looks like he was wrong.

[ChristineVA]

It's probably on you. My neighbor had their backyard regraded and had lots of stuff done. The water then came cascading down into my yard, very close to my deck and then would pool around my patio. We ended up having a landscaping company come out and lay permeable plastic tubing along the fence line so that the water would route toward the back of my yard into a wooded area and then into some french drains that ran between the backs of everyone's house. They then build a plant bed surrounded by that layering rock to sort of cover it all up and divert the water too. It did cost me several thousand to do all this but much of that was the rock wall and plants that weren't absolutely required.

Bottom line is that my neighbors weren't responsible.

[coolio69]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

It's probably on you. My neighbor had their backyard regraded and had lots of stuff done. The water then came cascading down into my yard, very close to my deck and then would pool around my patio. We ended up having a landscaping company come out and lay permeable plastic tubing along the fence line so that the water would route toward the back of my yard into a wooded area and then into some french drains that ran between the backs of everyone's house. They then build a plant bed surrounded by that layering rock to sort of cover it all up and divert the water too. It did cost me several thousand to do all this but much of that was the rock wall and plants that weren't absolutely required.

Bottom line is that my neighbors weren't responsible.

^^^More importantly, did all this work in keeping your water away?

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by coolio69

^^^More importantly, did all this work in keeping your water away?

Yes, it did a GREAT job.

[Yankeesfan]

I suggest calling your supervisor to find out if the neighbors have any liability under PWC rules. You may find out that they don't but then at least you'll know, and you might find that you do have some recourse.