Tips for drainage problem.

>>1158430
That is not a drain problem, it is a soil problem. Do you have lots of clay in your soil? You have two options:

Smooth the soil out and channel it into the top of the drain.

Reduce the clay content of your soil so that water can drain into it.

>>1158445
Sadly yes it's all clay. There was a drainage problem before the French Drain but now I'm left with this instead every time it rains. I will work on smoothing it out once it completely dries. What would be the best way to change the composition of the soil without having to modify the grading?

>>1158453
Sadly, you can't modify the soil without removing a fair bit of it and mixing in more. Generally, you want to add sand and organic matter but it is not a simple task. If you don't get the mix right you can end up with something you can't grow anything on and stuff like that. You should talk with a local nursery or landscaping supply place. Bring in a decent sized sample of the soil and ask their advice.

>>1158430
>I live in a strict HOA neighborhood so plants are not an option
holy fuck, you are not allowed to grow plants in your own garden
that's some next level cuckery

Give some private labourers a call, non company related, and give them the gist of what's going on. If they're familiar with the company they'll likely be willing to help or put you in the right direction. Out of personal experience, they do a better job when companies provide high levels of fuckery.

>>1158460
>>1158504
Thank you will look into mixing in compost. Will try to contact a different professional to see if they can do something to fix this problem.

>>1158468
Yep. Out of the entire neighborhood only one property has trees and that was the first house built here before the HOA was established. As more people moved in the newer neighbors opted for more plain and cookie cutter landscaping thus setting the trend and that's becomes the rule by the HOA. We're lucky we got approved for a drain and allowed to finish fencing our yard.

>>1158511
That also includes gardens. We are limited to an are where our bushes are located on the front of our home. Pretty fucked up I know but I'm not one to grow plants so I don't care honestly.

>>1158512

cucked on his own property

>>1158511
Wow. How horrifying.

>tfw just bought a house in a nice quiet old neighborhood with no HOA.

Gonna cut down two trees and plant six more because I'm a free American and I do what I want

HOA bs aside, that looks like a crap job. I'm with the guys that said to call the dudes down at the landscaping place. Even better if they bring guys with them that speak spanish, will cost a few bucks more, but they'll get it sorted. Also, fuck living under an HOA gestapo.

>>1158535
Funny thing is I'm Hispanic (not Mexican) and the company is ran and owned by Mexicans only.

A french drain will not work as executed because they effectively plugged it up with clay on top. needs to have the drain, then landscaping filter paper, then backfilled with 3/4 gravel then proper topsoil. Or it'll clog instantly as you've experienced.

>>1158509
In a soil with this amount of clay, there is very little more you can do aside from massive soil replacement. A drain helps, but if your area gets rain very often, you will definitely need to change the soil composition. I agree with that last guy. Peat moss, sand, gravel, anything to add larger pores. If you get a good silty clay loam, your drainage will improve. Unfortunately this is probably one of the more expensive solutions. Another drainage solution is pic related (sorry for potato quality). It's basically for when you have uneven ground, and shitty drainage, and need a hotfix. Making your own porous ditch is likely the best solution here. You firstly lay out black garden cloth over the problem area, and then create a river of stones. Best of luck; if I had an HOA like yours I would move ASAP.

File: 219.1.jpg (77KB, 300x225px) Image search: [Google]

77KB, 300x225px

>>1158617
I forgot the picture :o

>>1158594
The thing is that the drain is not clogged. It works beautifully because trust me it gets way worse when it rains and within an hour all I have left is what you see in the pics so it's not that bad per say but nonetheless a muddy mess that I gotta see what I can do to deal with. I honestly don't mind a tad bit of water left standing as long as it didn't turn to mud.

>>1158617
Just moved in. First time homeowner and honestly this house was a great deal plus the best option in our budget. I don't mind the HOA honestly since I'm not going to do any of the stuff they don't allow. The only problem with this property is the yard but at the end of the day it's not causing water to reach the foundation so it's not that bad. My main objective has been to get it addressed so my dog can have a yard to run around in and not have to worry about mud being brought into the house and getting on our floors/carpet.

>>1158460
Shit.

Op just find good dirt or throw some potting soul and grass seed on it. Once roots take it will be fine.

File: infiltration.png (121KB, 878x792px) Image search: [Google]

121KB, 878x792px

OP, it looks like your lot is graded improperly but I am not 100% sure based on the your photo. A few alternatives would be to place about 1 foot of top soil across your lot to absorb the water since the clay isn't doing its job.
Another alternative would be creating an infiltration trench, however your soil has poor hydraulic conductivity. You would have to size the infiltration trench so that its storage is enough to hold the storm volume since infiltration is so low.

http://www.creditvalleyca.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/lid-swm-guide-apdxa-soakaways-infiltration-trenches-chambers.pdf

>>1158734

Oh and for percolation rate P in that equation you can calculate it yourself or else assume ~15 mm/hr

>>1158690
>t gets way worse when it rains and within an hour all I have left is what you see in the pics so it's not that bad
If that's the case you should wait until your grass comes in, it may fix your problem.

>>1158511
>c-can I plant a few flowers please, feds? No? O-ok...

Land of the free my ass.

>>1158751
They've got HOAs all over my friend. It is not limited to the USA.

>>1158430

One or more of the following options:

>put a small electric auto pump in the sump box and route to a lower area
>add grass seed and let grow
>dig out as much clay on top and replace with 50 50 sand mixture
>plant water loving shrubs

Fuck your hoa, they won't do shit as long as it's small, normal looking, a few shrubs along that fence would be unnoticeable.

>>1158763
Well not over here. You can plant whatever you want. The town has some general guidelines over areas if it isn't rural, but if you abide to a certain style (when building) its fairly liberal.

And we use these perforated pipes. No gravel shit. Plastics forever!

>>1158717
>>1158741
>>1158796
Grass seed is the plan at this point. I figure the grass roots will creates channels where the water can drain plus it will stop the mud from being created.

>>1158734
It is poorly graded. Not the only one in the neighborhood either but the worst thus far. If all else fails and to add the lack of money, I may band with some other affected neighbors and involve the county. Whichever civil engineer was hired for this (if any) did a shitty job.

>>1158751
>>1158809
HOAs are a pain in the ass but nonetheless useful at maintaining housing value. Like I said, I don't care and if I don't then why make a reply about it? Also, HOAs exist in certain neighborhoods, there are plenty of homes that aren't part of one. On your last note, ours is a proper French Drain considering the soil composition. It has perforated pipe with gravel bedding/buffer with no geofabric. Geofabric becomes clogged way too easily when used in clay. To add to it we have 3 drain boxes to let surface water in. Sadly I got the short end of the stick and hired a bunch of shitty Mexicans that didn't have any clue on how to do a proper French Drain. However, in my defense I can say that they advertised themselves as professionals with previous experience doing this sort of jobs and they had the high rating reviews to attest for it.

>>1158430
Jesus Christ, I should take a pic of the forest I have growing in my small suburbans yard. There's like 30 of them....