After a heavy rain, take a walk around your house. Where does the water go? If it’s pooling by the foundation, running toward the crawl space vents or sitting in the yard for days, you’ve got a drainage problem, and it’s costing you more than a soggy lawn.
Water that collects around a house soaks into crawl spaces, rots wood, feeds mold and draws termites and other moisture-loving pests. Many lots in Eastern North Carolina are flat, and a summer thunderstorm can drop a lot of rain in a hurry, so drainage is worth getting right. Here’s where to start.
Start with the roof
Your roof collects every drop that falls on it and sends it somewhere. Gutters and downspouts decide where.
Keep the gutters clean
Gutters packed with leaves, pine needles and shingle grit overflow, and that water lands right at the foundation. Clean them at least twice a year, and more often if you’ve got pines or oaks overhead. While you’re up there, check that the gutters slope toward the downspouts and aren’t sagging or pulling away from the fascia.
Get downspout water away from the house
A downspout that empties at the base of the wall undoes everything the gutter just did. Add extensions or buried drain pipe so the water lands several feet from the house, and farther is better. Splash blocks help a little, but they’re easy to knock out of place. Make sure the water has somewhere to go once it leaves the pipe, rather than flowing back toward the house or into a neighbor’s yard.
Fix the grade around the foundation
The ground next to your house should slope away from it. Over the years, soil settles, flower beds get built up and that slope can flatten out or even tip back toward the house. A common target is about six inches of drop over the first ten feet out from the foundation.
To correct a low or backward slope, add fill soil with some clay in it rather than loose topsoil or sand, and pack it down so it sheds water. Leave a gap between the soil line and your siding, though. Soil, mulch or pine straw piled against the house holds moisture against the wood and gives termites a hidden way in. It’s one of the conducive conditions a termite inspection looks for.
Check the crawl space after a storm
If your home sits on a crawl space, a drainage problem outside shows up underneath. After a big storm, grab a flashlight and look through the access door. Standing water, wet soil, water lines on the foundation walls or a musty smell all mean water is getting in.
Fixing the gutters and grade solves a lot of crawl space water problems. When it doesn’t, the crawl space may need an interior drain and sump pump, a better vapor barrier or other moisture control work. Moisture that lingers under the house also drives up humidity inside, so if your home feels damp, see our tips to reduce indoor humidity.
Landscape fixes for soggy spots
Some yards have low spots where water collects no matter how well the gutters work. A few options:
- Swales. A shallow, gently sloped channel, usually grassed over, that steers surface water around the house toward a safe outlet.
- French drains. A gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe that collects water from a wet area and carries it off. They take real digging, but they’re a lasting fix for ground that never seems to dry out.
- Dry wells. A buried pit or basin filled with gravel that takes runoff, often from a downspout, and lets it soak into the soil slowly. They work best where the soil drains reasonably well.
- Rain gardens. A shallow planted bed with water-tolerant plants that catches runoff and gives it time to soak in.
Before you dig, call NC811 so underground utilities get marked. It’s free. Also check local rules before sending water toward the street or onto a neighbor’s property.
Don’t let landscaping work against you
Flower beds and mulch look great along a foundation, but they hold water. Keep beds sloped away from the house, keep mulch thin and pulled back from the siding, and skip edging that traps water against the wall. In problem areas, gravel or stone is a better choice right next to the foundation. And check your sprinkler heads. One aimed at the house can keep a foundation wet all summer.
When to call for help
If water keeps getting into the crawl space after you’ve fixed the gutters and grading, or you’re seeing sagging floors, musty smells or wood damage, it’s time for a closer look. A home inspection covers grading and drainage, and the moisture readings and infrared scanning we include can help show where water is affecting the house. For major regrading or drain installs, a landscape or drainage contractor is the right call.
