Looking at your landscape it seems that the type of issues that you
are dealing with are out of my area of study. My guess is that there
is very little infiltration occurring due to a poor soil profile. If
your property is sitting near a low spot it will be difficult to
prevent this pooling of water. The only option I see is to landscape
your yard in a manner that would redirect this water out and away from
your home. This would require a lot of soil, and a lot of money. You
might want to try to contact your builder to see what their
perspective is on the situation. It seems to me that they should be
somewhat responsible for the problem. Needless to say, I am not a
lawyer. I live in Nebraska and a common problem here is shrinking
and swelling clay. It cracks peoples foundations. If the builder
fails to account for this, it can lead to serious problems down the
road. I know the issues are different but it all goes back to
builders putting up homes in locations that were not meant to be built
on. Also, I disagree with the comment that said to use material that
will adsorb the water. You want to move the water away, not keep it
around. If you use material that adsorbs water then you will have an
even bigger mess.
Good luck!

--- In stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com, "Spitzer, Susanne"
<susanne.spitzer@...> wrote:
>
> Well, I'm no hydrologist but I have a couple of suggestions based on my
> work with low impact development and stormwater. Feel free to ignore
> what makes no sense to you:
> 1) Try to waterproof the outside of whatever foundation your house has.
> This means you have to dig up all the dirt around it. (Not easy or
> cheap.) There are special paints for exterior waterproofing. Seal all
> the holes in the foundation before you do that.
> 2) If you can install a French drain (underground pipe perforated on
> top)or under-the-surface drainage tiles and have the end pipe divert
> water from your property, do so.
> 3) Make sure you change the landscaping so that the dirt slopes away
> from your house.
> 4) Add whatever plants you can that thrive on tons of water for the low
> spots near your house. (No, not water lilies!). Use native plants if
> they will work in that type of hydrology, as they are likely to last
> longer and work better. Talk to your city, county, or state garden club
> or horticultural society. Many have volunteer master gardeners. Don't
> plant anything with deep roots right next to the house.
> 5) Before you add them, mix as much compost into the soil as possible.
> Compost absorbs a ton of water. You can get it from a garden center, or
> your county may have it available free in the Spring if it collects
> leaves at compost yards in the fall. When you mix the compost in, you
> will have extra soil. That means you will have to cart away soil. If
> you have a freemarket in your area, or a Craig's List, list the dirt
> online. Believe it or not, people will ask for it. Or you can ask for
> more dirt.
> 6)Talk to your University Extension service for additional suggestions,
> and your Office of Attorney General for consumer information about how
> not to get ripped off if you don't try to do these things yourself.
> Both offer good publications, often for free.
> 7) If there's enough space, plant a tree with deep roots. Trees absorb
> an unbelievable amount of water.
> 8) Make sure you check with your city, county, and watershed management
> organization or district, pollution control agency or department of
> natural resources to see how much of the above is legal in your area and
> get the permits in advance if ones are needed.
> 9) Get a dehumidifier for your crawl space if you can access it. In
> theory, assuming you are on a sewer system, you should be able to drain
> some of the water it produces directly into a drain that leads to it, if
> it's legal in your area to do so.
> This may not cure your whole problem, but it can't hurt.
> 10) If you have a concrete walk, consider replacing it with compost and
> shredded bark. The latter will not float, and the compost will absorb
> water.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Susanne P. Spitzer, AICP
> Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
> Municipal Division
> 520 Lafayette Rd. N.
> St. Paul, MN 55155-4194
> Tel: 651-296-7723
> Fax: 651-297-2343 or 651-297-8683
> susanne.spitzer@...
>
> www.pca.state.mn.us - Working with Minnesotans to protect
> conserve and improve our environment and enhance our quality of life.
>
> "Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no
> birds sang there except those that sang best." - - William Blake
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of kalibailey11
> Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 2:28 PM
> To: stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [StormwaterPro] Photos of snow melt drainage problems
>
>
> I don't think it is a rising water table, though I have heard rumors
> that the common area is
> on a natural spring. Here's a link to some photos of the swampy area
> around my house. I
> put captions on the photos explaining some of the history of the
> property. When we
> moved in, it was a high desert forest with Juniper and Ponderosa, then a
> development
> company bought it and put in 90 new homes and this grassy common area.
> The flooding
> got really bad after that happened. Sometimes it floods the whole
> neighborhood. We get
> 12" of snow about 3 times a year. Plus 3" off and on all winter. When we
> get 12" and it
> melts suddenly, that's when it floods almost every house on the common
> area, but ours
> gets it the worst.
>
> Photos http://community.webshots.com/album/562696020UyxcwP
>
> If, after seeing the photos, you can recommend a place to start, it
> would be much
> appreciated.
>
> Many thanks,
> Kali Vanagas
>
>
> --- In stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com, "bjoel800" <BJoel800@> wrote:
> >
> > Would you guess and say that the majority of the water is due to
> > snowmelt and rainfall, not a rising water table. If it is mainly due
> > to poor drainage you might need to landscape in such a way that you
> > change the drainage pattern. This way the water drains away from your
>
> > property, and not towards your foundation. If your flooding is due to
>
> > a high water table, I am not sure what you can do.
> > --- In stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com, "Norman MacLeod" <gaelwolf@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > REPOSTING for group member
> > >
> > >
> > > FROM: kalivanagas@
> > > DATE: Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:27:24 -0000
> > > SUBJECT: New to group- snow melt drainage problems, help!
> > >
> > > For the last 13 years, my family has been battling a swampy yard and
> > > water in our crawl space. We have three $500 sump pumps but that
> > > doesn't fix the yard. It's so bad that the dogs don't even want to
> go
> > > outside. Our yard extends about 8' out from our house with two
> 12x15'
> > > areas on either side of the house. It's a flat lot and there are
> berms
> > > separating the flooded common area from our property but our house
> is
> > > in the low spot. We have lawn, bark, aspens, and some native brush.
> > > What can we do to get rid of all this water??? Thanks
> > >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> Don't forget to use the StormwaterPro resources
> available at:
>
> http://www.egroups.com/group/stormwaterpro
>
> he StormwaterPro resources
> available at:
>
> http://www.egroups.com/group/stormwaterpro
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>