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Yard Drainage can be Advantageous to Your Home

Yard Drainage

Residents of Raleigh, North Carolina frequently use winter months for planning magnificent spring and summer gardens! If you enjoy gardening, waterproofing your home may indirectly benefit your landscaping goals. Developing effective yard drainage systems promotes both waterproofing and better water management.

Yard Drainage Issues

Park-Like Grounds

Experienced lawn care experts recognize the importance of directing water towards certain locations in a yard, and away from other sites. If one area receives too little water, brownish-yellow or bare patches intersperse a lush green lawn. By contrast, over-watering and poor yard drainage both produce soggy, continuously wet spots; these water saturated depressions damage some desirable plants while allowing certain weeds to flourish. (Standing puddles sometimes permit mosquitoes to thrive near the residence, also.)

How can a property owner in the Greater Raleigh Area prevent these problems? Paying close attention to maintaining adequate yard drainage provides a great solution. Consider combining residential waterproofing with lawn and garden water management to help beautify your property this year.

The Roof And Its Gutters: An Important Rain Collection System

One significant source of water sometimes surprises homeowners who rely upon sprinkler systems extensively for watering. Rain supplies one of the most important ways to bring water to growing plants in the yard. In most cases, the potable water expressed from a sprinkler system has undergone treatment previously at a municipal water plant. Yet rain falling directly onto growing vegetation supplies a completely free resource.

If a municipality imposes watering restriction during the hottest summer months to help conserve a heavily utilized public water supply (a common situation in many U.S. cities), homeowners who have previously collected rainwater from their rooftops can often substitute this untreated resource to help maintain their gardens in good condition. During former centuries, rural residents frequently relied upon rain barrels to gather water for some non-potable household uses (like washing laundry or watering the yard). Today, this ancient water collection system still offers a great way to ensure rooftop runoff remains available for yard watering purposes.

Rooftop Gutter Systems Perform an Important Waterproofing Function

Some roofs, in fact, receive extensive precipitation during the course of a typical year. Rain, freezing drizzle, and snow all potentially transmit water onto your grounds. Rooftop gutter systems perform a valuable waterproofing service.

Gutters help channel water runoff away from the home and garage into the desired direction. Unless you maintain an active rain barrel system in place, you’ll want to ensure your gutter system’s downspouts lead to extended cement collection “splatter” blocks. These channels help funnel the water safely away from the perimeter of the residence.

Some Possible Rooftop Gutter System Problems

Many basements and crawl space waterproofing problems potentially arise in the absence of an effective rooftop gutter system. Consider just a few of these concerns:

No Rooftop Gutters: Rain falls onto the roof and runs directly off the eaves, to land around the perimeter of the home. If protracted heavy rains occur, the ground in this location may become saturated and waterlogged, potentially permitting water to seep into basements and crawl spaces. The absence of a rooftop gutter system also enhances annual maintenance requirements. Eaves wear out faster, and rain splatter will necessitate more frequent window washing and exterior cleaning.

Clogged Rooftop Gutters: Rain lands on the roof and flows into the gutters, but then lacks an accessible exit. In this situation, property damage may occur if water overflows from the gutter and saturates the ground around the perimeter of the home. Additionally, if rain pools inside a clogged gutter, it may eventually cause the gutter itself to begin rusting (and leaking).

Inadequate Downspouts or Runoff “Splatter” Blocks: The rooftop gutter system collects water well, but fails to channel it far enough away from the home and its associated residential landscaping features (e.g. sidewalks and driveways). In this case, the homeowners often benefit by utilizing customized splatter blocks and, possibly, a French Drain, to help direct rainwater runoff.

Some Possible Waterproofing Solutions

To help relay water through the yard into desired locations, it sometimes proves useful to install a French Drain. This channel helps ensure water flows away from the residence towards locations requiring additional moisture. French Drains serve a useful landscaping purpose by allowing more water to reach certain parts of the property.

Further Information

To obtain assistance with any yard drainage issue, or to request the construction of a new French Drain or other water management system for your grounds, contact Raleigh Water Proofing, Inc. We offer a full range of waterproofing solutions. Call us at 919-877-9969 to request a waterproofing inspection. We look forward to speaking with you!

Helpful Resources:

1. https://www.raleighwaterproofinginc.com/yard-drainage.html