Flower bed in front Yard? Good or bad for draining?
We are going to fix up our front patio area, and are considering putting in a bed for plants. We’re wondering of anyone has thoughts about whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing from a drainage pov.(we’ve had issues with water in the front of our basement) Does all that dirt soak up…
We are going to fix up our front patio area, and are considering putting in a bed for plants. We’re wondering of anyone has thoughts about whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing from a drainage pov.(we’ve had issues with water in the front of our basement) Does all that dirt soak up the water, or does it just get the ground saturated & seep into the basement. I guess the question is – to pave or not to pave? Thanks
The two options regarding your basement are to excavate and waterproof the foundation from the outside, or pour the concrete slab (or blue stone patio, whatever) to keep the moisture out from the top, and then get some nice planters. Excavation is going to be much more expensive, but most plants prefer being in the ground vs. a pot, so it depends on what you plan on planting.
I have a similar issue in the front of my house. Anyone know the ballpark cost for that sort of excavation/foundation waterproofing project?
I think you have two distinct issues here. If you have a leaking basement, Hamid is giving you good advice: you need to excavate seal the foundation, and while you’re at it, you might also consider insulating the foundation. Unfortunately, it’s not a project for the faint of heart.
Removing the concrete and putting in plantings is good for the environment. By removing the concrete, loosening the soil and adding plants, you will help control surface run-off. When we get rain, all that water doesn’t have anywhere to go and travels along the surface into the sewers. On it’s journey to the treatment facility, the water picks up all sorts of nasties. All this water slams the treatment facility at once and can overwhelm it. When that happens untreated water ends up in the river. (In other areas outside NYC, small streams suffer from swelling that causes erosion of the banks, and are also choked by silt, along with the aforementioned nasties.) By removing “hardscape”, the water to will soak into the soil, allowing the plants to make use of the water, as well as recharging the water table.
Thanks everyone. There’s currently a small patch of dirt between a mishmash of concrete and bluestone. Water seems to pool between the slabs. We’re thinking about widening the bed (at least 2 feet away from the house) but are still concerned that we may be inviting more water towards our house…
If you already have leak issue in the basement i think you better take care foundation wall from the ouside by digout down to the footer and waterproof faundation wall.If you have 1 or 2 feet concreete from the wall still have chance to get water into the basement.Even after finish faoundation wall waterproofing 1 or 2 feet concreete helps a lot for long lasting.France drainage system also help to prevent water damage of foundation wall.We have done this kind of work.
M.Hamid Construction Co
718-633-1500
An engineer for removing concrete? You’ve got to be kidding me.
what DIBS said. We unpaved our backyard and called in an engineer before doing it. He said to leave a foot or two next to the building paved and crucially, sloping AWAY from the building.
I’ve seen some discussion on this board of “french drains” not sure what they are, but maybe if your basement leaks, you can solve it with this project if you invest a bit more into it.
make sure the ground or concrete you end up with slopes away from the house. If you chose plants that don’t require much water once established then you won’t be adding much/any water to this area compared to the rainfall it already gets.
If you are actually taking out concrete, just leave about a foot up next to the house.