A homeowner was shocked to find that their next-door neighbor’s drain pipe was routed to pour water into their backyard.
“I’m cleaning out from behind our shed on the other side of the fence we share and I see that they have their gutter downspout poking through our fence draining right down under our shed,” they posted in the Reddit forum r/landscaping. “You can see where it has eroded the dirt and rock from all the drainage over the years.”
The Reddit user also shared that they previously caught the neighbor draining water from the top of the next-door pool into their yard, resulting in a standing pool of mud and water in their grass.
“He grumpily responded with ‘I don’t see the issue, it will evaporate,'” the original poster explained, though the neighbor agreed to divert the water elsewhere in that situation.
The replies were quick to support the OP’s concerns.
“Civil engineer here — this is illegal,” one commenter asserted. “You are not allowed to increase flow on downstream properties. Call up your flood control district and they’ll have a field day.”
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“Put two 90 degree bends on it and route right back through the fence,” another joked.
Runoff caused by this drain pipe can cause serious issues for this homeowner’s property. If the flooding reaches any buildings on the property, it can rot the structure, cause health issues due to mold growth, and other severe problems that will be expensive to fix.
Traditional grass lawns struggle to provide sufficient drainage even without a meddlesome neighbor in play, as their root systems are not long enough to absorb water effectively. While in this instance, the Redditor should have the improper drainage addressed, additional steps, such as growing native plants with deep root systems, can further protect their home from future flooding.
To fix the issue at hand, many commenters suggested going to the city if the neighbor didn’t budge.
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“Go find your city ordinances, it will be in black and white what’s expected of home owners regarding drainage and property lines that way you know exactly where you stand,” a commenter noted.
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