Any ideas what I can do here to level this out? Im in Texas and lots of clay that make it slick when walking after any rain and just slick in general. I’m also wanting to take my motorcycle in and out of my back yard with relative ease. Any help would be greatly appreciated
by Antique-Minute5260
32 Comments
Do you want water in your house ?
Get a French drain to carry all the gutter water out. Don’t add dirt unless you want the water going into your foundation.
Wall to wall concrete
The neighbors is likely the same way. This is just diverting water away from the foundations.
Ask the builder if there is a tile line under there.
Don’t level it unless you want to get a wet house
If you look at your neighbors property on the other side of that fence, you’ll likely see the same; effectively creating a swale to move water away.
Don’t level. Built an elevated deck if you want to be flat.
The slope is intentional, and it serves a purpose. Don’t mess with it.
You could put some small pavers in on the side closest to the fence, might want to address the drainage from your downspouts while you’re at it. Hopefully you’ve got a sump or something to divert water away from your foundation
Add French drains and gravel
That is called a swail. It designed to keep water away from foundations and to move it away from the homes. This is city code for water management. This is not a flaw. Its designed like this. Its very common in developments with HOA’s.
Lay down gravel or rock
Keep the slope but turn around those splash trays lol
Hi Houston! The best thing to do for your type of yard would be to to put in a French drain and pour concrete. The water’s got to get out, but I know you want to use your yard. This was my solution. No more problems
Flip your gutter drain pan around
Pipe and bury the downspouts all the way to the street then add some pavers for a walking path.
That’s a beautiful slope away from your house. I love how their’s no mud or standing water, limited sun exposure yet grass. You’ve been given a gift. I’d put a garden workbench along the fence and keep all the yardly unmentionables tucked away neatly
Maybe a wooden deck as a walking path?
[https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=89aaa52b873f06b6&sxsrf=ANbL-n7HQYt1pyj11GPdZM7b_tNkrxLUrA:1770323949589&q=wooden+garden+path+ideas+wooden+walk+path&uds=ALYpb_ncDc7jTlmw6Mmq7NjuX5c-GdQz-eI-hGlJTwEL89mLnHRpnjs7-ur3MaEcy5rq3pymj3M1BBtATYm-CpzwqYj66ZaTxlbsEIEuDNfGpa5IAxMC3PLy1kefb34Q7wO6vHL9MfpuSi12UedPeqQEySV_qfIow0du5whH0VIvYhL654SFYf8&udm=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjL_5vRmsOSAxWaLhAIHU-UMksQxKsJKAJ6BAgSEAE&ictx=0&biw=2560&bih=1271&dpr=1.5](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=89aaa52b873f06b6&sxsrf=ANbL-n7HQYt1pyj11GPdZM7b_tNkrxLUrA:1770323949589&q=wooden+garden+path+ideas+wooden+walk+path&uds=ALYpb_ncDc7jTlmw6Mmq7NjuX5c-GdQz-eI-hGlJTwEL89mLnHRpnjs7-ur3MaEcy5rq3pymj3M1BBtATYm-CpzwqYj66ZaTxlbsEIEuDNfGpa5IAxMC3PLy1kefb34Q7wO6vHL9MfpuSi12UedPeqQEySV_qfIow0du5whH0VIvYhL654SFYf8&udm=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjL_5vRmsOSAxWaLhAIHU-UMksQxKsJKAJ6BAgSEAE&ictx=0&biw=2560&bih=1271&dpr=1.5)
Keep the slope, remove the grass and replace with gravel. The slope is necessary, the grass (and clay near the top) is not.
The ideal would be running trenching/drainage near the fence line to wherever your house flows water to (usually front, but could be backyard), then having a properly-graded concrete path paved, the slope would carry to the drainage. Otherwise, coarse gravel would allow enough water to pass through, but don’t level out the dirt.
I’ve never seen a short stubby splash block like that.
I agree with the other comments, it is sloped to direct water away from the house. Don’t mess with the grade. Remove the current bends on you down spouts and get flat elbows and additional runners, running them alongside the house and directing the water towards the front and back yards. Then plug side yard, then seed with gras that can tolerate clay, buffalo grass, tall fescue, zoysia plugs or some combination of those.
It’s not uneven, it’s graded
Build a deck if you want, but leave the earth where it is
Better to build a retaining wall on one side and fill in with gravel that is graded to feather out to the front yard. Regardless, an expensive and useless addition to your home, but to each their own! You don’t want to excavate.
Slopes noticeable from house. Yay! 👍
While I wouldn’t change the slope as others have mentioned, I would remove the soil and replace with either pavers (time consuming to do it correctly) or compacted gravel. You’d still have proper drainage but with solid footing.
Sloping away from your property is a good thing. I mean you could level it more because you don’t need that dramatic of a slope. A 2-4% slope should be fine.
Slopes serves a purpose but if you want to level something out add sand
At least it leans away from the building!
Leave it. It lets the water drain away from the foundation. You could level a small foot path near the fence and put some rocks or shrubs along the foundation/house and keep it sloped.
If you are just looking to walk to the gate at the end of this sloped grass way, then I’d just put in some extra thick stepping stones. Something in the 6-8″ thickness range and about 2’x2′ and set them level all the way to the gate, then you can still attain drainage and have a level “walking path” to get through the space. The steppers would then compensate for the slope of the turf (I’d then gravel the whole thing when you’re done to not have to cut grass). I think trying to level it or so any type of flattening or deck would get too pricey and too risky for the foundation/ water penetration.
Put a layer of landscaping fabric, then cover with gravel (about an inch of half inch size) and put some concrete pavers over top.
I have this and I am spending a fortune on retaining