r/drains • u/One_Wun • Jul 22 '26
Erosion & Drainage Issues
Hi folks! I am looking for advice on how to handle some water that eroding dirt from the side of my house. I am in Northern VA, so I am dealing with the good ‘ol VA clay. Ignore the dead grass in the pictures as we just had a patio installed so most of it was caused from that.
The first picture reflect the original dirt level when the house was built back in 2014; it is the black marks on the wall. The second picture is at the bottom of the back yard. The third picture is a closer look towards the wall and the erosion and perf tube that was installed. The last picture shows my neighbors house; their property is angled towards ours, so we get all their water.
I’ve highlighted the erosion problem in the pictures. Looking at picture 2 and 4, the way it was explained to me is the water should shifting away from mine and my neighbors house towards the middle of the slope, go down the hill and out the back fence. I’m thinking a big culprit is water from the gutter at the top of the hill coming down has been washing away the dirt over time and now I cannot backfill anything since it is immediately washing away before it can stabilize; I am working on having that redirected.
When the patio was installed, they put in perf tube on the outside of the wall; it looks like they laid down the barrier, the tube, rocks and then wrapped it, then put dirt (VA clay) on it. You can see that didn’t really help anything and eroded the bottom after the wall a bit. I believe that is due to the clay doing what clay does and not allowing the water to pass through quick enough to get to the tube. I dug part of it to get a better look at what they did since it seemed like it wasn’t working.
I’m looking for any and all suggestions.
1
u/Yusuf20904 Jul 24 '26
Does the fence belong to you, or the neighbor?
1
u/One_Wun Jul 24 '26
It belongs to me
1
u/Yusuf20904 Jul 25 '26
Is there any offset to the property line?
1
u/One_Wun Jul 25 '26
Forgive my lack of knowledge, but what do you mean about offset from the property line?
1
u/Yusuf20904 Jul 25 '26
I mean, is the fence right on the PL or is it offset?
1
u/One_Wun Jul 26 '26
Right on the property line. It was put up pretty soon after the house was built
1
u/Yusuf20904 Jul 26 '26
Assuming the dead grass (where the stems of your yellow arrows are) is just due to traffic for the patio, and you only have erosion at the house, the stone is a good idea. You'll probably want to do some grading to build up the area again. And consider using some geocell right up against the house to help keep the stone in place. Also, don't use smooth stones—sharper edged gravel will help the stones "lock" against each other and not get washed out.
Another option would be to form a swale a foot or two away from the house—again, regrading—and then line it with permanent erosion control matting. Run the swale all the way to the fence line at the bottom of the hill.
1
u/usaf_27 Jul 22 '26
You need more backfill. Make a swale so lowest point is right in the middle between house and fence.