Ms. Yvonne

[yhopson]

Hi - I am Yvonne

have a detached garage that slopes downward. about 1/4 on one side is under ground. Had landscapper slope dirt on side underground downward to allow water to go backwards. Water still coming in garage floor during heavy rains. Could it be from downspouts? Have three on there sides. Should I elbow them away from garage?

 

[luvit]

hey, welcome.
have your downspouts carry the water far away. -- at least 4' until you can further review the problem.
do you have pics you can attach of the exterior?

 

[yhopson]

great - should I dig up some of the dirt and put rocks in the dirt as I carry water away

 

[yhopson]

Will try to get a photo

 

[yhopson]

Note: I do have a real drain in front of garage that ties into city drain, but it gets slow and clogged from the dirt on side of garage that is 1/4 under ground. had that dirt slopped /graded back with stones. Is it possible the adjustment of the 3 downspouts are bringing most of the water in now?

 

[luvit]

great - should I dig up some of the dirt and put rocks in the dirt as I carry water away

as you diagnose the problem, just use a cheap tile or..
downspout splash blocks to carry the water away.

.. but maybe the pics will show something to do instead, or in addition to.

 

[luvit]

Note: I do have a real drain in front of garage that ties into city drain, but it gets slow and clogged from the dirt on side of garage that is 1/4 under ground. had that dirt slopped /graded back with stones. Is it possible the adjustment of the 3 downspouts are bringing most of the water in now?

i would route the downspout water to that drain -- unless you think the slowness of the drain is contributing to your problem..
you may be able to route the water to the street and bypass the drain.. just for testing.

 

[WanderingSol]

As a test you can buy some of the flexible black drain pipe and route all your downspouts to discharge downhill from the garage. If that keeps the floor dry then you can bury the drain pipe for a permanent solution. If you get a lot of leaves and/or pine needles in the gutters you want want to use smooth sided rigid pipe so it does not get clogged.

Tim.

 

[pysen78]

This can be a more complicated problem than local drains from the roof. I agree with the previous posters that a cheap quick solution or starting point for further investigation, is routing the roof drains further away.

If you're unlucky though, water could be traveling from further up the hill. This depends on the ground and soil. In Sweden where I'm from, common practice is digging a draining ditch around the building, filled with crushed rock. This practice is repeated every 30 years or so, as the ditch eventually clogs up.

My advice is: Quick solution: drain surface water away.
Long term solution: Find professionals to help assess the situation. Your landscaper might help but preferebly som kind of engineer should be involved. (I'm a landscape architect and from experience, I know the landscaping business is full of unqualified people, you need to make cetrain they actually know what they're doing. Just being able to handle a bobcat doesn't cut it. Of course, no offense meant to anyone reading this, who might be in landscaping and actually know what they're doing )


Peder