Short curb or berm for diverting water

[sailah]

Looking for ideas about diverting water away from the ramp going down underneath barn. The pavement is very new so considering a curb or berm of some type to help divert water from parking area in right of picture. It looks sloped away from the path in the picture but water does flow down the walkway. There is a drain (clogged of course) at the bottom of that pathway right before the white door leading into the crawl space. Trying to keep things as dry as possible down there.





Ideally would like DIY since it's such a short run, but if the answer is asphalt, I'm not sure this is a DIY solution.

Thanks

 

[HoosierMark]

If you put a curb in, where will the water go when it is diverted by the curb. Can you position a curb in such a way as to direct it across the drive without being an annoyance. I am thinking you might be better off to put some type of screen over the drain to make sure it stays open. A treated 2/4 box with screen over the top to keep the leaves and debris away from the actual drain but "leaky" enough to let the water drain in. Or simply install a bigger drain box in front of the door to prevent clogging.
You could create a curb to redirect the water but it could also be an issue when you plow snow.

 

[sailah]

I was thinking about putting a berm in across the path, i.e from granite rock to granite rock. Essentially walling off that path. Don't think I want to go across the driveway as you mentioned plowing.

The water wants to run off the parking area towards the pink chairs, but some invariably heads down the path under the barn and I'm trying to fight that.

I plan to unclog drain just hasn't been a priority with moving and getting shop set up

 

[miner]

Just unclog the drain and keep it maintained. Much easier than putting in a curb and you will have to do that anyway.

 

[info2x]

Just unclog the drain and keep it maintained. Much easier than putting in a curb and you will have to do that anyway.

I agree. Could do a bigger drain at the bottom to help with clogging too.

Looking at the pictures it also looks like you'll get some flow from the sides of that ramp so even if you stop water from one direction you'll get it from another.

I think a berm or something would also make the ramp a lot less user friendly.

 

[sailah]

OK, will get the drain unclogging on teh list of to-dos this weekend and see how it goes. The house is new to me so there is a big to do list...

 

[CNGsaves]

+1 on getting that drain working in top shape. WHERE does it flow to ?? How big of pipe ?? Does it have clean-out access ??

Could you cut in trench drain across the path and tie to main drain ??

Your idea of Diverting the water is good, but Berm sounds way too big. You really just need small diversion for water to go somewhere else (ie downhill). Maybe on the path itself, you could have small "speed bump" water diversion that ran waterflow over to a drain that tied in with other drain ??

 

[sailah]

I have no idea on drain, I just moved in last week. Previous owners were not hands on.

The drain is a 6x6 metal grate that is packed with dirt/whatevers. I'll go in there and dig it out and see. I'm trying to keep basement dry down there as it's a dirt floor and I've got a powder post beetle issue as well as corrosion on Ibeams etc.

It's been hot and dry lately so I've kept the door open and it's dried out well. Looking to keep it that way.

The idea on a berm was to just asphalt in a small speedbump across the ramp so that water that was looking to find its way down the path ran off into the yard. Obviously rain that falls on the slope is going down to the drain and that's unavoidable.

 

[CJ7VFR]

How long has the barn been there? Did the previous owners have trouble with water getting into the barn via that ramp down to the door?

It looks to me like your driveway already slopes away from the ramp and down towards where the two red chairs are.

Since you just moved in, and there has not been much rain, can you run some water down the driveway and see where it goes in order to give you a better idea of how things are?

You may not need anything at all there, and it might be good as is.

As others have said, if you keep the drain free of clogs you might not have any problems with the water from the driveway going down the ramp towards the barn door.

Your idea of the small berm of asphalt creating what is basically a speed bump is what a lot of places do to keep water from going down driveways that are sloped downhill from the street to the garage. They put a small gully across the top of the driveway at the street for the water the move down, like a stream.

But you should wait for a nice steady rain before you do anything. That will end up telling you which direction to take with the water.

Jim

 

[James-W]

If it were me I would go with the drain cleaning first. But getting back to the berm or speed-bump thing, maybe a small ditch would be better. It wouldn't have to be real big or real deep, just big enough to channel the water away.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Just something to think about. That drain might be plumbed into the septic system. When you unplug it, you may get a sewer gas smell that comes out. Just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[langss]

How about Sand Bagging it. you could move them easy enough if you had to, and it would keep the excess water out.

 

[pmiranda]

I agree with just fixing the drain. All the rain and snow that falls on the grass or hits the side wall is headed that way no matter how well you keep the rain coming down the driveway from reaching that ramp.
Also, wind-driven rain doesn't care about a speed bump.
Good luck. Nice big barn!

 

[sailah]

How long has the barn been there? Did the previous owners have trouble with water getting into the barn via that ramp down to the door?

It looks to me like your driveway already slopes away from the ramp and down towards where the two red chairs are.

Since you just moved in, and there has not been much rain, can you run some water down the driveway and see where it goes in order to give you a better idea of how things are?

You may not need anything at all there, and it might be good as is.

As others have said, if you keep the drain free of clogs you might not have any problems with the water from the driveway going down the ramp towards the barn door.

Your idea of the small berm of asphalt creating what is basically a speed bump is what a lot of places do to keep water from going down driveways that are sloped downhill from the street to the garage. They put a small gully across the top of the driveway at the street for the water the move down, like a stream.

But you should wait for a nice steady rain before you do anything. That will end up telling you which direction to take with the water.

Jim

House was built in 1815, so guessing it's probably of that vintage. All post and beam.

Yes there is an issue with water intrusion through the door. You can see the furrows the water makes like a river delta when you stand inside and look back towards the door. There is a ~4" concrete sill that water had to get over too.

It's obvious the previous owner did not clean out the drain and that was part of my plan. I don't know if it goes to septic either, I guess I'll find out

i ran some water from the hose and it goes right down driveway slope, hangs a right and goes down to the door. I'm wondering if the water trails I found were from the crazy snow we had here and not from rain. if that's the case I just need to do a good job shoveling.

 

[rsanter]

First do a test. Stack sand bags across there first and see how well that works for a season.
If the results are good then you can look for a permanent solution

Bob