I bought a foreclosure house last year (built in 1987), there is a tall deck at the back, and backyard is slightly sloped away from the house.
- The deck was rebuilt from scratch before put on market (I imagine/guess the old deck might be in unsafe state? and thus need to be rebuilt; deck was painted dark-brown right after install, I saw some legs go vertical cracks from top to bottom)
- During heavy rain, downspout at the back corner of my house was flowing out water (small rain fine, tried to unclog, no much help)
Those two things gave me some worry of water issue. (why the old deck became bad and neighbor's deck was fine
? could it be due to watering issue underneath the deck causing the ground soft and old deck sank?)
Not seeing any leakage sign at the walkout-basement, but I somehow wanted to do some improvement to keep water away from foundation.
My neighbor got a tall deck, but under it there were a layer of stones (3”). I thought those stones were helping the area under the deck to be dry and avoid any water buildup around the foundation.
So I wanted to learn from my neighbor. But due to some issues, I ended up buying smaller stones (1” round), and I thought it might be a good idea to lay a layer of plastic sheet under the stones to prevent water sinking to the ground, so I did that.
Now my question is:
- Did I worry too much and did the wrong/opposite thing? Water might actually not flow away due to the small stones keeping water underneath?
- If I did wrong, what should I do now? Should I remove all the gravels? Should I dig a french pipe along the foundation wall?
Thanks so much.
Best Answer
Your downspout extension may be installed incorrectly. It appears that the black pipe coming out of the hill is not sloped properly and is causing water to pool inside of the pipe.
Since the pipe is not draining properly, organic debris such as leaves will clog the pipe and render it inoperable. Since water takes the path of least resistance, it will back up and then come out of the bottom of your downspout instead of out the extension.
The stones are not doing very much, and they are mostly decorative. Many people put stone, or some other kind of ground cover under their decks because it prevents weeds and grass from growing.
If you want to keep the stone there, I would recommend removing the plastic tarp from underneath it and replacing it with landscaping fabric. The fabric will allow water to drain through, and prevent weeds from growing. That way, you would be able to reduce the amount of maintenance in that area.