I'm a first time homeowner, and when we moved in we were told we'd need to regrade our house. I am deciding whether doing it myself or hiring someone is a better decision, and the following list summarizes my considerations.
- How often do I need to regrade the ground around my house?
- If it's every year (yikes!) or even every few years, then I want to do it myself so I can save the money on contractors that I'll need to hire year after year.
- If it's less frequently (every ~10 years) then I think it's in my budget to hire someone to do it.
Any guidance or considerations that you can give me would be very helpful.
EDIT: here are some requested pictures.
Best Answer
Only re-grade if you're getting water intrusion or even a damp musty basement condition. If neither of those yet, then don't do anything. Otherwise, re-grading is a good deal of work, but quite simple in procedure with just a shovel.
Dig a shovel depth trench at least 6-feet away from the house that pitches down toward the street or into the back yard. What comes out of the trench goes against the house & then you widen the trench toward the house while digging more & more shallow to achieve pitching away from the house.
The Gas Meter (may be the picture angle), Front & Driveway sides all look good. The patio should be ripped out & redone with a properly pitched concrete slab, re-grading would be part of that job by default. But really, only the AC's side would need to be re-graded at any point or in your lifetime. But, put elbows on your gutter downspouts, they aren't helping matters at all.