Question
Our house was built about 3 years ago. We were worried when we purchased that the lot seemed a little low. We were told by the builders and the city that we had nothing to worry about, as the house would be built at the same level as the neighbor. Of course, this is not what happened. We are a good couple of feet lower than our neighbor. We are on a cul-de-sac, so fortunatly, we only have the one neighbor. We put extenders on our downspounts to move the water all the way to the street in the front and to the very back of our property in the back. STill, the sump pumps, (we have 2) and the ejector pump do not shut off at all when we have had any measureable amount of rain. We have asked our neighbor to put extenders on his, as well, as it drains directly down on our property. We even offered to pay for them and help him put them in, but he has refused. Do you have any ideas on how we can drain the water away from our property? Today, we were outside, after 3 days of on and off rain. OUr whole yard was pretty dry except for that side, and there was standing water there. We are worried about water eventually seemping into our basement. WE were thinking of putting a berm there and planting some vegetation that would soak up the water more than just grass does. Any suggestions at all, will be very much appreciated!

Answer
Cecily,

The berm idea is a good one, but add in some sort of french drain system, either a porous pipe that runs to the street, or an actual ditch filled with rock, on the neighbors (and I use the term loosely) side of the berm.

Good Luck
Larry