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Fixing Drainage Behind a Retaining Wall

Question: After installing a retaining wall with perforated pipe and gravel backfill to a French drain, water pools behind wall, floods lawn, leaks into basement. Area slopes down from wall. Regrade or add more gravel?

Assessment

Regrading may solve it if gravel hasn't filled with soil. Landscape fabric between soil and rock keeps dirt out. Water should flow to gravel (lowest spot) and drain quickly.

Alternative

Catch drain and pipe from lowest spot to wall, but only if water flows through gravel to drain quickly.

Soil Issues: Drainage Behind a Sandstone Retaining Wall; Retaining Wall with Drainage: Consult Local Expert; Garage Flooding: French Drain with Polyethylene Pipe and Gravel; Short Retaining Wall Blocks: Gravel Base and Weed Fabric Required; Retaining Wall Failure: Contractor Responsibility and Documentation; Does a Gentle Slope Need a Retaining Wall for a Patio? Montreal Case; Evaluating a Segmental Retaining Wall: Batter, Alignment, and Drainage; Retaining Wall Drainage: When Weep Holes Aren't Worth the Cost; Drainage Behind a Low Hillside Planter Wall: Gravel, Pipe, and Footing Details; Retaining Wall Drainage: Weep Holes vs. Pipe Systems for Hillside Planters

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