Land Clearing and Site Preparation
Yard Grading
Yard grading is leveling a yard to create a mild incline. It is the process of correcting the slope of your yard so that rainwater and other precipitation can flow away from the foundation of your home.
A flat lawn can cause serious problems to the foundation of any structure if it is not properly graded. A flat lawn will cause water runoff to pool around the foundation of your house causing leaking, flooding, and sinking. The pools of water will make your lawn soggy and mushy. It will kill your plants and trees and will attract pests such as mosquitoes and other insects carrying diseases.
A properly graded lawn will lightly slope down away from the foundation of your house in all directions promoting water runoff downhill and thus, preventing damage to your yard and the foundation of your home.
The yard around your house needs to be leveled creating a slope with a mild incline of about 5%. This will promote water to flow gradually from the foundation of your home in a gentle manner. If the grade of the slope is too high, that could cause erosion problems in the future.
To grade your yard to prevent these problems or to fix them if you are already presenting these issues, there are certain steps to take.
Yard Grading Steps
Check for pipes and vents
Do not bury pipes when grading or adding soil. Adjust or relocate pipes or vents to keep them above ground. Utility lines need to be marked so you do not damage them in the process.
Basement window solution:
Do not bury basement windows while grading. Install a moon shape window well around the window to keep dirt away from the glass and will give enough space to let sunlight in.
Alternative solutions
If the yard is too small and there is not enough space to work the numbers and to grade the yard since you need to leave at least 6 inches of foundation of structure showing, there is an alternative solution to that problem.
French Drains: To fix the water issues a French drain can be installed underground. The French drain is a pipe with holes on top. When the water seeps down, it will drain into the pipe and be redirected away from your house.
When all these steps have been taken into consideration, the next steps to grading the yard can be taken.
Measurements
Measure the existing grade by measuring the high and low points to find the run and the rise to establish a grade level line.
The run is a level straight line or the horizontal distance from your high point to the lowest point.
The rise is the vertical distance or the number of inches or feet that the ground is sloping from the highest point to the lowest point.
Hauling soil to rebuild the slope.
Remove a few inches of topsoil to start working on harder subsoil. Your low point needs to be filled in, which is around the foundation of your home, to become your highest point. Have enough soil delivered and dumped in the low spot that you want to fill in. Spread, smooth, and water the soil to lightly compact it to plant grass or sod to prevent erosion problems. Leave 4 to 6 inches of the foundation uncovered above the new grade to prevent from rotting the wood near the foundation.
After finishing the process, take new measurements. Add more soil to any low spot and take away soil to any high spot until the yard has been properly leveled.
Grading a yard requires expertise and large machinery. Midwest Landworx will grade your yard, lot, acre, or any residential and commercial property. Send us a message or call us for a free quote at 325-283-2550. We service Abilene, Texas, and surrounding cities.
Our services include, land clearing, dirt work, grading, leveling, installation of driveways, parking lots, house pads, and much more.
