What "Positive Drainage" Means
Positive drainage simply means the ground slopes away from the house, and away from any area you don't want water to collect. If your yard has flat spots against the foundation, low areas in the middle of the lawn, or slopes that pitch back toward the home, gravity is working against you every time it rains.
Signs Grading May Be Part of the Problem
- Water collecting against the house or basement wall
- Consistent wet spots at the base of a small rise
- Mulch or soil washing across a walkway
- Runoff visibly moving toward the home instead of away
- A flat or slightly reversed slope along the foundation
How Grading Work Is Usually Approached
- Identify the areas that pitch the wrong way or hold water
- Add and shape soil so water moves away from the structure
- Blend the new grade into surrounding lawn or landscape beds
- Reseed or resod where the surface has been disturbed
Grading Alone Isn't Always the Answer
On some properties, regrading fixes the problem completely. On others, regrading has to be paired with underground drainage — downspout lines, a French drain, or a catch basin — because there's simply too much water for surface flow to handle. Claiming grading alone will solve every water problem isn't honest. The point of an assessment is to figure out which combination actually fits.