Oppo Help Needed *UPDATED*

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2) 01/03/2020 at 16:40 • Filed to: Oppohelp, Help!, Driveway

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My driveway is rapidly washing away, and something must be done! We are debating how to cheaply fix the muddy mess that is this parking space, and recent rain has exacerbated the problem. Take a look for yourself.

There is about a 1-2 foot elevation change from the garage (completely flat concrete base, for reference) and the top of the driveway. Trying to park literally anywhere else has been disastrous. Two cars must park on the grass. All the water from the yard drains through the low spot between the garage and the gray sedan.

It needs to be done as cheaply as possible. We have several hundred somewhat thin old bricks that are not quite paver quality; we plan to use them to facilitate elevation changes. We think some sort of shale would make a good covering without too much spillage onto the pavement.

Our current plan is to outline the path of the wheels with the bricks and fill in with some sort of gravel with a plastic liner underneath. We think we may need to build some sort of retaining wall next to the concrete pad for the garage.

Help and input much appreciated. Thank you.

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UPDATE: better drawing

What we know so far

French drains are the answer. Basically a ditch with a pipe surrounded by gravel that can be covered over with turf.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! suggested a routing of the drains, but it has to all drain into the driveway somehow.

There is a downspout on the top right corner of the garage that just dumps water on the ground in a particularly low spot. That water then flows along the top end of the concrete pad into the driveway.

We want to dig the trench low enough that it can dump at the top corner of the driveway, by the fence .

The way to cover the dirt is still less clear.

Big thanks to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and everyone else.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:16

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Putting gravel down will reduce  the muddiness but not the water. I’d look into getting some drainage put in to redirect the water away from the parking spots.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:21

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How many trees you got?

You could make a corduroy road.  It’s worked for hundreds of years

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:25

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They have French drain kits at major hardware stores. Don’t know how well they work in practice, but using them is little more than “dig ditch, throw in culvert with drain material already around it in net bag, add gravel to taste”.

If you do that to control the water and re-gravel, you may be in business.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:29

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You’ll eventually need to fix the drainage issue via a French drain or something else to either move water away or drain it elsewhere before it gets to that low spot. As for the surface, you might look into getting a few tons of crusher fines delivered. They’re cheap (the delivery charge will be more than the rock), they compact into a fantastic surface and a it makes a fantastic base for an eventual permanent surface (be it gravel, cement or even pavers).

Future next gen S2000 owner > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:36

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Rock with a drain. Cheapest option as far as I can see.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/03/2020 at 15:38

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Good idea. Lots of people suggested French Drains. That should work, but where to route the water? 

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/03/2020 at 15:38

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^ this. Dig ditch for those black plastic tube s to funnel water to wherever is least disastrous. Regrade the parking area and put down about 4 to 6 yards of gravel. Plastic isn’t necessary and might actually make it worse.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:41

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RamblinRover has the right idea. Alternatively, if you wanna go even cheaper: brick in the outline of your parking area and set them into the ground slightly, with a grade running away from the driveway. Fill your brick outline with either gravel or crusher stones. 

OPPOsaurus WRX > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:45

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put down a layer or crashed stone, a layer of landscape fab ric, then this stuff with good dirt to grow grass

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:45

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Here’s what I would expect for the ditching, french draining, etc.:

Going to require possibly having the culvert mouth open to the low spot in the yard, and ditching a good way into the ground, but worth it if for nothing else than getting some of the water away from the building, which can’t be doing you any favors anyway.

Edit: and it wouldn’t hurt to have a ditch along the road as a point of exit for this.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 15:57

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Where does that down spout go? If it’s emptying into the low area at the edge of the carport, that could be a big problem. If it empties into a drain, then that’s what you would tie a french drain into. It looks like everything should drain toward that shed to the north (?) in your drawing. A french drain that connects to a regular drain with an outlet by that shed might work. It all depends on how it slopes.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 16:07

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Are those trees the property line?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > OPPOsaurus WRX 01/03/2020 at 16:12

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Hmm, this would work well as a covering after we fix the drainage issues but might be a bit expensive.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/03/2020 at 16:17

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Sadly, the border of the driveway is blocked by an immovable wall.

And the other side of the garage has utilities. Maybe we could just dump the water at the top of the driveway, where there is a clear path to the street

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/03/2020 at 16:21

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The shed is about 1-2 feet higher, and all the houses to the north there drain through our yard. We need to redirect water to the South towards the street.

Unfortunately, the downspout does just dump water there. Perhaps a French drain as you say that dumps at the northwest corner of the driveway could work. We would need to dig additional trenches from the shed and around the cars to drain that area.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 16:24

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They do make plastic versions.

Thisismydisplayname > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/03/2020 at 16:33

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Yeah the crusher run stone is great for a parking surface, or asphalt millings will do really well.  But the crusher fines are probably the cheapest.  Our dumpster guy used to bring us some when we had dumpsters swapped out.  He’d have the fines in the new dumpster, dump it out and leave us the dumpster.  Made a great parking lot.

Thisismydisplayname > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 16:36

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And a layer of geotech fabric underneath will help keep the stone from driving down into the mud.  Basically floats a slab on top of the muck.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 16:49

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It looks like, from that photo, that the natural grade is kinda high in the middle of the yard, then slipping down the driveway and back toward the right corner of that photo. Is that right?

If that’s so, the easiest way would be to drain the water to the back corner of the property. Once you have more time / money, either dig a huge gravel pit in that corner or to a full French drain along the length of the driveway out to the street (and hopefully there’s a nearby storm drain) 

Noodles > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 17:15

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Have you thought about extending the bottom of the downspout so that it dumps out past car 4. S omething similar to this, just longer

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Noodles 01/03/2020 at 17:23

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That is uphill by quite a bit. We were thinking of tying it directly into the french drain system that would eventually dump at the top of the driveway, after collecting water from around the cars. We may be able to channel it around the back of the garage, but there is nowhere to tie it into after that.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 18:13

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Either to somewhere lower, or to a drainage pond somewhere not where you want to park.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/03/2020 at 18:20

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Drainage pond can't happen, since the entire yard is majorly uphill from the problem area. The idea is to route it to the street through the driveway

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 20:07

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Could you extend following the carport? 

SmugAardvark > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 20:07

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A few years ago, I was helping a friend that was looking into having a gravel driveway installed at their house. They were quoted around $700 for a 18'x24 ' section at 4" of depth.

Might be more than you’re looking to spend, or it might not help with the way your property is laid out.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 20:13

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How is the grade on the backside? behind the garage/house? 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/03/2020 at 20:23

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That is low but there are utilities buried there as well as nowhere to route the water on the other side . The driveway is designed to handle the water (slight U shape) but the problem is that the water is getting stuck before getting there.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/03/2020 at 21:30

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Given the new information, I suggest a french drain designed to flow to the low point on the concrete with an exposed cap/grate at that corner (green spot). Within the black outline, add gravel. To do it right, you would want to dig it out a bit before just dumping a couple of loads of gravel there. The water would flow to the corner, then come up and out of the grate when the water flow is high enough. The downside is that it will hold some water in the system at all times and may provide a place for mosquitoes to breed.

The real right way would be to break out the driveway and start over....

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/03/2020 at 21:59

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I don’t want to keep water in the system, so perhaps I could build a small retaining wall right next to the concrete pad to raise the level of the yard a few inches so that the french drains would   empty easier. The idea is the same, but it would allow easier flow.

That is a helpful diagram. Thank you.

punkgoose17 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 01/04/2020 at 02:07

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The muddy spot between the driveway and shed looks like a good spot for a drainage pond/trench.  Dig out a foot or 2 add some tall grasses or shrubs that like water.