A quick drainage walk-around
Do this during or just after a steady rain, when you can watch where water actually goes.
- Watch each downspout: does water exit within a foot or two of the wall, or is it carried well away?
- Look for puddles that linger against the foundation in the side yard.
- Check whether your neighbor's downspouts or sump discharge point toward your side.
- Notice whether the side yard slopes toward the house or toward the street and alley.
- Look at the gutters: are they overflowing at corners or sagging at the middle?
- See whether walkways or patios slope back toward the house.
Why tight spacing concentrates water
On a wide suburban lot, a downspout can discharge onto a lawn that slopes gently away for many feet. On a narrow city lot, there may be only a few feet of space between your foundation and the property line, and the neighbor's house may stand just beyond it. If both houses send roof water into that gap, the soil there stays saturated after every storm.
Older Wash Park houses add another wrinkle. Over the decades, side yards have been paved, filled with gravel, planted, or raised by layers of mulch and soil. Each change can alter the slope. Concrete walks poured long ago may have settled toward the house. And additions or rebuilt houses next door may have larger roofs than the cottages they replaced, so the volume of water reaching that strip has grown.
Water that sits against a basement wall eventually finds a crack, a mortar joint, a window well or the joint between wall and floor. The basement on the low side of the gap usually gets it.
Common fixes for a side-yard drainage problem
| Simpler, lower disruption | More involved, often needs a contractor |
|---|---|
| Downspout extensions or splash blocks pointed toward the front or back yard | Underground downspout lines carried to the front or alley |
| Re-sloping soil so it falls away from the foundation | A surface drain or swale along the side yard |
| Removing built-up mulch and soil from against the siding | Replacing settled walks that slope toward the house |
| Cleaning and resizing gutters that overflow | Coordinated drainage with the neighbor, sometimes shared |
Common questions
Can I bury my downspouts into a dry well?
Sometimes, but clay-heavy soils common in the Denver area drain slowly, so a dry well can fill and hold water near the house. Ask a drainage contractor whether the soil on your lot is suitable before installing one.
General information for Washington Park, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.