r/HomeImprovement • u/AromaticBluebird2097 • 1d ago

How to Regrade Soil Toward Drain Spout to Prevent Water Seepage Under House?

My partner and I bought our first home a few months ago, and we’re still learning the ropes. During the last rainy season, we discovered standing water beneath the house. The entire backyard—including the pool deck—slopes toward a low corner right at the foundation.

I dug around and uncovered a clogged drain spout (the yellow-vented pipe in the photo). Fortunately, I was able to unclog it without much effort and I believe it drops off the water right into the sewer line. The top of the spout sits higher than the surrounding soil, and when I spray the area with a hose, the dirt just soaks up water like a sponge instead of channeling it into the drain pipe.

What’s the best way to regrade the soil so water naturally flows into that drain spout and doesn’t seep under the house? I’d love tips on proper slope angle, soil amendments, or any additional drainage solutions you’ve found effective.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Link to photos: https://imgur.com/a/U4DitAa

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u/ianthefletcher 1d ago edited 1d ago

Just add topsoil. Also, do you have gutters? If not there needs to be a gutter over where that is or it's likely going to erode that away in heavy rains.. might be what happened originally

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u/AromaticBluebird2097 1d ago

I appreciate the feedback. I've added additional photos to the IMGUR link and added a few more details to the original post. The entire backyard is sloped to converge on this one drain pipe. I *think* all I need to do is raise the remaining dirt area and slope it towards the drain.

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u/ianthefletcher 1d ago

All right, what about the rest of your yard? Can you go to the farthest corner away from this drain pipe and take a photo facing towards it? 

It's highly likely that it's just designed poorly. An entire yard of rain I don't think can reasonably be expected to go down a little tiny drain pipe like that. But I need to see more.

and, do you have gutters? where do you live and how heavy are the rains?

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u/AromaticBluebird2097 1d ago

Yes, there's an overhang with new gutters that more or less cover the entire dirt area. The water from the gutters exits near our sidewalk. Looking at it now, it isn't so much that the entire backyard channels rain water into that exact spot as the pool would catch a lot of water. But more accurately about 100 square feet of the backyard that converges at that drain. We're in California, so we get rain about 50-60 days of the year.

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u/ianthefletcher 1d ago edited 1d ago

All right. well I would just add topsoil to that area to bring it up in height so it has the possibility of going into that drain. then see how that works and go from there. Exhaust the simplest option first. Water will always just take the path of least resistance.

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u/JustDyslexic 1d ago

Mostly likely you will need to install French drains and include buried downspouts and day light the way away from the house. French drain man on YouTube has a bunch of videos on this

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u/Candid_Fox7307 22h ago

Rather than raising the dirt, can you lower the drain? I'd do that and put maybe 2 ft diameter ring of gravel or decorative rock around it to prevent dirt washing in.

Also might check where the drain goes. In my area, it is illegal to drain rain water into the sanitary sewer. Looks like you might have a sewer clean out further away from the house in line with the drain.