French type drains on a steep side hill

[breadtrk]

I have a front tine tiller but the beating that thing gives you is one of the main reason I now have a tractor and 5ft tiller. I'm going to do some back yard engineered rollover testing this morning to see what I can get away with. If it is over 40 degrees I'll go after it with the tiller.

 

[HillStreet]

How about just a couple of loads of topsoil placed roughly in the center with it crowned slightly so the water runs down the hill and sweeps to either side of the house for runoff.

I did that to one house I built years ago. I would stand in my garage during a thunderstorm and watch whitewater race toward the house the veer off at the slope to harmlessly pass the house. That would work at your house.

 

[Xfaxman]

---------------------- I'm going to do some back yard engineered rollover testing this morning to see what I can get away with. If it is over 40 degrees I'll go after it with the tiller.

Update?

Pictures?

 

[breadtrk]

I got busy with honeydos and didn't get on the hill or jack up the tractor. Maybe next weekend or one eve this week I'll try to tip it over, just for you guys.

 

[dave1949]

The pics really help. I think the chevron plan is a good one. It also sort of begs to be dug out about 20-30 feet back from the buildings into the slope with a retaining wall (with underground dog condos ) against the slope wall. I think you could save the larger tree doing that if you work around it some.

 

[Cord]

Just remember to keep the swale pitched down hill. It'll be tougher to do than you'd think. The yellow marks in your photo would actually direct more water towards the house because they're pitched the wrong way. My suggestion is to start at the bottom and then start marking a line to follow as you head up the hill. It doesn't need much of a slope, half a bubble is already too much. When you cut into the hill side, pitch the soil down slope. You'll carve a trench to catch the water and then a berm to help keep the water in the trench. Did this at my mom's place earlier this year and it dramatically reduced the amount of water flowing through her yard. During a real gully washer there was a spot that overflowed. I had to make a hard 90 corner to get around a rock and knew this was going to be a problem spot. Water doesn't like turning corners so I should of spent some more time there working on it.

 

[breadtrk]

Solid rock 2 ft down, the kind they blast for highways around here, won't be no blasting this close to the house. Up where I want to start, it may only be 1 ft down, that would be the top of the cliff that was there 100,000 years ago, the mountain above this rise has washed down over time. Heck I have hand dug along the back foundation 5 times, 4ft deep over the last 30 years.....

A neighbor up the road, along this same ridge did hire a track hoe with a hammer to cut his back, took 3 weeks and I don't have any idea how much money (probably a Harley from his dealership) to go back about 50 ft, no need for a retaining wall, it is sheer rock cliff face.

 

[Xfaxman]

I got busy with honeydos and didn't get on the hill or jack up the tractor. Maybe next weekend or one eve this week I'll try to tip it over, just for you guys.

Thanks. :laughing:

This is a 50% grade.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Is there so little stabilizing vegetation on your slope because of traffic or is it too shady? We had a similar issue when we first moved into our home, but the hill is totally stable now with lots of grass and various herbaceous growth and small shrubs, so no more soil movement...the water runoff goes into a ditch at the bottom (effectively what you are proposing as a sloped terrace).
Minimize the soil disturbance and/or get it stabilized as quickly as you can or you might find your drain/terrace overwhelmed with sediments.

 

[breadtrk]

Combination of dogs, shade and fence building activities recently. It is normally a jungle that is a PITA to mow, weedeat, or burn. The 2 small trees in the middle of the yard have been since removed, they were just overgrown weeds anyway.

I'm not confident enough on that slope to do anything yet so I'm probably going to use the lawn tractor to scratch it up to plant some kind of ground cover that won't poison the hounds and that I won't have to try to mow more than once a year.