During and after a rainstorm, it is a good idea to watch how the water flows surrounding your home. If water lingers within 5-10 feet of your house, it may end up seeping into your basement during “a wet year”.

One way to help water shed away from your home is to plant gardens with a generous slope away from the home’s foundation. Because of gravity, water will have a downward path to follow that takes it away from danger zones.

To build a garden designed to protect your basement, take denser soil that is rich with clay and first sculpt a good drainage profile.

Then, lay down a layer of crushed rock, 3-4 inches thick, followed by a layer of good soil that is up to a foot thick. If your garden is interrupted by a downspout, gutter, or other source of redirected water, use rocks or cement to create soften the impact on the soil and prevent erosion.

You can also purchase a gutter extension to guide water away from your home’s foundation.

Once the soil is ready, plant your flowers and voila. You’ve increased your home’s curb appeal while protecting its basement from long-term damage.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 14th, 2007 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Cincinnati Real Estate News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.