Guides worth the read
Straight answers on drainage, excavation, permits and the rest, written for people about to hire someone or take a shovel to it themselves.
Standing water in the yard: french drains, swales and where the water is allowed to go
A lawn that holds water after every rain is a grading problem before it is a drainage problem. What a french drain actually does, when a swale is the better answer, and the part most people miss: where that water is legally allowed to end up.
Read itHardscaping and softscaping: what each half of a yard build covers
Hardscape is everything in a yard that stays put. Softscape is everything that grows. Here is what falls in each half, why the hard half gets built first, and where the two meet on a Lower Mainland property.
Read itWhy your driveway floods every fall
A driveway that ponds every autumn is a surface water problem, not a perimeter drain problem. Here is what actually causes it, what to check during the next real downpour, and what fixing it involves on a Lower Mainland property.
Read itPavers or poured concrete: which patio holds up here
Interlocking pavers and poured concrete behave very differently in a climate that rains for five months. Here is how each one handles water, movement and repair on Lower Mainland properties, and how to pick between them.
Read itBlock retaining walls: what they are and when to use one
Segmental block walls, including Allan Block, are the most common retaining wall on Lower Mainland properties. Here is how they hold back a slope, how they compare to rock and poured concrete, and when each one makes sense.
Read itWhy retaining walls lean, bulge and fail
A leaning or bulging retaining wall is almost never a block problem. Here is what each warning sign means, which ones can wait, and which ones cannot, on Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley properties.
Read itFive signs your perimeter drains are failing
Perimeter drains fail quietly for years before the crawlspace floods. Here are the signs to watch for on a Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley property, and what to do about them.
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