Interesting points, but I'm not totally sold on swales yet. I've seen a neighbor try something similar—French drain into a swale—and after heavy rains, it turned into a mini pond for days. Maybe it depends heavily on soil type or slope? Curious if anyone else had issues with standing water... I'd probably test a small area first before committing to the whole yard.
"Maybe it depends heavily on soil type or slope? Curious if anyone else had issues with standing water..."
Yeah, soil type and slope definitely play a huge role. A client of mine had heavy clay soil, and their swale turned into a mosquito paradise after every storm. We ended up mixing in sand and compost to improve drainage, plus tweaking the slope slightly. It wasn't perfect overnight, but after a few adjustments, the standing water issue pretty much disappeared. Testing a small area first sounds like a smart move—better safe than sorry with these things...
Definitely agree that soil type matters, but slope might be even more critical. My yard has decent sandy soil, yet I still had pooling issues until I adjusted the slope slightly. Maybe drainage paths or runoff patterns are just as important as soil composition...?
Good points there—slope definitely plays a big role, but I'd say drainage paths might be even sneakier.
- Had a client once who redid their whole patio with beautiful stamped concrete, looked amazing... until the first big rain. Turns out the slope was fine, soil pretty decent, but the runoff had nowhere to go. Ended up pooling right at the bottom step. Oops.
- We ended up having to install a subtle channel drain and redirect water around the side of the house. Problem solved, but lesson learned: drainage paths are sneaky and will mess with your design plans if you don't think about them early enough.
- So I'd say slope matters, soil matters, but understanding exactly where water naturally wants to flow (and helping it get there) might be the hidden key. Maybe worth checking your yard after a heavy rain and seeing exactly where the water naturally tries to escape?
DIY concrete adventures are always fun...until they're not, haha.
"Maybe worth checking your yard after a heavy rain and seeing exactly where the water naturally tries to escape?"
Yep, exactly this. Learned the hard way myself—thought I had slope and drainage covered, but overlooked how water from my neighbor's yard flowed into mine. Ended up installing a French drain...lesson learned.
