Grading around pool causing drainage issues in yard.

SCPooldream

New member
Jul 25, 2023
1
Charlotte NC
Our pool is near completion and last week our PB graded the yard and installed some drains. It rained two days later for about 30 minutes (downpour) and the result was a flooded yard and a pool full of mud (the overflow pipe was flooded and the mud came in thru it). The PM said that he was doing us "a favor" by installing drains and we should be working with a landscaper. Prior to the yard being graded (concrete deck was already installed) and the drain installation, it had rained hard and we had some pooling in only on area of the yard-NO FLOODING. It is very apparent that the grading and drain installation was done incorrectly. This PB did not add drainage costs to the proposal because he did not "foresee any issues." I do not believe that we are responsible for the cost of the drainage issue that apparently was caused by them and shouldn't the PB leave you with a rough graded yard that doesn't flood? Do you have any thoughts on this issue?
 
If you didn’t have drainage problems prior to building the pool, from an ethics or integrity perspective, you can challenge your builder, but the terms of your agreement will probably govern whether you have a legal case or not. Personally, based on the builder’s stance, I’d look to someone else to address the problem. Assuming you can get your builder to do anything about it, I’d expect that he will take shortcuts and do a less than optimal job. If you want to pursue a case for who should pay, you could still do that.

Drainage is tough. We developed drainage problems in our yard when our next door neighbors built their pool. Their build disrupted the natural flow for drainage which caused water to stand in our backyard. We spent quite a bit fixing it, including French drains and a sump pump, so when we built our pool, drainage was a high priority, including not disrupting the system that was already installed. The builder’s attention to drainage was ultimately the deciding factor in winning the bid.
 
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A long time ago our when we built our pool, the builder specifically called out in his contract that he was not responsible for any landscaping work except to leave the yard with a rough grade. He also indicated no change to any grade in the yard and no modification to any existing drainage patterns. That was, in part, an HOA/County issue because if the pool install changed the natural drainage patterns in any way, then the county would need a complete drainage plan (with permit approval) and the HOA would have had to approve. So when they did the layout, they were careful to measure preserve all elevations. The only additional thing I asked the decking contractor to do was to dig a small trench and add a drain line to capture rain water off a gutter and redirect it so that it wouldn’t cause flooding near the corner of my house. Turns out that section of the roof doesn’t produce much water so it was unnecessary anyway.

Long story short - read your contract. If there is any language regarding landscaping/grading, then it likely favors the PB’s position
 
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