Have a long time issue with my back yard and wondering if anyone might have any advice.
So I'm having some wall issues in my basement and it all boils down to the area in front of the back wall in my back yard. From reading online, you don't want your soil to be above your foundation walls, ideally several inches to a foot below where the brick starts. Unfortunately, the soil in my back yard is a good 1.5 courses up the brick. And on top of that, there is actually a slight slope towards the house, though only slightly. I know ideally I'd grade that area away from the house. And since I'm already 1.5 courses up the brick (that way since I bought the house), building the dirt up higher isn't an option. Unfortunately, removing 2 courses worth of dirt to get it to the proper height against the house and then additionally removing dirt from the back yard to create a slope away also isn't really all that achievable. That's just too much to remove. I already have a low spot in the yard about 15 feet from the wall which has a french drain installed. But it basically gradually goes upwards for about 10 feet, then starts going down the next 5 feet. So having 2 low spots would just be weird in such a short area.
So I'm kind of at a loss on what to do. I was hoping there was some kind of product I could place against the outside brick that would allow me to safely put dirt against it, but I can't find any such item. I don't know if using some brick/drylock/etc water sealant on the outside brick would work so that I can place dirt against it?
I do have gutters and all, so at least rain isn't gathering/pooling against the house, but it's causing soil expansion issues since that area always stays damp.
Any ideas other than paying thousands of dollars to have a ton of dirt removed to create a slope away from the house?
So I'm having some wall issues in my basement and it all boils down to the area in front of the back wall in my back yard. From reading online, you don't want your soil to be above your foundation walls, ideally several inches to a foot below where the brick starts. Unfortunately, the soil in my back yard is a good 1.5 courses up the brick. And on top of that, there is actually a slight slope towards the house, though only slightly. I know ideally I'd grade that area away from the house. And since I'm already 1.5 courses up the brick (that way since I bought the house), building the dirt up higher isn't an option. Unfortunately, removing 2 courses worth of dirt to get it to the proper height against the house and then additionally removing dirt from the back yard to create a slope away also isn't really all that achievable. That's just too much to remove. I already have a low spot in the yard about 15 feet from the wall which has a french drain installed. But it basically gradually goes upwards for about 10 feet, then starts going down the next 5 feet. So having 2 low spots would just be weird in such a short area.
So I'm kind of at a loss on what to do. I was hoping there was some kind of product I could place against the outside brick that would allow me to safely put dirt against it, but I can't find any such item. I don't know if using some brick/drylock/etc water sealant on the outside brick would work so that I can place dirt against it?
I do have gutters and all, so at least rain isn't gathering/pooling against the house, but it's causing soil expansion issues since that area always stays damp.
Any ideas other than paying thousands of dollars to have a ton of dirt removed to create a slope away from the house?