# Grading Soil during Chicago WInter



## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,... About the Only way you do it is with Imported, Not Frozen, topdirt....

It appears that the local material is Frozen,... You'd have to Bust it up to regrade what's there....
If you can find a supply of topdirt, it looks like a yard or 2 would do what you need to do.....


----------



## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

It looks like you have concrete above that dirt area
You need to maintain 8" min between dirt & wood, I like to keep about 12". I'd just build it up with topsoil, depending upon how much you need you could get a small delivery or buy bags at HD/Lowes


----------



## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

If your basement is leaking, it could be a bigger issue than just the grade of the soil.


----------



## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

My side yard was about the same
I regraded & extended the downspouts - also used cement to extend the water going further from the house
With these improvements the little bit of water that came in during heavy storms stopped

I also had a back patio that was sloped wrong & water would come towards the house. I built a sunroom on the patio. Check the slopes/drainage every where along the perimeter. I also dig & buried a drain pipe to take water from the downspouts on one side of the house 20'+ away


----------



## Michael Thomas (Jan 27, 2008)

Looks like you've got a walkway a few feet from the foundation wall, in which case it may be very difficult to improve drainage away from the foundation by altering grade. 

I've performed many inspections at homes in the Chicago area where walkways and/or closely adjacent buildings on adjacent lots made significant improvements of grading difficult or impossible. Frequently it's impractical under such conditions to achieve anything like optimum grade away from the house, however the majority of cases it's possible to produce significant and sometimes even dramatic improvements in water intrusion into basements by improving water removal with properly sized and located gutters, downspouts,and leaders discharging at improve locations - which as it happens is usually much less expensive than regrading or basement "waterproofing" options.

Can you post a few more pictures, one for each side of the house, to give us an clearer idea general site conditions?

---------

Home Inspection: "A business with illogically high liability, slim profit margins and limited economies of scale. An incredibly diverse, multi-disciplined consulting service, delivered under difficult in-field circumstances, before a hostile audience in an impossibly short time frame, requiring the production of an extraordinarily detailed technical report, almost instantly, without benefit of research facilities or resources." - Alan Carson


----------



## handy man88 (Jan 23, 2007)

Scuba_Dave said:


> My side yard was about the same
> I regraded & extended the downspouts - also used cement to extend the water going further from the house
> With these improvements the little bit of water that came in during heavy storms stopped
> 
> I also had a back patio that was sloped wrong & water would come towards the house. I built a sunroom on the patio. Check the slopes/drainage every where along the perimeter. I also dig & buried a drain pipe to take water from the downspouts on one side of the house 20'+ away


Did you put screens on the gutter downspouts to prevent leaves from going down the gutter drain and possibly getting trapped in the buried drain pipe?


----------

