Emergency Flooded Yard Drainage in Roseville, CA

Heavy winter rain on Roseville clay can leave a yard underwater in an afternoon. We come out during our working hours, move the water away from your foundation first, then trace the drain, slope or downspout that let it build up. You get a straight answer on whether it needs a small repair or a lasting fix.

What to do while the water is still standing

A flooded yard is unsettling, but most of the time the first job is just to keep water away from the house. Before you call anyone, walk around the outside of the home. Look at where the water sits in relation to the foundation, the crawlspace vents and any doors that open onto the yard.

• Check that downspouts are attached and pointing away from the house. A downspout that has popped off its extension can dump a whole roof's worth of water against one wall.
• Clear leaves and debris from yard drain grates, gutter outlets and the curb opening at the street, if you can reach them safely.
• Look at the crawlspace vents. If water is near or above them, note it and tell us when you call.
• Stay away from water near outdoor outlets, pool equipment or landscape lighting transformers.
• Take photos and a short video. Where the water pools and how fast it drains tells us a lot about the cause.
• Do not dig a trench toward a neighbor's lot or pump water over the fence. It moves the problem instead of solving it, and it can start a dispute you do not need.

Why yards in Roseville flood

Most flooded yards come down to a few causes, and often more than one at once.

Clay soil that will not take water

Grading that has settled or been changed

Drains that are blocked or broken

Narrow side yards

What an emergency visit involves

When you call, we ask where the water is, how close it is to the house and whether it is getting in anywhere. That tells us what to bring and how quickly the visit needs to happen.

On site, the first priority is getting standing water to move away from the foundation. Depending on the yard, that can mean clearing a blocked drain line, setting up a temporary pump, opening a clogged curb outlet or cutting a shallow temporary swale to give the water a path. We tell you what we are doing and why before we do it.

Once the water is under control, we look for the cause. We trace downspout and drain lines, run water through them to see where it goes, check the slope of the soil around the house and look at where the yard naturally wants to drain. If a line is blocked or broken, we can often find the bad section without digging up the whole run.

Before we leave, you get a plain explanation of what we found, what we did that day and what a lasting fix would involve. You decide whether and when to go ahead.

Quick fix or a lasting repair

Not every flooded yard needs a new drainage system. Sometimes the cause is a single crushed pipe, a downspout that came loose or a grate packed with leaves. Clearing or repairing that one spot can be the whole answer, and we will tell you so.

We usually suggest fixing the problem closest to the house first. Water at the foundation matters more than a soggy lawn at the back of the lot.

A larger repair makes sense when the yard floods every time it rains hard, when water reaches the foundation or the crawlspace, or when the existing drains were never sized for all the roof and hardscape that now sheds into them. Common lasting fixes include:

• Regrading the soil so it falls away from the house
• A French drain to collect water from a low area or a wet fence line
• Solid downspout lines carried out to the street or to a dry well
• A channel drain across a patio or driveway that slopes toward the house
• A sump pump where the water has nowhere to go by gravity

Things to know about Roseville storms and lots

Roseville goes months without meaningful rain, then gets a run of winter storms that can drop a lot of water in a short time. That pattern catches people out. Drains that sat dry all summer may be full of silt, roots or debris by November, and nobody finds out until the first big storm.

Many homes in the area sit on lots where the back yard is lower than the street, or where neighboring yards drain through one another. In those cases the fix has to account for where the water is allowed to go. Water generally needs to leave your property toward the street or another proper outlet, not onto the lot next door. If your home is in an HOA, there may also be rules about changes to grading or front yard drains, so check before a larger project.

A good habit each fall is to flush your downspout lines with a garden hose and watch where the water comes out. If it does not come out, or it backs up at the downspout, that line will likely cause trouble once the rain starts.

When to call us

Our hours are Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We are closed on Sunday and we do not offer after-hours service. If water is threatening your home outside those hours, focus on moving it away from the house, call us as soon as we open, and contact your insurer if there is damage inside.

During our hours, call (916) 010-0004 or request a drainage visit online. Tell us what you are seeing, send a photo if you can, and we will talk you through what to do until we arrive.