Wet yards and selling a Houston house
Disclosure and a documented repair beat a surprise inspection after a storm week. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Journal
Field notes.
Drainage that broke after new Houston landscaping
Beds, walls, and new sod change grade. Yesterday’s path can die under six inches of good intentions. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
A hose test is not a Houston drainage analysis
A hose shows a low. It does not size a storm, find a neighbor source, or legalize a discharge. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Inflatable pools and accidental drainage tests in Houston
Draining a pool into a bowl is a flow test you did not mean to run. The water tells you the truth. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Why we look at the surface before we open a Houston trench
The cheapest water to move is the water that never needed a pipe. Grade first when grade will do it. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Five French-drain myths we hear on Houston lots
It always works. It never clogs. Deeper is better. Gravel alone is a French drain. Any trench counts. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Rain gardens versus engineered discharge in Houston
A rain garden is a designed soak. Clay and a high table often refuse to be a garden. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Planters built against a Houston house
A planter against brick is a reservoir you installed on purpose. Water sits on the wall. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Staining on brick from roof water in Houston
The stain is a record of the path. It tells you where the wall has been wet. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Walkway sheet flow into a Houston front door
A walk that pitches to the threshold is a small driveway with better landscaping. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
Water pooling at the condenser pad in Houston
Equipment pads sit in the same bowls as the lawn. Standing water is hard on the unit and the soil. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.
The side-gate mud strip on a Houston house
Everyone walks it. Everyone hates it. It is usually roof water plus no conveyance. Local notes for Houston: Gulf Coast prairie clay that accepts water slowly and holds it.