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Hi!
On the southside of my house, I've noticed decent amounts of waterlogged soil. This has been generally muddy soil normally but after recent heavy rains in Melbourne it has become quite waterlogged. I suspect water may be coming from the gutter drain pipes as they have holes in them. My house is on a slab and in other areas of the house (East side for example) I don't have this issue of muddy/waterlogged soil, but those have plenty of canna lilly planted around them. I have owned this house since late 2019 so this has likely been the state of things for quite some time.
My question to the community here, is what can I do/contact to deal with this soil. Or, am I concerned needlessly?
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jbayangosb. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about waterlogged soil.
Do both of those drain pipes have holes in them? You could, at first glance, contribute the excess water to the visible hole. However, stormwater systems usually are free-flowing, so unless your system got backed up with excess water, it really shouldn't pour out that hole. It would be helpful if you showed us some images standing further back. I feel that the concrete slab might not be graded appropriately and away from the house. This would encourage water to flow into this area and get trapped. It could be a combination of things too. The first step would be to repair any holes in the downpipes to see if that solves the issue. If not, installing a couple of stormwater pits in strategic locations and connecting them to the stormwater pipe should solve the problem. It will be a relatively easy job since the stormwater pipe is so close.
Standing water against your foundations is never a great thing to have. A plumber who specialises in stormwater will be able to solve the issue fairly quickly. Alternatively, if you wish to fix the problem yourself, I'm sure our helpful members will have some suggestions. Bear in mind that in some states like N.S.W, you need a licensed professional to alter stormwater systems.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Thanks for the welcome and insight Michael!
This pipe has the puncture. I've attached some more images from another perspective, hope it helps.
In the above image, the drain pipe is a couple metres east and does have a puncture, the water appears to pool here near my water heater. The below image is the drain pipe I mentioned.
I would most likely be looking at getting a professional to assist but would be good to have myself a better understanding of this whole issue! Hopefully its a relatively simple fix. Do you know if this would count as work authorised during a lockdown?
Thanks for all the help so far!
It would be best to contact the relevant authority in your area to determine whether this would be considered an emergency repair. I would also presume local plumbers would be aware of what repairs can be completed at the moment.
Mitchell
