flood in back garden - help please

bambis girl

Hi,
My back garden currently looks like a lake. The water is 25ft long up till the first step. The drains are all located on the second step so that water is gonna sit there. I've spent last hour using a bucket to pour down the drains but its made very little impact. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do here or do I just need more people with more buckets.?
Any advice greatly appreciated.

mike65

That description makes little sense to me, can you provide a couple of photos? #

first step is the top step I presume? The drains are blocked with debris I take it?

celticcrash

Is your garden in a land bowl? any pics?
Theres more than one way to skin a horse,but we need more information.

celticcrash

Give it a day for the main drains to clear. A lot of drains will be backed up
over the floods.

bambis girl

hey all, sorry I'll explain better. The garden sits 2 steps down from the house, but the drains are the same level as the house. The garden is flooded up one step but not the second step leading to the house, so essentially there are no drains where the water is sitting.

321280_10150370421422375_558732374_8226823_178433512_n.jpg
294495_10150370422467375_558732374_8226825_1130928714_n.jpg

Sorry the pics are dark took them this morning, but the water is basically between ankle and knee height, and the majority of the garden is flooded.

Vanbis

bambis girl wrote: »

hey all, sorry I'll explain better. The garden sits 2 steps down from the house, but the drains are the same level as the house. The garden is flooded up one step but not the second step leading to the house, so essentially there are no drains where the water is sitting.

321280_10150370421422375_558732374_8226823_178433512_n.jpg
294495_10150370422467375_558732374_8226825_1130928714_n.jpg

Sorry the pics are dark took them this morning, but the water is basically between ankle and knee height, and the majority of the garden is flooded.

You could just buy a water pump in Woodies or B&Q, cheap enough and will do the job nice and quick.

dr.quirky

If your worried about water entering the house, sandbagging or similarly blocking where the water could enter should work, the worst of the rain seems to have passed so I'd say its just a matter of time for drains to clear and water to subside.

a waterpump might be a plan also

Mr. Presentable

OK, so this might be mad, but could you make a syphon? Or several?

Red Harvest

Nothing you can do but wait. If there is somewhere lower that isn't flooded you can pump/syphon your flooded area into that area but if everywhere is flooded around you then where do you think the water can go untill the whole area drains a bit?

cnocbui

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

OK, so this might be mad, but could you make a syphon? Or several?

Syphoning will work, I have done this myself for a small flood situation. You need a hose and a dry area that is lower than the flooded area and within reach of the hose.

Fill the hose with water. Keep one end weighted at the botoom of the lowest part of the flooded area then take the other end (stoppered up) to the lower dry area and remove the stopper and weight it so it can't lift. Water should then start to flow from A to B, even if the hose has to go over a fence. So long as the outlet is lower than the inlet.

Buford T Justice

For cheap and cheerful solutions, go with what has been posted above.

A permanent solution is an expensive one, and would involve digging up the garden, proper soakaways and drains installed.

Vanbis

bambis girl wrote: »

Hi,
My back garden currently looks like a lake. The water is 25ft long up till the first step. The drains are all located on the second step so that water is gonna sit there. I've spent last hour using a bucket to pour down the drains but its made very little impact. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do here or do I just need more people with more buckets.?
Any advice greatly appreciated.

OP, did you come up with a solution to your paddling pool out in the back garden?

rje66

sometimes the gullies(located where the down pipes from gutters empty into) can be blocked with leaves and debris, take grill off and feel down with your hand , if its blocked you will feel the leaves about a foot/ half foot down, just scoop out and water should start to receed:)

Theprogardener

Ok first thing to do is contact a "good landscaping company" or company involved in drainage works. If it is an ongoing problem my advise is; put in a herringbone drainage to drain to sump hole, usually lowest part in garden. What we sometimes do is have a pump in the sump hole. It works on a float system, when the water in the sump hole reaches a level the pumps turns on and water is pumped into surface water drains (never pump water in sewage drains)