Maintain your grade for a happy foundation

Who doesn't love a solid foundation and a dry basement?

It's fairly common that we get questions about grading around the perimeter of a home.

Grading is simply the level of the ground around a house. A positive grade slopes away from your home, directing water to flow away from the house and back into the yard. A negative grade slopes toward your home, trapping water and funneling it right into your foundation (this is bad). 

A few quick notes before we get into a step-by-step how-to for grading around your home:

All water that falls within ten feet of your house should have a clear path away from your home without ponding. The ground should drop one inch for every one foot away from the house for the first 5-10 feet. Screened topsoil from your local supplier is the best choice for grading, but bagged top soil can also be used. Window wells should extend 2-3 inches above the top of the grading.

STEPS TO A PERFECT POSITIVE GRADE:

1. Clean the area you plan to grade. Remove weeds, leaves and any mulch that may be in the way.
2. Remove and replace any worn window well covers. Remember to clean out the inside of the window well.
3. Starting against the house, start pouring soil until it reaches slightly above the desired level.
4. Compact the newly poured soil with a shovel or a tamper. 
5. Continue to add soil along the house’s foundation.
6. Once the soil is at the desired level against the foundation, pour more soil further away to create a slope of approximately 1 inch per 1 foot away from the house.

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here's a video of me grading a foundation:

Good luck!

Brian