A good rain and for days to come you have water standing in the yard? You may have seen some cracking in the foundation or a spot of sogginess that will not dry up. Or perhaps you are fed up with the mud that makes your grass look bad and your property less of a pleasure to be on.

There is no need to put up with it, and you are not the only one. We at Safe Site Services have been in the business for 10 years now, putting water where it should not be out of the way for our clients in Warner Robins and all of Middle Georgia. Call (478) 309-7332 and we can discuss what is going on.

Then there is the clay soil of this part of the state. It has its beauty but from a drainage standpoint it is a headache. We will explain the reasons behind the trouble and what we encounter most in this post.

Why Clay Is a Hard Soil to Work With

The particles in clay are small and packed in tight. That density prevents water from soaking through as it would with sand; clay takes its time to absorb and then let go of water. Put a heavy rainfall on top of that and the water has nowhere to run off. It lingers on or just under the surface and you have problems.

What We See Most Often

Time and again on properties in Middle Georgia we come across the same sort of things:

• Puddles and standing water after a storm that do not want to go.
• Lawns that are spongy and wet well past the end of the rain.
• Water making a pool by the foundation, an invitation for cracks and crawl space moisture.
• Slopes and downspouts where the force of the water erodes channels.
• Grass in the low places dying from having its roots underwater.
• Places that do not fully dry and become a haven for mosquitoes.
• Walkways and driveways left slick and stained by the moisture.

One of these is enough to make a fine property a nuisance. When you have a few of them at once it is the clay below ground to blame.

The Long Term Toll of Water Damage

It is more than unsightly. Left to itself, standing water will undo what you have put in place. The pressure from water against a foundation will seep into any crack. Erosion will gradually take the soil from under your driveway or landscaping.

We see people put off dealing with it until they can see the damage, at which point a repair bill is much steeper than the cost of proper drainage would have been. But it is a fixable situation once you get the water to flow as it should.

Working With the Clay

You cannot count on the clay to soak up the water so the solution is to provide an exit. In Middle Georgia we find these methods to be effective:

• French drains to put subsurface water to a safe outlet.
• Trench drains for the runoff on the surface.
• Regrading to have the land slope away from the home.
• Retaining walls for sloped lots to contain the soil and the water.
• Erosion control on hillsides.
• Downspout extensions to put some distance between the roof water and the foundation.

Once the grading is done right the clay will hold its form, so a system put in with care will be there for years.

The Value of Local Knowledge

You will not find a universal approach to drainage. What might be done elsewhere in the state will not stand up to our soil and the way it rains here. We know how the clay acts in the wet season and we are versed in the local permits to keep your project moving.

Safe Site Services is licensed and insured for commercial and residential work alike. We can do it all in one plan: site prep on raw land, the grading and installation of drainage and retaining walls, and the sod for your finished landscaping. A free estimate is available so there are no surprises when we start.

Do not allow the clay to make matters worse. For a drainage plan made to suit your land and the weather in Middle Georgia, give us a ring at (478) 309-7332.