But look at that last photo: he could clear all of the leaves, cut some clearance for the fence at the bottom, and the water would still hug his house and go behind/to the side IMO.

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the water would still hug his house and go behind/to the side IMO.

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Where else would it go? The water has got to get to the drainage easement/channel behind his fence.
The problem is that the water is backing up into his front yard because of the leaves, not that it is going down the side of his house.

It's a zero lot line situation, so he doesn't own the land to the left side of his house.

evan_aggie said:

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But look at that last photo: he could clear all of the leaves, cut some clearance for the fence at the bottom, and the water would still hug his house and go behind/to the side IMO.

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I agree with Evan. Looks like the lot grades UP to the back fence and that water isn't getting to the back fence. OP needs to dig a little trench right where his back foundation ends to pull the draining onto his side of the property line and continue it to the edge of his property toward the drainage ditch. By pass the neighbor's fence and move it to a place where he can actually have control of it.

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Looks like the lot grades UP to the back fence and that water isn't getting to the back fence.

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The lot grades up to the back fence because the neighbor's fence is stopping all debris & it is piling up.

OP could do as you say and channel all the water back into his own yard & send it out under his own back fence.... certainly an option but not an ideal one as it should be on the neighbor to handle that water.

Can you tunnel under the fence here from your side and see what that does? If it works, cut the bottom of the fence to let water flow under.

Apache said:

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.. certainly an option but not an ideal one as it should be on the neighbor to handle that water.

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Completely agree that the neighbor SHOULD handle the water, but when I see the condition of the back fence panel and the "improvements" that have been made to it, I think OP may be better off creating his own solution than relying on the neighbor to fix anything the right way:

Trying to find something that works right now.

I am the OP and I have created a small trench under the common shard fence. When this new neighbor moved in about a year ago I asked him to leave and opening at the bottom of 'his fence' (our common shared fence that goes from the back corner of my house and connects to his back fence.

He replaced a few pickets on that common shared fence and cut a few near the bottom....but only about 5 of them located closer to the back fence. Water does not come thru the pickets so well closer to the corner of my house / his fence.

Where that purple arrow is drawn is where about 1-2 picket are raised and cut...but it's not enough..not enough comes through those. If I haul off and cut them without his approval, I am a fault. I have to convince him that is what needs to be done. Keep in mind he replaced about 4 of these.

For 20 years I have tried to get that neighbor back yard water to flow into my back yard so it could escape. The previous owner of that house would 'fix it up' between renters' and took and buried bricks under the back fence ,"so dogs would not dig under the fence".

Now I have a neighbor who owns this house, seems to be trying to help..but is quite stubborn on keeping up with the debris and leaves and has yet to open any more areas of his fence.

Get this, he even asked to come into my back yard to paint the back side of 'his fence' to match that red color you see. This was about a 1-2 months after he moved in.

The township laws say drainage must be worked out by the home owners.

I was out behind by fence Sunday in the pouring rain digging trenches to allow water to escape from my usual fence areas and to try and help water leave his back yard...but I didn't think I should dig directly on the fence line of his back yard.

A gutter will be put on that side at a cost of $950 with a leaf guard and probably two down spouts...that I will pay for obviously because that is my roof line / side. But I don't want it to dump water near the front of my house.....for reasons already discussed here. But at a 49' stretch my gutter guy feels like more that one will be needed for this 6" gutter with 3.x4 downspouts.

Civil Engineer here (for what it's worth)...

the issue, IMO, is not your neighbors back fence. The back yard has tons of fall, based on how much foundation you have showing on the side of your house. The water is stacking up in your front yard because of your neighbor's front fence. The pictures in your first thread make this clear.

Please be careful placing additional topsoil in your front yard, because it looks like your front yard is close to the same elevation as your front door. If you place too much you could accidently direct water into your front door.

You really have two options...

1. increase the slope from your sidewalk around to your neighbors gate - this will mean removing all the rock, etc. that your neighbor put there at the gate. You need to make sure the front fence is not preventing water from getting out of your front yard into the back yard. What happens in the back yard doesn't appear to be affecting you at all.

2. install grate inlets in your front yard and pipe them all the way to the back drainage channel - this would allow the neighbor to keep his gate, rock, etc. as-is and would also give you somewhere to tie in the downspouts if you add gutters

I would recommend option 1 because you have plenty of fall in the back yard to make it work and with the amount of leaves I see in those pictures I'd be worried about the grates clogging up. The only downside to option 1 is the working it out with the neighbor - but frankly, it seems like if your doing the work and you leave it better than you found it, he should be fine with it.

So remove what from these photos.

The rock that is mine is directly in front of that landscape bed.

He added rock to make it wrap around and all those pavers.

What about that little concrete slab just behind his gate?

How do I get a measurement or survey showing my neighbor that all this stuff and that little slap need to removed. He will more than likely fight me on all of this because he thinks he worked so hard this summer installing it...it improved the drainage. I will need factual measurements to help my case. Where do I get that from?

Should I add a 6" gutter with 3x4 downspouts at the front and back corners?

It's garden home style. So that red brick is my house but it's his yard...sucks.

I am surprised it's zoned like that. Have you ever had a survey done? What's on the other side of his home? FWIW, here's what a buddy of mine that works in larger tract water runoff and development told me RE: these threads.

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Yes - I agree with just about everything I skimmed.

You can add dirt - but that really just pushes water to the "new" low spots.

French drains (and similar systems) are best because you can put the inlets in your existing low spots and it'll carry it out to the street and past any other high spots that would block drainage (like the dudes neighbors driveway).

We actually did this in our house recently because we didn't want to lose any of our landscaping by creating a large ditch through the side yard.
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Yeah - neighbor totally blocked his chance to drain it on the surface
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Sidewalk, driveway, landscaping, etc.

He needs to go under and punch through the curb

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I am not sure how running a french drain back toward the street will work as it's fighting uphill?

How can I get some kind of measurement of the grade / slope of my yard..what service(s) does this for homeowners?

Not sure my friend saw any other pics outside of the standing water ones, but I think the same advice applies running back to the other side of the property.

I would try reaching out to a small local civil engineer. Where are you located? Most civils aren't very interested in dealing with homeowners but you might be able to find a good Ag in your area that would do a site visit for a couple hundred bucks and give you a formal recommendation that you could then take to your neighbor and/or whatever jurisdiction manages drainage in your area.

But yeah, IMO all the junk laid there in front of the gate is part of the problem. In the other thread you posted a night time photo with your whole front yard full of water and a daytime photo showing a bunch of leaves that had stacked up and then eventually blown out under the gate. This is a guess - but I think the gate, the blocks, the rocks, etc. are contributing to the collection of leaves which then block the flow of water. You need a smooth surface and clearance under the gate to get the water out. Maybe offer to concrete the area from your front house corner down to the gate?

Y'all wont believe how hard it is to find someone that can do yard grading services (and not just some ol boy that can move dirt around stating he's a landscape architect).

The first civil engineer I contacted said somewhere between $1000-$3000 for a topographic survey.

He advised me to find a landscaper that has knowledge of yard grading....well heck...they all will say they can do this.

So that was fun. Neighbor called out a cop and wanted to make it known I stepped onto his property and moved those pavers and then proceeded to tell me that he has done more than enough too accommodate me and I have done nothing to fix my problem.
Even said he didn't like the fact that I mowed his patch of lawn up front of my house…..that I have always done because it looks better.
So now I cant even step across that line that extends off the corner of my house.
I asked the cop if it's ok for me to clean out my dryer vent on the side of my house. He said not to clean it every day but I may want to send the neighbor a call before I do.

No. ?I am thinking I don't want to get sued at this point.

So why not just build a wall extending from your foundation to the fence?

I can't believe he called the cops. Insane.

I moved the stepping stones a couple times. I opened his gate once to broom push some water and get some leaves out of the way. I moved some of the bull rock that was leading towards the gate and I guess my lawn guys mowed his part of the yard and blew leaves from out in front of his gate….all this he has stated I was on his property without permission.

My company does residential drainage work, and I think every single time we have done work on a zero lot line (dozens of times) house, there has been neighbor issues leading up to it and during it, etc. I could never live at one.

Any chance you could give a bid on some work?

CAR96 said:

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Any chance you could give a bid on some work?

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Never caught where you are located?

Been paying very little attention to this whole ordeal up until now, but I am intrigued....

Does a "garden style home" mean that your house is on the property line?
Is there a fence separating your back yards?
Are you not allowed on his property if needing to survey damage to your own house's exterior wall?

Well the exact property line I am unsure of. That side of my house is considered his backyard/side yard.

A old banker who worked in corporate law and has lived in my community since the mid 1980's came by and thinks there may be a couple feet of variance. But he is not sure.

We are restricted by covenants in The Woodlands. Our township, water district and Texas water code all says differences are to be worked out by neighbors.

Here is an interesting photo from behind both houses showing a 'common' fence that the neighbor has declared his fence….maybe because he had a survey done after he moved it. If it is his… look how it starts on my side of my trim/siding .

My house is to the left and his to right.

Maybe an issue there? Other houses show this fence area differently and not as far over onto other homeowners line.

Apache said:

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I said on the earlier thread you created that your neighbor needed to raise the fence level in his back yard because the pickets were at grade. This blocks leaves & debris building up creating a dam which causes water to back up.

The pics you just posted are showing exactly that. Cut the pickets to allow water out, that is step one.
This is such a simple fix, it's kind of silly it hasn't been done.

Step two in your front yard, you need to add more than a sprinkling of dirt to raise the soil level.
I'm thinking several inches of soil with new sod on top once proper fall was established. Too many variables here to give you good advice, I'd have to be there in person.

You definitely don't need a French Drain as you have plenty of slope from back to front to drain above ground (if only the neighbor would fix his fence).

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I thought I asked about a survey, maybe that was on your other thread.

Regardless, it seems pertinent now. Get a survey and notify him of the results and that you're going to do what Apache described above if the fence is in your property.

There's a 14 inch variance in Texas you are allowed for working, etc.

We did a concrete drainage flume/channel for a customer and had to make sure forms and all stayed 14 inches from foundation max because it was a neighbor lawsuit situation.

So his fence is red, and it's attached to YOUR house? I'm so confused here.

Yes. He even had that fence repaired with some pickets that past March and I caught them drilling, while bracing, into my trim; it didn't make into the siding. He apologized and had them paint and fill, I was ok after that. He has gotten a lot more bent out of shape and I haven't even caused damage like he did.
Same fence ha asked for permission to come into my backyard so he could also paint the backside of that fence in the same red color. I allowed him to do that with no problem although I thought it was very strange.