If you're expecting lawn growth it's still too early

My concern and I didn't make it clear is it possibly too wet to have added the topsoil…it went down kind of muddy and thick in some spots until I raked it out.

Expecting water to not build up; trying to raise the yard to help drainage.

Not the best conditions after some rain this morning. That's a low spot in my yard.

I know this is the obligatory post, but gutters will go long way for drainage and soil movement.

I have them but this front of house is a apex roof. The long side of house could take some roof run off and will need a long down spout .

This is the garden home with the neighbor that built the dam in his back yard out of his fence and told the OP to pound sand in regards to it creating backed up water in the OP yard, in case anyone lost.

I don't think adding soil hurt anything. Let it ride and dry out. If you need more, add more. In the spring when it all starts to grow, the soil will stay in place better after rains.

Yes, I am the original poster who owns the garden home.
I stress so much before every rain event because this front yard flood is close to my house and it's only draining once the rain events stop.
The neighbor contend that the leaves are not that much of an issue, and he feels like a trench topped with bull rock that he worked on this July is more than enough to be done as a neighbor but the front yard flooding is what has gotten worse since he did this Bullrock trench.
I don't think he really knows what he's doing. He has stated he watches YouTube to learn how to do some of these handyman jobs and he's extremely bitter that I did not praise him for doing this neighborly task.
I will be getting in contact with our Township on how to fix this situation because the neighbor is not responding as well as I had hoped. The previous owner of has installed previously to his ownership of this home about a 4' x 5' concrete slab right behind the gate, where the drainage is to flow And he doesn't really want to remove it but he did say that he might could be talked into removing it. He did finally blow some leaves in the drainage path area about four or five days after I had a conversation where I thought the leaves were an issue, but he did not think they were an issue, he wants the leaves to prevent his backyard, soil and dirt erosion.
So I guess it's hard to say that the neighbor hasn't done anything but what has been done is not working .

Straight shooting here: drainage and water run off is a complicated thing. Your neighbor is likely right: leaves aren't going to do a ton in the giant scope of things. Impervious ground, grading, are the largest contributors in my experience.

A trench with rocks isn't a bad idea..like a French drain.

Neither of you have gutters. The rain water just comes right off and dumps all into the side. At least gutters can be directed to an extent in potential another corner of your lot. Drains can be burned etc.

This is my front yard, gutters yes but that is not the only water flow . Water will run from his front driveway and my front yard and will move down the side of MY house which is in his backyard. Gutters along my long side of my house would help the back yard drainage… but what's going on in the front?

This is what was provided to me by my local water district. I am house the pen is pointing to.

Yes, this is correct. Water approaches the house then splits and drains down each side.

What is new is the front yard flooding.

There is a large drainage ditch behind my house.

I know it won't be a popular opinion but if this was my house and I saw water rising, I would entertain the idea of getting my big ass shovel and my pickaxe to remove my dip **** neighbors bull rock as quickly as I could dig them up.

I might be wrong. I think everyone has a dumbass neighbor. My father was certain all of our neighbors were dumber than a box of nails and one of them was actually a nuclear geophysicist. That guy shot a skunk in his hay barn so my dad was probably right after all.

Those contours are 1 foot. Your neighbor is literally damming up a small confluence on that side of the house.

Everyone's fence on the back side needs to be cut off the ground. I can't believe some brain donor engineer can't figure that out.

A French drain will help but I don't think it's going to accommodate the watershed.

What do you mean by, 'Those contours are 1 foot'?

The Bull rock in front of the bed is mine. Essentially everything left of the gas meter (toward the grey garage) is my neighbor's.

I agree with what you are saying too....which is why I may have to go to the city.

I mean, those are 1' contours right? So you have about 3' of elevation change from north to south on your lot. That's Assuming it's correct and graded properly which I'm not confident of. I don't know how long the lot is but it seems a low slope to move water efficiently if it's clear much less if it has any obstructions. An engineer would have a better idea on requirements. I don't think you have a lot of option here short of vandalizing your neighbor or bringing in some bigger guns. That sucks and I'm sorry about that.

What does your back yard fence look like? Is it the same privacy fence that goes to the ground?

My back fence has areas where water can get out but his does not. I have even created water escape routes from our commonly shared fence so water could come into my backyard from his and then go out my back fence to the drainage ditch.

These are the one foot contour lines.

140' across the street and 134-135' at your back fence.

The natural grade is front to back. Anything on your lot (house, walkways, flower beds, etc.) will impede the flow of water. The neighbor's pavers are blocking water from going to the left (view from street). Is your property line the side of your house?

Like others have said, french drains are great and water should flow around both sides of your house. The county/city drainage department should be able to help.

My property (red brick house/ brown paint) line stops at my house....right at the edge of my slab or right in line with my gas meter that can be seen from the street on the left front corner of my house.

To this point all the city water department has done is send an employee to my house to tell me how water should drain. He also stated that the leaves and debris and pavers...concrete slab directly behind his gate...the back fences being too low can all block the flow of water.

At this point I feel I need to take more action to get the water to flow around and out away from my property and my feeling is my neighbor having blown some leaves out of the way behind his gate near the front of his house does not believe there is any other issue stopping the water.

A bid for french drains was $7,000 and I think the work would be quality.

Where would the french drains be located? Will they move water from left side of yard around the right side?

Yes. The one french drain bid at $7,000 was to take standing water from the front left of my house and direct it back toward the right side of my home and tie into my back yard and all the downspouts from my existing gutters.

I put my own French drain in, probably 300 ft of it and I don't recall it costing much more than the labor to dig, grade the trench, add the pipe and fill in the gravel. I bet materials on the $7000 job ends up less than $1000.

I think you need some surface drains in series to move that water away quickly.

evan_aggie said:

---

Your lot basically is graded so water runs towards your house. It's not just your neighbor....the other side looks similar is it not?

Anyway...there is nothing you can do there but have a big drain / ditch go around your house behind.

That's my take.

---

You need to go see the original thread with pics of the neighbor's backyard. Yes, everything flows towards OP's house, but it is supposed to continue and drain through the back of the neighbor's property, not pool there. The neighbor's back fence is low to the ground and there's so many leaves on the ground that he's clogging the drainage.

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/3354718

The leaves aren't helping, but that water isn't going to continue down even with them cleaned up imo. There needs to be a clear and obvious drain all the way between the homes.

What is looks like at one point today at 8:30 am. Keep in mind we have got over 4" today and still more to come until 4 pm , hopefully it ends . …. nope; Weather ug just extended until 6 pm. Added 2 hours.

BrazosDog02 said:

---

I might be wrong. I think everyone has a dumbass neighbor. My father was certain all of our neighbors were dumber than a box of nails and one of them was actually a nuclear geophysicist.

---

LOL that is dumb. Everyone knows you can't drill for nuclear energy.

3:50 pm. We just got about an hour of steady rain.