Completely new at this :/

[Tinkerer]

Do you really need a garage door for entry to the basement ?
A stairwell and a standard 36" wide door would be my preferred solution.
If it were mine, I would eliminate it and fill the pit in with decent fill material.
Your water problems would gone forever
I have a stairwell and entry door in my basement and I wouldn't want it any other way.
Most building codes do not require escape windows in basements that have a entry/ exit door. (It doesn't apply to you, but, it may to other people reading this thread)

 

[Delmer]

Pictures are hard to interperet. The depth of the soil and distance will give a better idea of the scope of work needed, or what the options are. I'd do just about anything to make it drain over the surface, but the swale with a bigger catch basin and pipe would work also.

The garage door should go unless you need it and use it. Huge energy waste. French doors that both open are nice for big projects if that's what the basement is for.

 

[aighead]

Looks like a real nice spot with a great view that we can't see much of!

I will reiterate that I don't know anything but I think I'd go with an oversized french drain at the top of the garage door hill that runs the water off elsewhere. Maybe that's what skyking and Delmer are suggesting too? A catch basin is just a hole somewhere else, where the water can seep into the ground, right?

 

[HarleyHappy]

There is already some type of drain in front of the garage door.
A lot of material needs to be removed to get drainage.
Find where it is lower than your basement floor and take a picture from there to your house.
Will need to know where your septic is.
Where does that drain go?

 

[crane operator]

Stand with your back at the retaining wall by the pool, and take a picture showing the direction of the yellow arrow. That looks like the direction you are going to have to get the water to flow. i.e. get the dirt to slope that way.

Whoever originally set the house up, with the garage door and walk door being a water pit, needs their a$$ kicked.

 

[Willie B]

I don't think you've said where you live. If it doesn't freeze there underground, dig a trench around the high side of the basement, a bit lower than the footing. The trench needs a gentle slope to daylight. Buy landscape fabric 3 times as wide as the ditch is deep. Lay fabric in the ditch & add six inches of crushed 1-3/4" stone. Put perforated drain pipe in. Fill the trench with 1-3/4" crushed to a few inches below grade. Fold fabric to keep dirt out & fill with more crushed.

Swail is very nice, but only controls water on the surface, You likely want ground water controlled also.

 

[Welder Dave]

They have lot grading inspectors for city lots now and they have to approve the grade for proper drainage. I don't think they did a few decades ago as I've seen quite a few yards that slope towards the house instead of away from it. On acreage's I don't know if the grading has to pass inspection. It's like drainage is a 2nd thought on a lot of properties. The same thing with planting tree's. People forget or don't realize that tree's grow bigger and the roots can cause extensive damage to pipes and even foundations. It's another area where there's alot of people who lack common sense. People building house's surrounded by tree's in close proximity is another lack of common sense. It's just asking for trouble if there's ever a wild fire.

 

[Project-man]

Thanks again for all of the feedback and ideas.....one of the senior suggested we put in a catch basin and pipeline to the hillside. I was quoted by an excavation guy @ $10,000 for that job due to the depth they would need to dig for a proper pipeline slope and though that was a little excessive..... but non-the-less a very good solution to the water overflow problem. I'm sending a few more pics that were taken at a longer distance to hopefully better represent this annoying problem.

I really appreciate the knowledge and experience I'm receiving from the members of this forum. It's helped me a lot trying to figure out this grading problem. I like being independent and buying this property in the country gives me the excuse to work on different projects I would never need to do in the burbs......

 

[edgephoto]

without completely redoing your entire property you need to do the catch basin suggestion.

Do you need the garage door? If not, you could close off the door opening and put in an external staircase down to the regular door opening and backfill all around then either use a bulkhead door or building a small entryway with a normal exterior door.

 

[skyking1]

NO, that is a bad idea. You are buying that all the waterproofing on either side of it is up to the task. Right now, that waterproofing is relieved by the open end.
Close it off and you will find out the very hard way if it is done right.

 

[MG84]

Is the level of the pavement in the 2nd to last pic lower than the floor of the basement/walkout? If so I'd still stand by my suggestion of completely reworking the whole back yard. Bring the grade above the pool down and slope it away, and bring the grade from the walkout basement down enough that water flows towards the pavement and away from the house. I know this all sounds drastic, but IMO it's the only surefire way to fix a drainage problem like that. It's not as big of a job as you'd think, I could probably do it in a day or so with my CTL, with my small dozer it'd be done by lunch time. Spend another day to tidy everything up, seed and straw, and you'd be good to go for decades to come.

 

[Delmer]

NO, that is a bad idea. You are buying that all the waterproofing on either side of it is up to the task. Right now, that waterproofing is relieved by the open end.
Close it off and you will find out the very hard way if it is done right.

He's got the existing drain and apron that would have to stay. The swale is a good idea and would work most of the time to keep excess water away from that drain so it doesn't get overwhelmed. The basement stairs would keep even more water away. Digging the whole yard out to get the surface to drain will be even better, but I still have no idea how much dirt that would be, if there's bedrock in the way, or what.

You can find how deep and for how far you need to dig with a water level and tape measure, but those pictures don't show any elevations, and pictures are hard to judge for slope.

 

[Welder Dave]

A swale to drain excess surface water is the best idea. You can't really change the level of the water table but if you can prevent water pooling by having water run off towards a swale(s) will help a lot. May have to reshape the high area's to slope away from buildings as well preferably redirecting it to a swale. It doesn't have to drain directly to a swale. If it has to take an odd path that's 100' or longer to get to the swale or low spot is OK.

 

[aighead]

At this point I really just want to see that expansive view, facing that same direction, in the last photo you posted, but from the pool deck! It looks like it's incredible!

 

[HarleyHappy]

Well, now we know where that drain grate from in front of the garage door goes.
Either put in a swale with some big rock and grow grass over it, or put in real catch basin and 8” corrugated out to driveway as long as it drains good there.

 

[Project-man]

Hello again and sorry for my absence.... my wife and I were out of town taking care of our 6th grandchild and our 7th was born while we were out of town..... 7 grandkids under 4 years old.... we are so blessed and now I have 4 grandsons who I'll need to put to work in my twilight years..... Back to business.... the previous homeowner had a 50' perforated coiled draining pipe under the floor of the basement (which made no sense to me) which does a good job removing water except when there is a deluge of rainwater.....so it seems like most parties agree here that a properly graded swale would do a good job of relocating excessive rainwater away from the basement area and not cost a fortune to do it.
At the rental we're staying in, I noticed a old Kubota B7 100 Diesel backhoe. It's 4 X 4 and has 1349 hours on the motor. The unit looks in decent shape and I want to see what the owner has planned for this little backhoe. If she's interested in selling it, what procedures would I need to do to get it started and running since it looks to me like it has not been run for at least a year. I'm not sure what the owner did with this mini backhoe except for preparing a small garden she has in her yard. The backhoe has been stored in a shelter out of the elements.

Any thoughts about this particular machine and whether or not they would be useful and practical or should I experiment with rentals to understand the best machine for my needs today and in the future...... This equipment stuff gets addicting since there are so many choices and consequences for not getting the right piece of equipment. You guys are the best!!

 

[MG84]

I'd probably pass on the B7100 Kubota for the work you have planned. I have a B3200 Kubota with a backhoe (newer and larger) and even as such it would take a long time to do what you are planning. The only thing I use the hoe for are small digging jobs on finished lawns or where the mini excavator wont fit, otherwise it's just a counterweight. If you do want to go the route of a small TLB, the only ones you should consider are the commercial grade models: Kubota B21, B26, L35, L39, L48, or JD 110. They are faster, stronger and more rugged than the standard compact tractor with a backhoe attachment.

 

[aighead]

Yeah, unfortunately I don't think that machine would do much big work for you. You could scratch at tree roots for hours without the ass on the machine to do much, except maybe flip you over. If you were moving clean dirt for your swale it'd be better than nothing but it'd be a lot of scooping smaller buckets of dirt than you want with the hoe side, then loading and moving it. If you have material with little roots and rocks it may be ok, if you have time.

 

[Willie B]

"I noticed a old Kubota B7 100 Diesel backhoe."

These machines are built for people who retire too early. Best suited for planting shrubs & posies.
My son's friend bought a Kubota Compact Utility Tractor with permanent loader & hoe. We used it a few times.

Project 1: I was installing invisible dog fence, requires a six inch ditch. I was using my Case 580K I had at the time. My son & his buddy showed up, wanted to switch machines. They had a bigger project they needed a bigger machine. I continued reasonably well with my project with the little machine until I got to the driveway. Hard packed gravel driveway, took about two hours to dig a shallow trench across.

Project 2: I had major flood damage to a storage building. Half a 24 x 40 building was undermined. A 24 x 12 concrete slab had to be broken up & removed, then new gravel was hauled in from outside & some was brought inside. I could reach with the full sized backhoe only until the windshield hit. The Kubota was perfect for indoor excavating, mostly pushing gravel into the hole.

Project 3: We had to correct someone's mistake where they installed their own underground service to a new home. Job involved digging 4' deep trench 8' long. Took all day! Not enough reach to dump spoils, had to stop several times to move the pile away from the hole.

Project 4: A steep sidehill with 4' of less steep at the top, sloping away from a house. Job involved trenching for electrical & gas, placing an underground gas tank. It was too steep side hill for the big backhoe. After wasting much of two days with the Kubota, I was frustrated!
I dug a trench at top of the hill for uphill tires of the big backhoe & placed the spoils for the downhill tires to ride on. Took more grass seed, but got the job done.

I would not consider the CUT backhoe for your project. It is just too small. Rent an excavator, or full sized hoe if you aren't interested in having a full sized machine.

 

[Project-man]

Thanks again for the input....I kinda thought it was a little small for my needs and the home owner said they do use the machine a few times every summer for their gardens. I have to get an insurance wavier from my homeowners company before I can rent equipment from a local rental company. I will identify what is available for me to rent and get your feedback.

When I'm home I will also take a picture Crane Operator requested to show the depth of the garage area in relation to the side yard. The more I'm contemplating this swale project, I'm thinking some loads of clean fill will reduce the amount of material I will need to dig up in order to create a decent swale and just need a skid steer to finish grading the material.