Regrading is the act of raising or lowering the surface of your yard. Regrading is correctly indicated when problematic surface water or water accumulation (pooling) on your property becomes a nuisance. Very often, however, regrading projects are inspired by water finding it’s way into your basement.
“Pour over” resulting in a wet basement can be addressed by regrading. “Pour-over” usually happens when the soil next to the basement wall is higher than the top of the basement wall, causing water to literally “pour-over” the top and end up on your basement floor. This problem can develop as flower beds, decks, driveways, etc. are added to the original house design. The removal of these features is often required to solve the problem.
“Pour over” can also happen when soil is added to the house perimeter so that extra “slope” will help water flow away from the house. This is an easy to understand mistake. More soil next to the foundation wall can create additional pressure on the foundation and contribute to pour-over.
When regrading is recommended to solve a basement water problem, lowering the height of the soil next to the foundation wall is always the best bet.
