Water in my backyard | GTAMotorcycle.com

Water in my backyard

mastahjay69

mastahjay69

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I have an issue with my backyard. Water has accumulated all summer and the soil is so soft that walking on it causes it to slide out from underneath you.

MY neighbour added a 2 foot tall garden around his entire back yard. His backyard is between mine and the water drain. How do I confirm that his garden is causing this? The water is effecting 4 backyards.

I called a surveyor and he suggested a civil engineer. How do I find one that won't charge me $$$$?
 
What's the housing situation? Never heard of a drain in a backyard before.

If a townhome/condo structure speak to whoever's in charge of that (especially if there are 4 of you affected)?
 
I can't imagine a backyard that's between your backyard and a drain. Pictures?
 
mastahjay69 said:
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MY neighbour added a 2 foot tall garden around his entire back yard. His backyard is between mine and the water drain. How do I confirm that his garden is causing this? The water is effecting 4 backyards.
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Call your municipal licensing office to make sure your neighbour had a permit to do this or he may have to take it down.
 
klr_guy said:
What's the housing situation? Never heard of a drain in a backyard before.
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my brothers place has a swale at the bakc of his year that runs along his and his neighbours yards for drainage. I imagine your yard may be similar?

As I undestand it, nobody is allowed to change drainage significantyly that it affects a neighbour, this would be like me creating a giant slope along my house to heavily direct all water directly at my neighbours place.

Not sure what the legalities are and how to address, but I understand alterning drainage isnt permitted. You may need to consult a professional, I'm not one, but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express
 
This happened to my parents old house. Anytime it rained heavy we would get a bit of sogginess in the back corner of the yard, next door neighbour would be even worse. A lake would form in his back yard. Fast forward a few years and all of a sudden we have a lake and next door neighbour has a god damn ocean, nearly all of his back yard is flooded.

Turns out the neighbour to the back of us re-landscaped and in doing so blocked of the natural drainage of the water to the underground river in the area (this was coming from the surveyor who came to visit us)

He was ordered to return his back yard to original slope and all problems went away....
 
If you live in a newer subdivision your neighbor cannot change the grading of his lot which was approved by your municipality.This I know for sure and have the same exact issue with my neighbor, although the effect has not been as bad in my case. Am not sure who you can call but start with the bylaws office in your city or town and I am sure they can direct you to the proper dept
 
My old house in Scarborough had a drain at the back corner that served a few houses. The guy that built the garden is definitely blocking drainage.
 
as others have mentioned, he cant pitch the water into your yard and it your municipal office you need to contact.

There is a downside in your approach, it can make for very ugly relations, I've been down this road.
Maybe ring his doorbell and ask about it first, he may not even know what he did.
 
crankcall said:
as others have mentioned, he cant pitch the water into your yard and it your municipal office you need to contact.

There is a downside in your approach, it can make for very ugly relations, I've been down this road.
Maybe ring his doorbell and ask about it first, he may not even know what he did.
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We have a similar wet corner but it isn't worth the feud as I can manage the drainage myself with some creative landscaping. In my case it happened over the years with a bit of raised gardens etc. The present owners aren't the ones that put in the fill.
 
This is a newer subdivision (about 10 years old)
I called the city of Vaughan by law office and they said its a civil matter and they cannot help. The backyards slope away from the houses and then again towards the drain a few houses over.

I will have to speak to my neighbour but he has put a lot of money into his backyard so I am not optimistic.
 
He doesn't necessarily need to remove his gardens, he may be able to tunnel under them and uses pieces of weeping tile to allow the water to move again. That solution should be easily done in a weekend, tile doesn't cost much and the gardens won't be disturbed. How many he'd need to add depends on the grading from each direction
 
sounds like ajax,I had the same issue in my yard,I buried a tube covered with a sock,covered in gravel around the perimeter of my yard,didnt eliminate the water but made it 70% better.
 
mastahjay69 said:
This is a newer subdivision (about 10 years old)
I called the city of Vaughan by law office and they said its a civil matter and they cannot help. The backyards slope away from the houses and then again towards the drain a few houses over.

I will have to speak to my neighbour but he has put a lot of money into his backyard so I am not optimistic.
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Talk to your councillor's office. Which ward are you in? https://www.vaughan.ca/council/Pages/ward_map.aspx

But let them know that you want to try and deal with the neighbour yourself first (for good relations as mentioned above), but you need to know what the city will do if you can't get cooperation from the neighbour.
 
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mastahjay69 said:
I have an issue with my backyard. Water has accumulated all summer and the soil is so soft that walking on it causes it to slide out from underneath you.

MY neighbour added a 2 foot tall garden around his entire back yard. His backyard is between mine and the water drain. How do I confirm that his garden is causing this? The water is effecting 4 backyards.

I called a surveyor and he suggested a civil engineer. How do I find one that won't charge me $$$$?
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Use to work for the survey department of a GTA city. Call your city or town hall and contact the engineering department. They will send surveyors out to check the elevations for drainage etc. Your neighbour isn't allowed to block the flow of water or have the water from there property drain into yours.
 
mastahjay69 said:
This is a newer subdivision (about 10 years old)
I called the city of Vaughan by law office and they said its a civil matter and they cannot help. The backyards slope away from the houses and then again towards the drain a few houses over.

I will have to speak to my neighbour but he has put a lot of money into his backyard so I am not optimistic.
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I'm anti civil service because that's the same attitude I got with a problem in Brampton. People not wanting to do their jobs.

I managed to pull some strings and once it became obvious that they were slacking, bylaws got enforced.
 
nearace said:
sounds like ajax,I had the same issue in my yard,I buried a tube covered with a sock,covered in gravel around the perimeter of my yard,didnt eliminate the water but made it 70% better.
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That's called weeping tile. It's what GreyGhost was talking about.

You should talk to your neighbor about installing this. It's not expensive, not hard, and very effective.
 
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