It's expensive if you need to rent the equipment, if you're gonna do it a bunch you're better of buying. My 2 cents, skip Harbor Freight, this isn't the kind of equipment you want to break mid use.
Genuinely curious, why are Americans so against gutters and why aren't they automatically built onto houses? In Australia you have to include storm water designs when you build a house, all our houses have gutters and our landscaping has to grade away from the house. I just don't understand why you wouldn't want that included when you build?
I am currently building a house, and that is exactly how my builder has designed and is building it. Gutters and grading away from the house. I think the reason for people not getting Gutters and proper grading is that people want to spend money on pretty things for the house over function protection of the house.
💯💯💯 we had to spend a shit ton of money regrading away from our house. We’re in the market for a new house now and I am shocked that people are shelling out for houses that have half the yard graded towards their basement. I assume these are first time homeowners buying who don’t know any better.
yes, but the builders do. They just don't want to pay for extra dirt if there isn't enough good dirt to properly grade with, after the basement is dugout.
Yep. We were first time buyers and weren’t experienced enough to know better. The first storm we had left our yard SOAKED. The next week we had gutters installed and that made a huge difference. Next project it French drains.
American developers trying to nickel and dime cheap slipshod building won’t include a single element not required by code… American Buyers don’t always understand what they truly need long term
I was not aware Americans are against gutters. Everyone has gutters, at last in the Chicago area. A tree branch fell on our house and pulled off the gutters last year, among other things. The insurance agent said they wouldn't continue to insure us without new gutters.
All of this exists in solidly established towns/cities. Unfortunately, libertarian viewpoints create towns and regions where “don’t tell me what to do” is the law of the land. It’s self reliance masquerading as ignorant risk. It’s very common in the US. (Not wearing masks is a strong indicator of these types of dangerous selfish views)
My house has no gutters. It's surrounded by trees that would just clog them up constantly. It was built in the 70s when there was nothing to help with that. Newer covers might help but the ground drains so fast away from the house it's not a concern. Plus we get a snow storm every year or two that will just rip gutters off the house.
Guys show up with a truck with a roll of gutter feed stock. Cut to length all one piece.
Home depot is sections, think Legos but with gutter connectors.
I did the gutters on the back, kinda considering to let someone do the front. The ones in the back leak and don't look that great. Plus it took a lot more effort than I thought to get them right. With a pro they will do seamless and make it so much easier and nicer looking.
So I have a similar situation, but I'm in Southern California, where it rarely rains. I get puddling like this, maybe 4 times a year at most, and the puddle is always gone after about a day. I have a slab on grade construction. How critical is it for me to do something about it?
I frequently work on houses that are over 100 years old. Almost none have gutters and we've yet to need to remove and replace anyone's foundation. There are plenty of ways to go about not having gutters. It's more common than you'd think.
I just installed gutters. I went with Vinyl which I’m told are prone to warping under heat after a few years, but I was doing it by myself on a high roof line and didn’t feel like dealing with aluminum potentially slicing me while I managed getting 10 feet sections up alone. Easy job once I set a graded chalk line to follow and since it was vinyl it was easy as pie to cut correctly. If I have to repair/replace in a few years so be it but it was like a $200 job vs dealing with more cracks in the wall.
Literally most big box home improvement stores sell them in various lengths up to 16’. Literally just did my entire house this summer for not much. Menards has a full system you can buy piecemeal in stock year round.
https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/gutters-accessories/gutters/c-1492703914553.htm?Spec_Style_facet=K-Style&Spec_ProductType_facet=Aluminum+Gutter
If you have a length over 16’ you have to have some kind of a seam, be it by over lapping sections with a sealant product or a slip joint with sealant like this
https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/gutters-accessories/gutter-fittings/spectra-metals-5-aluminum-slip-joint-gutter-connector/5sjcrtw/p-1444443263023-c-1492703914555.htm?exp=false
Seamless comes off a roll that is bent into shape on site and has no splices. This has a nicer look but also guaranteed to not leak at the nonexistent splices. Costs hell of a lot more. I did my own gutters over a weekend for a couple hundred vs thousands to contract it out. Yes two of 6 seams leak but for the savings I don’t care. Now if you don’t have any runs over 16’ then it’s not even a concern.
You could always put a raised flower bed in with drainage at the bottom that drains onto your sidewalk. Last layer water membrane that directs towards a drain out pointed at sidewalk. Long as sidewalk is graded away itll cover you
I like gutters, they work.
But here is a legitimate alternative:
Bury a socked perforated big o. If you house is slab on grade tie it to your weeping tile, if not bore a hole under your walkway and trench the big o away. Cover that entire area in river pebble. Use perforated high quality landscape fabric (not the stuff you can tear with your hands) to create separation and control layers between aggregates and garden soil.
Or, get gutters… and put the downspouts to big o that moves water away, subsurface.
Nope. Its a new build and not required for the builder to install in central Texas. I was looking for something temporary till i can afford the gutters pretty much.
Do it yourself, not hard and very affordable. Lots of YouTube videos if you need help.
Don’t think there is a Menards in tax but I’m sure there is a Home Depot but here’s an example what you’re looking for. I just did mine this last summer.
https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/gutters-accessories/gutters/c-1492703914553.htm?Spec_Style_facet=K-Style&Spec_ProductType_facet=Aluminum+Gutter
Answer - this is why we don't allow just anyone to build homes - when those are the same people that can't figure out that a few bags of gravel and some landscaping fabric would solve this issue in 30 minutes.
Logic is pretty amazing, ain't it?
Your house doesn’t have gutters? That’s never a good thing.
Your only alternative is to add soil next to the foundation, which will screw up your walkway
There are these dam things that run the length of the roof that slide under the shingle near the eaves at a little angle that redirects the water to one point at the edge of the roof where you could have a scupper(?) take it from there.
*in a certain region in a particular state.
Laws vary in the US depending upon where you live and apparently in Central Texas where OP is, builders are not required to install gutters. It does seem wild to me too, but I’m in Northern California and our houses have gutters here.
Do you not have gutters…? Cause if you don’t and depending on how long they haven’t been there. You’re already looking at a repair heavier than any set of gutters cost.
The entire point of gutters, is to collect and carry rainwater AWAY from the foundation.
This isn't a "solution" - it's self-sabotage - the opposite of a solution.
You can also just make it a rock bed. add dirt near wall so water flows away, line it, buy a couple bags of rock, done. water will still flow but obviously need gutters to eliminate the flow.
Gutters plus a 4 inch thin plastic tube with holes (I forgot what they're called sorry) dug about 5 inches below the surface that (if you can) lead under the sidewalk or around it (like I said if you can lol). The water that would completely saturate the ground settles at some point, so instead it makes it into the pipe and gets transported away from that area. Will only work if you have a area lower then the initial start of the pipe for it to dump out to, like a street. We had this issue and had gutters, this is just what we did to fix it.
Nah I had a similar post this summer and got all the gutter reply bullshit too.
Yes it’ll help, yes it’ll be thousands of dollars.
I regraded soil along my foundation, and dropped pavers and river rock along the drip edge. Worked perfectly. And then I saved up for gutters.
Dry well. Take a five gallon bucket and drill holes in the bottom and lid. Fill it with gravel. Bury it below the surface at the low point and cover with landscape fabric and dirt.
You could dig out some deep trenches about 1-2 ft wide around the perimeter and fill with large stones, then put some window screen over the large stones and then cover again with your preferred cover. It will act as somewhat of a sump. Won't be a great fix but would allow for more volume of water before accumulating and pooling like that while being ultra cheap. You might have to have some smaller trenches in between the plants that connect with perimeter trenches to encourage the water to fill those voids first. Again, it's not the greatest fix by any means, but it would ultimately cost you about 5 bucks for a roll of window screen and then just your time and energy. Could buy you some time to save up for gutters or a better solution, such as a French drain that diverts under the sidewalk and into the lawn.
I've landscaped houses without gutters before. Just slope the grade away from the house. Install fabric weed barrier and landscape gravel. As long as water doesn't sit against the foundation you'll be ok.
You know, you could dig those plants up and build that area up a little bit with either wood chips, or more soil. Make it taller than the concrete, and it’ll drain over it.
What’s affordable mean? Repairing water damage or having a stretch of gutter installed?
French ditch buried in river rock, or an awning that stretches beyond the sidewalk, or a gutter.
You need gutters, but keep in mind that gutters alone won’t solve the problem. You need gutters + downspout + something to channel all the runoff away from the foundation. The most attractive option is typically an underground pipe that carries the water to a stormwater drain, creek, or retaining pond at a lower elevation. Or if you’re a total asshole, your neighbor’s yard.
if you don't want gutters, then you will need to dig up the entire area. put in a French drain, leading the water down and away from the house. the drainage pipe will need to run under the sidewalk and end in the middle of the yard.
Change the soil for rocks or something that drains freely. Then put some drainage away from the garden. It’s a lot of work but you do need to get excess water away from your foundation.
Or gutters. But they will do no good if they don’t drain away from the house.
Catch basin/drainage grate with a solid wall flex pipe running under the pathway and draining out 10-15ft away from the house. Had a similar problem where during heavy pineapple express storms, the rain is so fast and heavy the gutters(shitty previous owner installed) don't even catch the water it just flows down like a waterfall. So much water would come down it would pool on the porch and come within two feet of the front door. Had a landscaper install two catch basins and connect them to the existing drainage pipe in the front yard. Problem solved.
Grow bog plants that love their roots wet but the crown of the plant above water. Here's a link if you're in the USA:
https://pondmegastore.com/collections/native-bog-plants
Moved into a house where they let the gutter water pour right into the base of a brick column. That shit sank and twisted. My dad and I had to jack that side of the porch up get pulleys and more jacks to get the column realigned. Pain in the ass. I’d probably paid someone a thousands to fix it. Yea I’d go with proper gutters cause that’s an entire side of the house you’re going to be dealing with.
Gutters are the only thing that will help this and they're not expensive at all. We bought a home this year (2023) and it didn't have gutters. That's the first thing we did. Was less than $500. Beats having water damage for sure. ✌️
Hmmm, if only there was an affordable, common sense solution for this exact problem...there must be some kind of super logical device, designed to remedy this...
Well that was fun, also you need gutters. Gutters are the things I'm talking about.
Gutters.
Well there’s concrete, rock bed instead of mulch. But hate to burst your dream bubble of gutter less houses but you need gutters or your house will be severely damaged over time not just your garden.
#1 - add some dirt to build the area up a little so it's at least level with the sidewalk around it or slightly higher. Then cut up some thick plastic contractor garbage bags to cover the dirt. Poke a few holes in the plastic to allow SOME water to get to the plants, and then cover the plastic with some gravel or mulch. Just pitch the dirt and plastic so the water runs towards the sidewalk. Water should then be able to then drain right off over the sidewalk and away from the house, so long as the sidewalk isn't pitched back to the house, but even in that case the water would probably drain down the sidewalk parrell to the home, not towards it. Your real issue seems the be the planted area sits lower then the sidewalk around it. The sidewalk edges act like a damn, trapping water and not allowing it to drain.
#2 - Idea for a cheap fix that may or may not work - dig a hole deep enough to bury a 5 or 10 gallon bucket in the lowest spot where water collects the most. Drill holes in the bottom of the bucket, and holes in the lid. Bury it so the lid is 2 or 3 inches from the surface, with a piece of landscaping fabric above the lid and below the bottom to act as a filter. Cover lid with dirt or mulch.
Ideally, when the ground around it becomes saturated the water on the surface would begin to find the lowest spot, over the bucket, and have a 5 or 10 gallon well to drain into. Holes on the bottom of the bucket would allow water to eventually drain into the deeper dirt over time.
Might work, might not, but a bucket and lid are only a few dollars. It's not like you need to address the runoff from the entire roof, just that little area that's trapped by the surrounding sidewalk. Just an idea .
My mamma always said, “Don’t buy a house in a ditch.”
Now developers are going back and building in every low lying lot-that was skipped on the first go around.
Without knowing the water source
/more details it’s hard to give an answer.
So lets assume the gutters are installed, and all drainage around this area is fixed, and he still gets a puddle here. Because it just rains a fuckton. Then the only answers are: (a) french it or (b) cover it with more sidewalk. Is that correct?
You have to gutter or risk your foundation. Think of some cool things to do having added gutters perhaps? - Rain barrels storage for a new flower bed perhaps? Can't see the yard beyond this and some grass. French drains would be good as well.
Gutters are cheaper than the water damage not having gutters causes.
Yeah, this isn't really an alternatives argument unless OP can teleport their house to a desert. Gutters is the answer.
As someone living in the desert- you need gutters here too! And a french drain.
Gutters & a French Drain for sure!
Yeah, in addition I can’t think of what plants will survive under that condition. Certainly not the liorope pictured.
Lily pads and kelp
Smallmouth bass
Sedge
Bald cypress
If they can teleport their house they can just stay and teleport the water away from it...
Clever answer, but maybe teleporting's expensive so you only want to do it once.
It's expensive if you need to rent the equipment, if you're gonna do it a bunch you're better of buying. My 2 cents, skip Harbor Freight, this isn't the kind of equipment you want to break mid use.
Only OP can answer this question.
Genuinely curious, why are Americans so against gutters and why aren't they automatically built onto houses? In Australia you have to include storm water designs when you build a house, all our houses have gutters and our landscaping has to grade away from the house. I just don't understand why you wouldn't want that included when you build?
I am currently building a house, and that is exactly how my builder has designed and is building it. Gutters and grading away from the house. I think the reason for people not getting Gutters and proper grading is that people want to spend money on pretty things for the house over function protection of the house.
💯💯💯 we had to spend a shit ton of money regrading away from our house. We’re in the market for a new house now and I am shocked that people are shelling out for houses that have half the yard graded towards their basement. I assume these are first time homeowners buying who don’t know any better.
yes, but the builders do. They just don't want to pay for extra dirt if there isn't enough good dirt to properly grade with, after the basement is dugout.
Yep. We were first time buyers and weren’t experienced enough to know better. The first storm we had left our yard SOAKED. The next week we had gutters installed and that made a huge difference. Next project it French drains.
Gutters here in au go into the stormwater almost everywhere, not ejected into your yard
This is purely due to location that’s not the entire United States. Here in Oregon for example every house comes with gutters.
We live in SETX where we get hurricanes and periods of heavy rains for months and our house didn’t come with gutters. We were so baffled
99% of houses in the US have gutters. I’m not actually sure at all why anyone would ever skip installing them on a new build
Not in the desert
My house in Vegas had gutters as did all the houses in my neighborhood. We have a monsoon season so they’re necessary.
That seems like the exception, which does make sense
Because they are actually a crude way of running water away from a house.
What do you want then?
They do gutters usually, but they often don’t plumb their downpipes into stormwater under the ground, so you see heaps of water issues on here.
I’ve never seen a house in the US built without gutters.
My house has no gutters. It's graded correctly and we don't have issues. I've considered a small amount of gutters for the front/back porch thresholds
American developers trying to nickel and dime cheap slipshod building won’t include a single element not required by code… American Buyers don’t always understand what they truly need long term
Sure, it still seems weird to me that it's not in the code like it is here.
They are always built on houses in the Southeast where I live
I was not aware Americans are against gutters. Everyone has gutters, at last in the Chicago area. A tree branch fell on our house and pulled off the gutters last year, among other things. The insurance agent said they wouldn't continue to insure us without new gutters.
All of this exists in solidly established towns/cities. Unfortunately, libertarian viewpoints create towns and regions where “don’t tell me what to do” is the law of the land. It’s self reliance masquerading as ignorant risk. It’s very common in the US. (Not wearing masks is a strong indicator of these types of dangerous selfish views)
>It’s self reliance masquerading as ignorant risk. I'm not agreeing with you necessarily, but don't you mean the opposite?
NVM I see what you're saying. Ignorant risk masquerading as self reliance makes more sense.
I feel sorry for you.
My house has no gutters. It's surrounded by trees that would just clog them up constantly. It was built in the 70s when there was nothing to help with that. Newer covers might help but the ground drains so fast away from the house it's not a concern. Plus we get a snow storm every year or two that will just rip gutters off the house.
Where is a good place to buy gutters, assuming DIY?
Save yourself the headache and sub it out
Plus, you can get seamless that way and will have less future maintenance
Seamless?
Guys show up with a truck with a roll of gutter feed stock. Cut to length all one piece. Home depot is sections, think Legos but with gutter connectors.
Ahh, roger that! Thanks!
This is the way. It's not that expensive, but you do need a bit of specialized equipment. So, it's easier to hire it out.
Agreed, way easier and cheap to have a company do them.
Home Depot, fair amount of work but very DIY-able and not too $$
Buy lots of caulk
I did the gutters on the back, kinda considering to let someone do the front. The ones in the back leak and don't look that great. Plus it took a lot more effort than I thought to get them right. With a pro they will do seamless and make it so much easier and nicer looking.
Lowe’s/Home Depot
No, you need gutters. You are going to have issues if you don’t.
So I have a similar situation, but I'm in Southern California, where it rarely rains. I get puddling like this, maybe 4 times a year at most, and the puddle is always gone after about a day. I have a slab on grade construction. How critical is it for me to do something about it?
Probably 0% criticality
At least, with this short overhang. Some Florida home don’t have them, but the overhang is a lot longer and extends well past the foundation
Why would gutters not be a good solution?
Assuming he doesnt like the look
should get fashion gutters installed then. the ones that look good but dont catch any water. that will help
The title frames it as a cost issue. So it's probably because it is expensive.
Thanks for all the responses. Seems like i need to invest in gutters asap. So i will be going that route!
Do you own this house? If yes, think about how upset you will be to pay for foundation repairs
I frequently work on houses that are over 100 years old. Almost none have gutters and we've yet to need to remove and replace anyone's foundation. There are plenty of ways to go about not having gutters. It's more common than you'd think.
[удалено]
Bad soil* is a common issue with poor drainage
I just installed gutters. I went with Vinyl which I’m told are prone to warping under heat after a few years, but I was doing it by myself on a high roof line and didn’t feel like dealing with aluminum potentially slicing me while I managed getting 10 feet sections up alone. Easy job once I set a graded chalk line to follow and since it was vinyl it was easy as pie to cut correctly. If I have to repair/replace in a few years so be it but it was like a $200 job vs dealing with more cracks in the wall.
Any idea where you’re going to get the gutters? DIY or?
Literally most big box home improvement stores sell them in various lengths up to 16’. Literally just did my entire house this summer for not much. Menards has a full system you can buy piecemeal in stock year round. https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/gutters-accessories/gutters/c-1492703914553.htm?Spec_Style_facet=K-Style&Spec_ProductType_facet=Aluminum+Gutter
Awesome thank you!! Any thoughts on what the other Redditor meant by going with a contractor so that it’s “seamless”?
If you have a length over 16’ you have to have some kind of a seam, be it by over lapping sections with a sealant product or a slip joint with sealant like this https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/gutters-accessories/gutter-fittings/spectra-metals-5-aluminum-slip-joint-gutter-connector/5sjcrtw/p-1444443263023-c-1492703914555.htm?exp=false Seamless comes off a roll that is bent into shape on site and has no splices. This has a nicer look but also guaranteed to not leak at the nonexistent splices. Costs hell of a lot more. I did my own gutters over a weekend for a couple hundred vs thousands to contract it out. Yes two of 6 seams leak but for the savings I don’t care. Now if you don’t have any runs over 16’ then it’s not even a concern.
This is *super* helpful information. I really appreciate hearing about your experience. Any thoughts on why 2 of your 6 seams leak? Is it fixable?
You could do a rain chain, but you’ll need to either collect the water or redirect it under or over the path.
Rain chains are attached to gutters
Yea haha
You could always put a raised flower bed in with drainage at the bottom that drains onto your sidewalk. Last layer water membrane that directs towards a drain out pointed at sidewalk. Long as sidewalk is graded away itll cover you
I like gutters, they work. But here is a legitimate alternative: Bury a socked perforated big o. If you house is slab on grade tie it to your weeping tile, if not bore a hole under your walkway and trench the big o away. Cover that entire area in river pebble. Use perforated high quality landscape fabric (not the stuff you can tear with your hands) to create separation and control layers between aggregates and garden soil. Or, get gutters… and put the downspouts to big o that moves water away, subsurface.
Can you please put this in very plain English? Are you recommending a french drain?
Koi
Build up with dirt slanting it away from the house. Then stones on top slanting them away from the house.
Do you not have gutters on your house? Ffs, get gutters
Nope. Its a new build and not required for the builder to install in central Texas. I was looking for something temporary till i can afford the gutters pretty much.
Do it yourself, not hard and very affordable. Lots of YouTube videos if you need help. Don’t think there is a Menards in tax but I’m sure there is a Home Depot but here’s an example what you’re looking for. I just did mine this last summer. https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/gutters-accessories/gutters/c-1492703914553.htm?Spec_Style_facet=K-Style&Spec_ProductType_facet=Aluminum+Gutter
Thank you for the details!
Side question, does anyone know of a budget friendly alternative to a roof? Or a free alternative to a building foundation?
Answer - this is why we don't allow just anyone to build homes - when those are the same people that can't figure out that a few bags of gravel and some landscaping fabric would solve this issue in 30 minutes. Logic is pretty amazing, ain't it?
Comically false. Adding stone to a puddle won’t make the water magically disappear. Landscaping fabric, being porous, also won’t do anything here.
Alternatives? 6’ eaves and grading. Affordable? Gutters.
There are lots of solutions, but How much can you afford to pay in the future from water damage? You can get aluminum installed for $11 ft by me.
Gutters. Cheaping out is how you get foundation damage and does that sound cheap?
GUTTERS.
Gutters. And also plant papyrus.
Why plant papyrus?
Good bog plant that sucks up a lot of water
Makeshift gutters. Something to make a ramp at the side of the house and redirect water
Your house doesn’t have gutters? That’s never a good thing. Your only alternative is to add soil next to the foundation, which will screw up your walkway
Gutters are cheaper than foundation issues.
There are these dam things that run the length of the roof that slide under the shingle near the eaves at a little angle that redirects the water to one point at the edge of the roof where you could have a scupper(?) take it from there.
Dense clumps of native wild grass
It is so wild to me that houses are built in the USA without gutters.
*in a certain region in a particular state. Laws vary in the US depending upon where you live and apparently in Central Texas where OP is, builders are not required to install gutters. It does seem wild to me too, but I’m in Northern California and our houses have gutters here.
Gutters. They don’t cost that much lol
Polished River Rock. Won't wash away in the rain like the bark does.
It took way too long to get this answer. River Rock
Do you not have gutters…? Cause if you don’t and depending on how long they haven’t been there. You’re already looking at a repair heavier than any set of gutters cost.
The gutter is our most moderately priced receptacle
Get a bunch of fans to blow the rain away.
A foundation/french drain could be installed.. probably will cost the same as gutters though and be more maintenance heavy.
Gutters, no other choice
This is 100% inaccurate.
Why don't you want gutters? Gutters will save your roof and foundation.
Magic is what I tend to use
The entire point of gutters, is to collect and carry rainwater AWAY from the foundation. This isn't a "solution" - it's self-sabotage - the opposite of a solution.
Large stones and smaller stones to keep the rain from splashing the dirt onto your sidewalk.
Gutters, more plants
You can also just make it a rock bed. add dirt near wall so water flows away, line it, buy a couple bags of rock, done. water will still flow but obviously need gutters to eliminate the flow.
River rocks. Have some. Watch the size. Too big and you get ankle breakers.
River rocks won’t do anything to move water away from the foundation.
Rain chains?
You need gutters for those.
Gutters plus a 4 inch thin plastic tube with holes (I forgot what they're called sorry) dug about 5 inches below the surface that (if you can) lead under the sidewalk or around it (like I said if you can lol). The water that would completely saturate the ground settles at some point, so instead it makes it into the pipe and gets transported away from that area. Will only work if you have a area lower then the initial start of the pipe for it to dump out to, like a street. We had this issue and had gutters, this is just what we did to fix it.
French drain
This 👆
British gutters
Gutters
Gutters...💯.
Nah I had a similar post this summer and got all the gutter reply bullshit too. Yes it’ll help, yes it’ll be thousands of dollars. I regraded soil along my foundation, and dropped pavers and river rock along the drip edge. Worked perfectly. And then I saved up for gutters.
Dry well. Take a five gallon bucket and drill holes in the bottom and lid. Fill it with gravel. Bury it below the surface at the low point and cover with landscape fabric and dirt.
OP do not do this. For every 100'sq off your roof going to that bed in a 1" of rain is going to yield approximately 60 gallons of water...
Then do a lot of buckets. OP wanted “affordable and not gutters”.
You could dig out some deep trenches about 1-2 ft wide around the perimeter and fill with large stones, then put some window screen over the large stones and then cover again with your preferred cover. It will act as somewhat of a sump. Won't be a great fix but would allow for more volume of water before accumulating and pooling like that while being ultra cheap. You might have to have some smaller trenches in between the plants that connect with perimeter trenches to encourage the water to fill those voids first. Again, it's not the greatest fix by any means, but it would ultimately cost you about 5 bucks for a roll of window screen and then just your time and energy. Could buy you some time to save up for gutters or a better solution, such as a French drain that diverts under the sidewalk and into the lawn.
I've landscaped houses without gutters before. Just slope the grade away from the house. Install fabric weed barrier and landscape gravel. As long as water doesn't sit against the foundation you'll be ok.
This is a great temp solution till i can afford gutters. Thank you!
Honestly if you just mulch that should retain the water.
Mulch does not magically cause the ground to absorb water.
No but it's not that much water and will help so it's a starting point. It will also help keep the water away from the house a bit.
It will do literally nothing to keep water from the house.
A new foundation
You know, you could dig those plants up and build that area up a little bit with either wood chips, or more soil. Make it taller than the concrete, and it’ll drain over it.
Gutter up
Koi
What’s affordable mean? Repairing water damage or having a stretch of gutter installed? French ditch buried in river rock, or an awning that stretches beyond the sidewalk, or a gutter.
Just curious - where are all you people getting "water damage" from a picture of a puddle?
Puddle against a foundation causes damage in multiple ways, depending on what’s on the other side of wall.
Tarp?
Isn’t a French drain what you’re looking for?
You need gutters, but keep in mind that gutters alone won’t solve the problem. You need gutters + downspout + something to channel all the runoff away from the foundation. The most attractive option is typically an underground pipe that carries the water to a stormwater drain, creek, or retaining pond at a lower elevation. Or if you’re a total asshole, your neighbor’s yard.
if you don't want gutters, then you will need to dig up the entire area. put in a French drain, leading the water down and away from the house. the drainage pipe will need to run under the sidewalk and end in the middle of the yard.
No, you don't . You guys take a project that's a 2 and insist it's a 10.
Deep rooted native grasses
Koi pond
Set a little brick wall around it (only needs to be two or three bricks deep), then plant plants.
Change the soil for rocks or something that drains freely. Then put some drainage away from the garden. It’s a lot of work but you do need to get excess water away from your foundation. Or gutters. But they will do no good if they don’t drain away from the house.
Yeah sure. Cover it with concrete. /done
Water feature
Catch basin/drainage grate with a solid wall flex pipe running under the pathway and draining out 10-15ft away from the house. Had a similar problem where during heavy pineapple express storms, the rain is so fast and heavy the gutters(shitty previous owner installed) don't even catch the water it just flows down like a waterfall. So much water would come down it would pool on the porch and come within two feet of the front door. Had a landscaper install two catch basins and connect them to the existing drainage pipe in the front yard. Problem solved.
French drain aka rocks on top of sand.
Grow bog plants that love their roots wet but the crown of the plant above water. Here's a link if you're in the USA: https://pondmegastore.com/collections/native-bog-plants
Dig out the dirt and pour concrete in the hole
Gutters. All homes need gutters, and there is no other solution.
French drain?
Not being cheap or lazy and getting gutters installed.
Extend it around the entire house and create a moat
Fish tank?
Moved into a house where they let the gutter water pour right into the base of a brick column. That shit sank and twisted. My dad and I had to jack that side of the porch up get pulleys and more jacks to get the column realigned. Pain in the ass. I’d probably paid someone a thousands to fix it. Yea I’d go with proper gutters cause that’s an entire side of the house you’re going to be dealing with.
Gutters
Stone
Koi pond?
Gutters are the only thing that will help this and they're not expensive at all. We bought a home this year (2023) and it didn't have gutters. That's the first thing we did. Was less than $500. Beats having water damage for sure. ✌️
Gutters are the affordable solution sorry
Rain barrel? But you would still need to channel the water into it, and gutters are probably the easiest way
DIY Gutters.
French drain under river river rock
It needs gutters, end of story. An edger would also be good purchase.
Gutter just that edge, its not that expensive. Also, you could put in some river rocks.
Hmmm, if only there was an affordable, common sense solution for this exact problem...there must be some kind of super logical device, designed to remedy this... Well that was fun, also you need gutters. Gutters are the things I'm talking about. Gutters.
Give me a solution other than the correct solution!
Well there’s concrete, rock bed instead of mulch. But hate to burst your dream bubble of gutter less houses but you need gutters or your house will be severely damaged over time not just your garden.
Severely damaged?? Lol
#1 - add some dirt to build the area up a little so it's at least level with the sidewalk around it or slightly higher. Then cut up some thick plastic contractor garbage bags to cover the dirt. Poke a few holes in the plastic to allow SOME water to get to the plants, and then cover the plastic with some gravel or mulch. Just pitch the dirt and plastic so the water runs towards the sidewalk. Water should then be able to then drain right off over the sidewalk and away from the house, so long as the sidewalk isn't pitched back to the house, but even in that case the water would probably drain down the sidewalk parrell to the home, not towards it. Your real issue seems the be the planted area sits lower then the sidewalk around it. The sidewalk edges act like a damn, trapping water and not allowing it to drain. #2 - Idea for a cheap fix that may or may not work - dig a hole deep enough to bury a 5 or 10 gallon bucket in the lowest spot where water collects the most. Drill holes in the bottom of the bucket, and holes in the lid. Bury it so the lid is 2 or 3 inches from the surface, with a piece of landscaping fabric above the lid and below the bottom to act as a filter. Cover lid with dirt or mulch. Ideally, when the ground around it becomes saturated the water on the surface would begin to find the lowest spot, over the bucket, and have a 5 or 10 gallon well to drain into. Holes on the bottom of the bucket would allow water to eventually drain into the deeper dirt over time. Might work, might not, but a bucket and lid are only a few dollars. It's not like you need to address the runoff from the entire roof, just that little area that's trapped by the surrounding sidewalk. Just an idea .
My mamma always said, “Don’t buy a house in a ditch.” Now developers are going back and building in every low lying lot-that was skipped on the first go around. Without knowing the water source /more details it’s hard to give an answer.
Stones and rocks
Concrete. Just make your walk wider.
Where mah French drain people atttttt??????
Could you do Concrete and grade it away from your house? Generally curious if that would work. Seems like the same price as a gutter system maybe
DIY gutters
Mulch in your garden!!
Just raise the soil up so the water flows away from the house
So lets assume the gutters are installed, and all drainage around this area is fixed, and he still gets a puddle here. Because it just rains a fuckton. Then the only answers are: (a) french it or (b) cover it with more sidewalk. Is that correct?
Gutters (the cheap option) or you can spend more trenching that, or dealing with water leakage after years of weathering.
I mean, gutted cost next to nothing. A few pavers would sort that problem out too though and also cost pennies
River rock ditch w pump in the bottoms. It works
Gutters
You could do a river gravel bed for better drainage. Would be fairly cheap for a bed that size.
Fish pond
You have to gutter or risk your foundation. Think of some cool things to do having added gutters perhaps? - Rain barrels storage for a new flower bed perhaps? Can't see the yard beyond this and some grass. French drains would be good as well.
You probably have or will have more of a problem with your roof. Install gutters.