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re2 egonomistsuntribuneiapril21986 homebuying a drainage experience engineered drainage protects your in vestment and ensures stability and in tegrity of your property your new home and your community for many years and many decades into the future what does water do when you put it at the top of a hill it flows down the hill right right and that very simple fact causes more grief more difficulty and more obstacles to building new homes than just about any other single factor because that same gentle trickle of wa ter can turn your basement into an un planned unwelcomed swimming pool as one of todays builders i want to develop a creative neighborhood plan one with intersecting road patterns an undulating boulevard here and a change in level there sure if we planned a flat community we wouldnt have a problem and 20 years ago flat was fine all a builder had to do was clear a field run a road straight through it plunk new houses down on either side and voila we had a new community but in todays market flat isnt fine and to make our community work good drainage is vital because if drainage isnt well planned and your house is at the bottom of a gently landscaped hill pretty soon youre going to have a flood in your basement many people ask me why cant you build a completely waterproof base ment we can and we do we make our basements out of solid poured concrete usually a minimum of eight inches thick the walls are coated outside right from the very bottom to the top of the soil level with a thick bitmunous waterproofing compound that holds water back but consider this water in the soil ex erts pressure of several hundred pounds per square inch on the outside of that waterproofed wall inevitably even the tiniest hairline fissure will eventually succumb to the pressure and let some last year in ontario 2150 people were treated for rabies exposure as a result the ontario ministry of health is urging all residents to be extremely cautious since the disease is fatal to humans as well as pets anyone whos been in contact with a rabid animal must take a series of shots tou can protect your family by taking these simple precautions first vaccinate your pets against rabies second keep them on a leash third everyone especially children should be taught to avoid strays and wildlife that might carry rabies always wear gloves when handling a dead animal remember farm animals can be infected too protect your family and friends by protecting your pets from rabies if s no way for a friend to die ministry of health ontario minister hon murray sston premier hon david peterson water through and even if there isnt the tiniest opening water will simply satu rate a compound and seep through it water is sneaky that way part of the answer to drainage prob lems is simple keep the water away from the house in the first place thats your next concern right easy to say but not easy to do especially when youre building a whole new com munity and to make that plan work all the land has to slope away from your house but also not slope towards any of the adjoining houses not just on either side but in front and back as well thats why builders of most new com munities include a small and shallow drainage ditch a swale thats built right into your property to collect excess wa ter from rain melting snow lawn sprinkling and car washing the swale channels the water away from your house and away from neighbors right to the drainage system storm sew er or storm drain thats installed under neath the roads and thats also why youll likely find a retaining wall between your property and the next its there to maintain the change in property level or grade and to ensure that succeeding years of drain age dont cause erosion and change the drainage patterns you might ask why did you put the swale or that retaining wall in this par ticular spot i didnt but my engineers did specify ing those details where necessary the municipality must approve our engineering drawings months before the first home is built in a new community drawings that specify exactly how the contours of the land will look when the community is finally built a hundred years ago nobody needed engineering drawings drainage pat terns swalesor retaining walls you just picked a spot on your farm that was high er than the others and built your house on it you know what happens when you put water at the top of a hill and what happens when it flows to the bottom today we actually have to construct that high ground for each individual building lot we rely on our engineers to use their knowledge to create complex drainage patterns where every single slope of the land relates to every other single slope municipalities too have their own slope rules for our engineers to follow for ex ample most municipalities demand a change of at least one per cent along a given property length so for example if your lot is 120 feet deep one end of it has to be at least 15 inches higher than the other that may not sound too difficult but when you start to multiply that 15 inches here with another 15 inches there then add gradients to make sure that water slopes away from he side of the house you begin to realize just how complex a job building the land itself is in the first place of course it would be a lot simpler for me as a builder to just forget about drainage retaining walls and swales and let the water fall where it may but it wouldnt be right i know that and so do the engineers and the munici palities so the next time you look at those swales and those slopes and those retain ing walls on your new home property remember theyre there to protect your investment and to ensure the stability and integrity of your property your new home and your community for many years and decades into the future