Walked through a newer subdivision near the foothills and the drainage work was shocking

I was out looking at a friend's new build off of Tramway last week and walked around the neighborhood. Every single house had the gutters dumping right next to the foundation, not even a splash block in sight. The grading on the lots was so flat that water was pooling in the yards after just a light rain. Am I the only one who thinks this is setting these homeowners up for basement or slab issues down the road?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan95214d ago

Hold on though, most of those new builds in ABQ don't even have basements anymore. They're all slab-on-grade foundations in the foothills because of the caliche soil and drainage issues. So that pooling water is still bad news cause it can soak under the slab and cause heaving or cracking over time. You're definitely right that the gutter situation is lazy work though. Not having splash blocks or underground drains is just asking for water to undermine the foundation. Builders should at minimum have those pop-up emitters that shoot the water a few feet away from the house.

noahpark13d ago

Huh, that's a good point about the slab and heaving. I actually read somewhere that the caliche soil here is basically like concrete once it dries, so water getting trapped under there is a real problem. @ryan952 you're spot on about the pop-up emitters too, seems like such a cheap fix that builders just skip out on.