Huber Ridge Area

We love our house and yard, but every time it rains like it has this week, we get a good three-to-four inches of flooding right off our back patio (and sometimes halfway up our patio!). 

I am hoping to do something to counteract it this Spring, and I figured with so many similar yards in the neighborhood someone else might have come up with a good solution! I can't take another year of having the dog get soaked to her elbows every time she goes out, or not being able to enjoy the porch due to mosquitos.

I have considered installing a french drain, but hate to do it to my neighbors (whose yard lies lower than ours already). Has anyone had luck simply building up flooding-prone areas with soil? Is there another common (preferably DIY!) solution I don't know about?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 Please do not take this the wrong way, but do you know how a french drain works? Alot of piping, which you will need anyway, an outlet, which will have to be cut out to the curb, which you will need anyway, and alot of gravel. Get a yard drain or 2 from Home Depot which you can put at ground level and it will let all the water out. Might take a little time, but so would a french drain.

I have noticed and hated this problem for 3 years. i do not understand why there is a huge slope with most of the houses i have seen in our neighborhood. whatever the original design was for landscape irrigation/ drainage doesnt work. we have large pools by our fence line that get muddy and attract the bad bugs and our patio that has sunken also floods all the time! ugh...apart from ordering soil in bulk and trying to raise the ground level and add grass seed i don't know what the solution is. im also battling evil vine like plants from my neighbors yard constantly invading my yard and especially my fence which is pushing it over. grrrrrr

Dear Giachetti,

Regarding the vines - Roundup along the fence.  I plan to do this along the fence this year.  Creeping Charlie is the worst, and when a fenceline is not trimmed, the result is just what you noted.  I think it is best to care for fencelines, and quite considerate.

Pam Clegg