Summer in Oklahoma is a great time to get together with the family. Whether you’re enjoying the warm weather on your patio, fighting it going down the river, or enjoying some backyard sprinkler action, you’ve got choices.

Late summer is also an excellent time for your garden. If someone tells you they don’t like tomatoes, they probably have only eaten one from the store, which might as well be an entirely different species!

But, with the heat of summer and some of the rainiest months of the year, summer can also be a time when your drainage problem can rear its ugly head and show you the consequences of ignoring it!

If you think you might have a drainage problem or wonder how poor drainage can affect your health, well then, you’ve come to the right place because today, Fair Lawn has the blog for you.

Signs of Poor Drainage

So, how do you know if your property has a drainage problem? There are some tell-tale signs, including a few that are slightly more obvious to you.

The clearest sign of a drainage problem, of course, is flooding. If you have standing water in your home, unless it’s coming from busted plumbing, you have a drainage problem.

But flooding outdoors can also be a sign of poor drainage. For example, do you have standing water on your lawn or patio? What about squishy footsteps on some or all of your property?

All of the above are poor drainage indicators. But an unhealthy lawn can also indicate drainage problems. So, how can you tell when your lawn is unhealthy?

How Drainage Problems Affect Your Lawn

Lawn problems aren’t as apparent as water flooding your home, but they are some of the earliest indicators that you have a drainage issue. Here are the signs:

Drainage, Soil Compaction, and Soil Erosion

As water saturates the soil, previously loose spacious soil can get compact, getting denser and making it less likely for grass to flourish.

A word of caution here – summer gatherings are also factors in compacting the soil. Anytime you have a lot of foot traffic in one spot, you are pounding that dirt and making it dense. You don’t need to figure out the cause alone; Fair Lawn can help.

Another sign of poor drainage is soil erosion. For example, if your gardens are losing soil or you have hills losing height, you may have a drainage problem. The erosion can further exacerbate the soil compaction and cause more drainage issues.

Lawn Disease and Loss

Finally, the loss and compaction of soil can harm your grass. If your lawn is getting bare spots, that is another possible sign of drainage issues. But, again, you’re not on your own here; we are happy to take a look.

Overwatering or a Drainage Problem?

It’s important to note that some drainage issues are caused by overwatering. Make sure that you are giving your plants the recommended amount of water and considering recent precipitation. The good news is, if you are the cause, you’re also the solution!

Poor Drainage Can Be Unhealthy for Your Family

As detrimental as poor drainage can be to your lawn, the most important thing is your family. And unfortunately, drainage problems can also negatively impact the health of humans and pets.

Extra Water Means More Pests

Standing water attracts mosquitos. They say mosquitoes can lay hundreds of eggs in a ¼ inch of water. Yikes!

And mosquitos aren’t just pesky itch factories. They can also carry diseases like Zika, the West Nile Virus, and Heartworm.

Of course, mosquitos aren’t the only pests attracted by excess water. Cockroaches love damp spaces, and everything needs water to live. So the more you have, the more you attract.

Too Much Water Leads To Mold

Mildew and other molds need two things to grow – heat and water. Sound familiar?

Summer creates the perfect condition for mold growth. And mold growth is not good for you and your family to live in!

Besides the musty smell that mold brings, it can damage your health. Mold exacerbates asthma and can create other health problems in certain individuals. Some of these include:

watery eyes
runny nose and sneezing,
itching
coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing,
headache
fatigue
memory loss in extreme cases

Mold exposure can be dangerous for many people, and it’s always easier to stop a problem before it starts than to deal with it later. Mold remediation can be expensive and may include extensive remodeling.

It’s best to prevent or correct drainage problems as you discover them.

Property Damage

Water is a powerful force! It can bring down mountains, and as “the universal solvent,” it can dissolve many materials when given enough time.

While property damage might not be considered a health condition, anyone dealing with property repairs will tell you about the substantial stress!

Drainage Repairs

If you suspect your property has drainage issues, Fair Lawn can help. As mentioned, we may find that overwatering is sometimes the culprit. However, even in cases where the issue is more complex, you needn’t despair, as drainage repairs are possible.

Sometimes, simply extending a downspout away from your home is enough to divert water from your home. In others, we may install a French drain.

A French drain is a ditch or channel that we dig into your property and then fill with gravel or sand. French drains create a safe place for water to collect and dissipate without harming your lawn or home. Sometimes french drains can be paired with other reservoirs or draining methods to complete your overall drainage project.

Don’t let worrying about a waterlogged lawn drain you! Just take the appropriate action by giving Fair Lawn a call. We’ll determine your issue and create the best solution for solving it.

If you have drainage or other landscaping questions, let us know! We’d love to chat!

How Your Drainage Problem Can Make Late Summer Unhealthy