The Holes In My Yard

Why am I digging holes in my yard?  Well it’s a long story but the short of it is that we are doing a drainage project here this weekend.  On three occasions in the last six years, torrential rains have caused my girlfriend and I to spend long hours without sleep while we worked hard to keep water seeping into our basement from destroying carpet and furniture and other things.  We never travel from Spring until Fall without keeping an eye on the weather “back home” in case  a powerful weather system develops with lots of rain.  So, we’ve decided to do something about it.

I should probably know better but, in the interest of frugality and good stewardship (sometimes they are the same thing), this is a D.I.Y. project.  Actually, on two occasions I’ve tried to hire professionals to do it and never heard from either one of them after the initial walk through and hearing them say, “I’ll get back to you!”.  At any rate, my girlfriend keeps expressing concerns about me being electrocuted, hitting a gas main and blowing up the house and other such exciting events.  My son (who is still young and foolish enough to help Dad with his crazy schemes) is coming with his family to assist in what he refers to as a “family adventure”.  One of the key players on my team is having hernia surgery on Monday.  One of my potential helpers … young, athletic and full of energy … has a broken foot.  And I’m out there entertaining the neighbors while I paint lines on my grass and dig holes here and there searching for utility lines and old drainage tile lines.  I’ll post some pictures of our progress, hopefully they won’t include any blood :-).

I’m using a product called “Multi-Flow” from a company called Drainage Direct (www.drainage-direct.com) for 300 feet of drainage line.  It’s purportedly much better than a tube in a sock, commonly known as a “French Drain” (Sorry Ryan … we’re not bringing anything french to this project).

My girlfriend, who is usually a faithful companion, boldly going with me where Jeske’s should not go, has informed me that she’s opting out on this adventure.  She’s not even going to stick around to watch.  She is going to spend some time “bonding” with our daughter and daughter-in-law (probably involving shopping or something).

Well, there it is … some of what is happening around here.  If you are reading this and are local to Dubuque and would like to lend a hand you would surely be welcome.  I’ll need some help beginning Friday afternoon (hauling dirt away from the project site after we run the trencher) and all day Saturday (as we install the drainage product and haul sand for filler).  Bring a shovel and join the “family adventure”.

T