Drainage is always an issue when developing property that is situated on a relatively steep slope with a shallow depth to bedrock. Unfortunately this is a common scenario on Lake Superior's North Shore. Under these conditions water moves fast, channelizes, then finds a fracture in the bedrock to dissappear into: only to reappear in another seemingly random location (i.e. spring). While the spring melt this year has been gradual, plenty of issues have come up.
It all started in Feburary. The nights were cold (as in below zero) but during the day the atmosphere had enough energy to start the groundwater thaw. This freeze-thaw cycle quickly froze the culvert at the base of the driveway solid leaving all the subsequent melt to continue down the hill and eventually crest over the crown of the road at the base of the drive. Every day the ice would stack up on top of itself over the driveway and freeze solid at night. There was nothing that we could do about it! So everyday I loaded the ice flow with salt and sand so that we could get a truck up and over it. No big deal, it was just another daily chore. When the sun forced a partial melt, I was out there chipping away at an ice sheet that grew to over three feet thick!
Once March rolled around that ice flow rapidly turned to liquid and permeated its way back into the ground. Mud season had begun and the water started running as the temperatures were now warm enough to start melting the four feet of snow pack that had acculmulated throughout the course of the winter.
We steamed our culvert to open it up. With the culvert flowing the race was one. At this point the ditch next to the drive did all of the work. The problem for us was getting the water to move around the newly constructed cabin.
Remember that the cabin was built during the winter when the ground was frozen. Unfortunately for us we were so intent and focused on construction that we didn't have time to think about water runoff immediatly around the structure. This mistake became very evident once those snowpiles started to melt and the roof started dripping!
When the slab was poured the masons leveled the site and dug around the pad to frame the pour. Not thinking at the time, they simply left the extra sand in a berm around the perimeter of the structure. During the winter this berm of sand froze solid. Once the melt began the berm acted like a dam and trapped the water between itself and the cabin (particulary on the upslope side -north side - of the structure). To add to the mix, the North side is also the shaded side were the sun doesn't pack the same melting force punch as the south. Snow melted and dripped onto the berm. Eventually the water rose high enough to crest the threshold of the door and seep into the cabin. In the meanwhile we have been frantically chipping and digging to cut a ditch in order to channel the water away from the cabin to prevent it from flooding us out again. So far water has seeped its way into the living space on two occasions! Fortunately it wasn't a big deal as nothing was destroyed and I was able to mop it up right away.
The good news is that this is an easy fix. Once the snow is all gone and the ground has thawed out we can simply cut down the berm and reshaped the ground around the structure to slope away from itself. Beyond that we are installing gutters to collect the water and avoid it from concentrating its drip right at the base of the slab. Worst case scenario I'll install drain tiles along the base of the slab. Either way, this year will surely be full of digging in order to prepare for next year's spring melt.
Water: I make my living from it. We all literallty live by it. I love to recreate on it. However, it sure can be a pain when it's working against you!
It all started in Feburary. The nights were cold (as in below zero) but during the day the atmosphere had enough energy to start the groundwater thaw. This freeze-thaw cycle quickly froze the culvert at the base of the driveway solid leaving all the subsequent melt to continue down the hill and eventually crest over the crown of the road at the base of the drive. Every day the ice would stack up on top of itself over the driveway and freeze solid at night. There was nothing that we could do about it! So everyday I loaded the ice flow with salt and sand so that we could get a truck up and over it. No big deal, it was just another daily chore. When the sun forced a partial melt, I was out there chipping away at an ice sheet that grew to over three feet thick!
Once March rolled around that ice flow rapidly turned to liquid and permeated its way back into the ground. Mud season had begun and the water started running as the temperatures were now warm enough to start melting the four feet of snow pack that had acculmulated throughout the course of the winter.
We steamed our culvert to open it up. With the culvert flowing the race was one. At this point the ditch next to the drive did all of the work. The problem for us was getting the water to move around the newly constructed cabin.
Remember that the cabin was built during the winter when the ground was frozen. Unfortunately for us we were so intent and focused on construction that we didn't have time to think about water runoff immediatly around the structure. This mistake became very evident once those snowpiles started to melt and the roof started dripping!
When the slab was poured the masons leveled the site and dug around the pad to frame the pour. Not thinking at the time, they simply left the extra sand in a berm around the perimeter of the structure. During the winter this berm of sand froze solid. Once the melt began the berm acted like a dam and trapped the water between itself and the cabin (particulary on the upslope side -north side - of the structure). To add to the mix, the North side is also the shaded side were the sun doesn't pack the same melting force punch as the south. Snow melted and dripped onto the berm. Eventually the water rose high enough to crest the threshold of the door and seep into the cabin. In the meanwhile we have been frantically chipping and digging to cut a ditch in order to channel the water away from the cabin to prevent it from flooding us out again. So far water has seeped its way into the living space on two occasions! Fortunately it wasn't a big deal as nothing was destroyed and I was able to mop it up right away.
The good news is that this is an easy fix. Once the snow is all gone and the ground has thawed out we can simply cut down the berm and reshaped the ground around the structure to slope away from itself. Beyond that we are installing gutters to collect the water and avoid it from concentrating its drip right at the base of the slab. Worst case scenario I'll install drain tiles along the base of the slab. Either way, this year will surely be full of digging in order to prepare for next year's spring melt.
Water: I make my living from it. We all literallty live by it. I love to recreate on it. However, it sure can be a pain when it's working against you!
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