So much water with no place to go! Todays thought covers the grading and drainage of the lawn surrounding your home or other building. ALL foundations in North Texas have a propensity to move when surface runoff stands next to the foundation The deeper the foundation, the less susceptible the foundation is to moisture and temperature extremes but even deep foundations can have problems if the lawn and hardscape are not sloped to provide drainage off of the lot. Spring is prime time to discover and plan for drainage corrections. Slogging through mud and trying to move dirt is not advisable in Dallas and surrounding area during the spring when we get most of our rain for the year. But spring is an awesome time for planning. Make plans to step outside and look at all sides of your house and lawn the next time we have a heavy rain. Seeing the actual drainage in action can tell you more in 5 minutes than a whole day with a level and guessing. Notice where the water actually goes and where it just stands. For the health of your foundation, never permit water to run or stand immediately against your foundation. The soil should slope away from your foundation on all sides of the home to promote drainage away from the foundation. If you can visualize your home on top of its own little hill with the soil sloping down hill directing water away from the house, you have the beginnings of a good drainage plan. Even though subsurface drains might be the only feasible answer in some unusual circumstances, I do not recommend such solutions as a rule. ALL subsurface drains will clog and fail in very short order especially so called “French drains” since tree roots and soil will enter the drains and render the drains ineffective. A better solution is surface grading and drainage swales to direct water off of the lot by gravity.