At this home in Lexington, MA a newly finished basement called for the installation of two new window wells. Due to certain drainage issues, the window wells were flooding and so the homeowner contacted us to help solve the problem.

After getting the story of how the wells went in and after sampling the ground conditions it became fairly apparent what the problem was. The yard’s subsoil consisted mostly of clay which when packed solid is fairly impervious to water. Around the new window wells, however, the ground had been dug up and re-filled with loose material. This allowed water to shed off the yard and drain right into the loose area by the new window wells, flooding them and letting water into the basement.

To solve this problem we first removed the loose clay from the previously excavated area, and dug down below the level of the window wells.  We then filled with crushed stone to provide a dry-well beneath the level of the window wells in which water could drain, and also which provided a solid base for a patio.  Hardscaping the area with a patio will shed water away from the house as well as provide an extension to the outdoor living space.

 

Here we are compacting the course stone fill that was used to replace the wet clay.

After the 1/2″ crushed stone is down we added another layer of 3/4″ crushed stone to raise the patio to the desired grade.  We then use a thin layer of sand to achieve a perfect level and set the pavers in.

 

Next the pavers are laid in a Herringbone pattern and the whole patio is pitched slightly to drain away from the house.