| Soil erosion is a costly problem, so it is very important | | | | doing the best thing possible for rain damage |
| to plan ahead when buying a home. Making sure soil | | | | prevention and soil erosion control. |
| erosion control and rain damage prevention are done | | | | - When your home landscaping is complete, |
| right during the original landscaping and building of your | | | | permanently seed or sod your entire yard. This will |
| home will lead to a nicer overall yard and keeping your | | | | stabilize the soil for the life of your yard. |
| yearly maintenance costs down. | | | | Now that we have covered many soil erosion control |
| The by-product of soil erosion is sediment. You've | | | | methods, we can move to the rain damage prevention |
| seen this after a hard rain on your sidewalks and | | | | of your home. |
| driveways. Sediment from soil erosion is the largest | | | | When a house is built, water that lands on the roof |
| pollutant in our lakes, rivers and streams. If your yard | | | | generally runs off and is taken to the ground through |
| sediment clogs up your storm sewers, it can cause | | | | gutters and downspouts. Gutters should be properly |
| flooding. Any uncovered land on your property, no | | | | fitted from the start and pitched toward the |
| matter how large or small an area, is susceptible to | | | | downspouts. Keeping the gutters sloping to the |
| rain damage and soil erosion. | | | | downspouts will accelerate water flow, and will allow |
| Sediment from yards can also be a major source of | | | | the water to flow easily. To keep this all from leaking, |
| phosphorus in lakes and streams. When you get | | | | any joints in the gutters and downspouts should be |
| excess phosphorus, there is a higher likelihood of | | | | caulked. |
| unhealthy algae blooms. These algae blooms cause an | | | | Downspouts are normally found on the corners of the |
| awful smell, and can kill fish and other water life. Rain | | | | house. All downspouts should be properly fitted with |
| damage prevention along with soil erosion control is the | | | | screws and sealers. At the bottom of the downspout, |
| better way to keep our waterways clear and the | | | | piping situated underground is connected and all water |
| environment clean. (Not to mention it is much more | | | | will be taken away from the house through subsurface |
| cost effective to prevent the damage than to try to | | | | drainage. |
| restore something after it has been damaged.) | | | | Although this design for rain damage prevention and |
| There are key ways to keeping your yard looking | | | | soil erosion control has been around for many years, |
| better. Some common ways of planning for soil | | | | sometime it can be very costly. If any maintenance is |
| erosion control and rain damage prevention are: | | | | needed, whether due to leakage or clogging, you can |
| - Cover all stock-piled soil you have on your property. | | | | be looking at a hefty bill. |
| When these soil stock-piles are not in use, keeping | | | | Now enters the "new kid on the block" for rain |
| them covered with a weighted plastic tarp will help | | | | damage prevention and soil erosion control. There is a |
| with soil erosion control. | | | | product on the market that actually extends your |
| - Plant a temporary vegetative cover on your | | | | downspout far enough out into your yard to help keep |
| unfinished yard. When you have an area of your yard | | | | your home safe from rain damage and soil erosion. |
| that is bare and won't be touched for a while, just plant | | | | Rainguard Downspout Extensions are placed on the |
| something temporarily to help hold the soil in place. | | | | bottom of a downspout and they roll out when it rains |
| Annual rye grass is a good choice for this. | | | | to drain the water away from your home. What is |
| - Use mulch. Any areas of soil that are exposed and | | | | especially nice about these extensions are that they |
| next to a hard surface, like a sidewalk or driveway, | | | | roll back up and out of the way when it is not raining. |
| should be covered and stabilized by mulch or mulch | | | | So, as you can see, you have many options for soil |
| and a temporary vegetative covering. There are many | | | | erosion control and rain damage prevention in property |
| types of mulching products, including straw, straw | | | | you own and maintain. A rain storm does not have to |
| netting blankets and wood fiber blankets. When you | | | | be a problem for you or your environment. |
| place these on large areas of bare ground, you are | | | | |