I was enjoying my newly completed shed, only to discover the first of a couple of problems…mud.

I was expecting some mud from time to time. This is, after all, a forest. But this mud never seemed to dry up or drain away. It was better at times, and worse at other times. It never disappeared.

I called in an Excavator.

Excavators use heavy equipment to fix problems like this. I asked around, and everyone recommended the same company in town. I saw their equipment around, working on several projects. I called in to the company, and they sent out their patriarch, who had founded the company. I liked him immediately.

After looking around, he declared, “You’ve got a surface water problem.”

He explained that although the shed had been constructed on high ground, that the surrounding ground was not evenly sloped down to the pond, and this was trapping surface water run off following any rain. The ground itself had enough clay in it to keep the water from draining.

“Is this hard to fix?” I asked.

“Nope. It’s easy. We just regrade the surface so water will drain down into the pond. While we’re at it, we’ll put in a swale around your shed so water will bypass it.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what a swale is. I understood about  the regrading the surface of the ground.”

“A swale is a shallow ditch with sloped sides. Water collects in it, but because the swale has a slight pitch, the collected water runs downhill, around the shed, and into your pond.”

“So that will fix the problem?”

“Problem solved.”

“Will this cost a lot?”

“No, it’s just a day or two’s work, and we’re done.”

“That sounds good. Let’s do it.”

In the city, I would have gotten a written estimate from several excavators, checked their references, and then put down a deposit. In the country, having met the guy who owned the company, a handshake worked for both of us.