Johns Creek, Georgia
Crawl space and basement waterproofing in Johns Creek
Call from Johns Creek and you are put through to an independent local waterproofing company. The city has published three plain answers that affect drainage work at a house.
You talk with an independent local waterproofing company. Roswell Crawl Space is a referral service and does none of the work itself.
Three things the city has said
The backyard is yours
Asked whether it will fix a backyard drainage problem, the city answers that it maintains only the pipes, inlets, headwalls and ponds in the public right-of-way or on city land. Private property is the owner's.
Ask before moving water
The same list of answers tells homeowners to contact Community Development before altering any drainage path. A new swale, berm or French drain changes where water goes, so make that call first.
Fifty feet from any stream
A 25-foot state buffer plus a 25-foot city buffer runs along both banks of every stream. Inside it you may not put up walls, fences or decks or remove live plants.
All three come from the city's stormwater questions page.
Is that ditch a stream?
It can be hard to tell. The city's answer is that its Land Development staff will come out, look at the channel and say whether it is a stream that carries a buffer or a stormwater channel that only runs after rain. The second kind needs no buffer.
Get that ruling before a contractor plans a drain outlet, a discharge pipe or any regrading at the back of the lot. A drain built inside a buffer may have to come out again.
What this means for the work
Jobs inside the house are untouched by any of this. Sealing a crawl space, cutting an interior drain or setting a sump basin all happen within your own walls.
The outdoor end is where the rules bite. Where the pump discharge finishes, where a French drain empties and how the soil is reshaped should each be drawn on the proposal, so you can show the sketch to the city if asked.