Free Reference
Yard Drainage Rain and Photo Log
A printable one-page record of what a yard does during and after rain, in a form any provider can understand.
The most useful thing you can hand a drainage provider is not a description from memory — it is a record made while the water was actually moving. This page is that record. Print it, keep it near a window, and fill in a row each time it rains. Over a few events, a clear pattern usually appears: where water starts, the path it takes, and the spot where it finally collects.
How to use it
Photos: same angles, every time
Pick two or three fixed vantage points and always shoot from exactly those spots — a back step, a specific fence corner, a window. Repeatable angles are what make photos comparable across storms; a picture from a new position each time hides the very changes you are trying to see.
- Mark your photo spots (a chalk X, a stake, or a note) so you return to the same footing each time.
- Shoot at the same points in the event: as rain starts, at peak, and again after it stops.
- Include a fixed reference in frame — a step, a post, a hose bib — so water depth reads consistently between photos.
- If it is safe, add one photo 12–48 hours later to show how long water lingers.
The log rows
For each rain event, record the date, roughly how long it rained, and then trace the water: where it starts, where it travels, and where it collects. Estimate depth at the worst spot, and note what you observe at 12, 24, and 48 hours afterward. Rough estimates in plain words are fine — consistency matters more than precision.
Printable log
| Date | Rain duration | Where water starts | Where it travels | Where it collects | Depth estimate | Follow-up @ 12h | Follow-up @ 24h | Follow-up @ 48h | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Photo checklist: Spot A ______________ · Spot B ______________ · Spot C ______________ (record the same fixed vantage points used for every event).
Why this helps
A dated log turns "the yard floods" into something a provider can actually reason about: a source, a path, an outlet, and how long water stays. It also protects you — a real record is harder to misjudge than a memory of last spring. For how this site sources and corrects its references, see the editorial standards, or return to Resources.