Help! Spring runoff on frozen ground

I am new to this group so I am not sure if I am posting this in the right place.

I am hoping that someone here has a solution for me!

I have a garage that gets flooded every spring. Since the garage slopes towards the house (it is attached to the house) we sometimes get the water in the house itself since our house is built below grade.

The open end of the garage is level with the "driveway". The driveway is actually a shared roadway. It is gravel and has been there for so long it has compacted and is just like cement.

I have read solutions such as french drains and trenches but the main time we have problems is when the snow melts but the ground is still frozen. I am assuming that since the ground is still frozen the water can't absorb into the ground and will still run off the surface into my garage.

We are currently diverting the water every spring by hacking a small trench in front of the garage. A permanent trench would just fill up with snow and ice and we would end up hacking it out every spring anyway.

Since the driveway is shared there isn't much we can do accept somehow divert the water away from our house - the question is, how can we do this?

Sand bags placed on top of the snow,  will settle down and work as a diverter the moment the snow starts to melt. These bags could be set aside and used year after year. Protect them from the sun so that the plastic doesn't deteriorate.

This would mean that we can't drive into the garage during the winter?

> drive car in...

Depends on how big a bag. Make you own. Sow strong material in a tube shape. Passenger vehicles driven slowly shouldn't destroy bags too much. It doesn't take a great deal of height to divert water unless you're in a real low spot where runoff is very concentrated.

However. How much area in front of your garage do you control (legally)? If you have 10-20' you might be able to bring in some road base and then gravel and berm up a shallow rise in front of the garage. Make a speed bump. <g> It would be permanent and it would take some adjusting to get it right. Ie. standing out there watching water happen. It would need to be compacted; the better the compaction the longer it will last. Consider how you plan to clear the drive in winter; a big truck behind a big plow can move a lot of things so some thought and care might be needed. Plan where you are diverting the runoff. Actually, review your whole site and see what makes sense overall for your water.

Water control is always a challenge, always with us. Good luck.

Rufus

Build a berm right it front of the garage entrance then build a 'ramp' in the garage. water problem solved car problem solved.