Mud Season in Maine

I have a feeling this mud season is going to get messy. The house we purchased has a few drainage issues. I’ll fix all of them this Summer, but in the meantime, we’re going to do the best with what we’ve got.

I’m not worried about inside. Just a few days after we arrived here, I went ahead and installed a new sump pump, along with discharge tubing. For the past few days, I’ve been hearing the pump go on and off. Things seem pretty good in the basement. If you care to refresh yourself on the sump pump project, please check these posts:

Installing a Sump Pump in a Crawl Space

Sump Pump Discharge Piping

Sump Pump Hookup Before the Rain

Now that Spring is here, we’re going to feel the full impact of what Mother Nature can throw at us in terms of water. Our property is not, how should I say, “high.” Or elevated. It’s not terribly low either, but it’s closer to the water table than I’d like. That, along with the fact that there is about zero property drainage, may cause issues. To fix things, I need a backhoe or a small excavator. I plan on digging three swales. Two across the front of the property to drain in the stream and one all the way from the house to the back corner of the open yard into a different section of the stream. The stream lies lower than the house, which is indeed a good thing.

Anyway, I’ve been looking into mud season in Maine lately to get a grip on just how bad things are going to get around here. I’ve heard about it in passing, but really haven’t experienced anything like it in person. From what I can gather, mud season is caused by cold temperatures that freeze the ground solid. If the cold temperatures bring snow and precipitation, upon melting, that precipitation has no where to go because of the block of ice it’s sitting upon. You can read all about New England’s mud season here. They explain it much better than I can.

There are a few close-by dirt roads that are atrocious. I plan on getting pictures of them for you soon. There are foot high ruts in them and I’m not sure how anyone gets through them at all. It’s only going to get worse too. As all our snow melts, we’re going to be more and more in for it.

I just went outside and took a few pictures. I’ll explain what’s happening above each picture.

This is a picture of my feet in my mud boots. It you remember back, I purchased these boots in Florida to protect me from the huge snake in our yard. Now that mud season is here, I sure am glad to have these boots.

Just as soon as our driveway began melting down, I noticed that we had water from the road (or the whole hill up the road) draining into it. Laura and I quickly dug through the side of the driveway wall to allow the water to escape into the woods.

Here is a picture of the channel the water created at the end of the driveway. Look at how deep the ice still is out there.

This morning, I went out and chipped a path through the snowbank along the side of the road. Now, the water drains through that and not onto the driveway.

This is just a picture of the road. I’m sure it’s going to get worse and worse, so I feel as though this is a “before” shot. Every day is an adventure.