Background

We purchased our home in Olive Branch Mississippi in April of 2002. It was a nice property then with a full backyard, big enough for a fence. Beyond the perimeter of our yard, the earth slopped into a drainage ditch and flood plane, which we discovered later, provides the rainwater run off for the entire subdivision. That's a lot of water folks! Within a year, signs of erosion were starting, so to stop this we hired a landscaper to "fix" the problem and stop the erosion. After $2000, a few years and a lot of rain drops later; we now have a dangerous situation known as sinkholes and landslides in our own backyard. That $2000 went down the drain, or slid down the hill, or whatever you want to call it because I could never get the landscaper on the phone again to come and "refix" the problem.

So now what?

Doing some research I found that the builder had to obtain a permit from the city of Olive Branch, stating that the property was suitable, safe and free of potential erosion before a residence could be built there. LIGHTBULB! I'll call the city to address this situation, and I'll get the homeowner's association involved since my yard isn't the only one this is happening to. After plenty of hounding by me and the homeowner's association, we fnally got a visit from the city. Guess what they said..."NOT MY CHAIR..NOT MY PROBLEM"... in so many words. Basically, it was the builders responsibility to make the property suitable and since we now own it...it's our resposibility. AND.. not only is there erosion, but the drainage from our roof is inadequate, and we have moles that expedite the erosion. Now we have three problems to address.

Well, we decided to handle this ourselves, which should be pretty humorous. That is why I decided to start this blog. This way we can log our progress while making people laugh at our ignorance, and hopefully get some helpful tips along the way....Stay tuned!