I was thinking of removing the pavers as well, they either need to be laid correctly or gone. I almost tripped on one of them yesterday. And boy, I thought I had seen what the water was like until yesterday. It was like a monsoon in the yard! That area off to the side of the pavers that looks like it runs off into the woods was about 2ft wide. It was quite a mess and a larger problem than I thought. I am still going to try the pot filled with stones idea and have seen a few that might work. On another note, I found out that our building will be getting a new roof but could get no confirmation on whether they were adding downspouts, I can hope can't I?

You must drain water away from the house, paving and walls. If you want to manage rainwater, you should be putting it in containers of some sort and storing it for later use ... not directing it to where plants are located alongside the house or toward the other aforementioned elements. An underground cistern is one way of storing water. Rain barrels are another. Having unsightly containers at the downspouts for storing water is not worth the sacrifice in appearance for many people. You'd need to judge for yourself what you're willing to put up with or pay for. If water is precious, you might be willing to make greater sacrifices in order to store rainwater for later use. Forget about a french drain if there is any way you can avoid it, and I'm pretty sure you can. It will not protect you from flooding. I've marked arrows on the survey in order to illustrate the general idea of how you would be draining your property. The yellow areas represent the direction water would flow at the surface. In a heavy storm, a sheet of water would flow as they point. The Blue arrows represent how water would be collected throughout the yard in order to drain toward the front. (The blue arrows would be higher in the back yard and lower in the front.) In a heavy storm, it would be like your personal miniature "river." When the rain stopped, it would drain completely. I can see that you'd need to raise the grade flush with the patio in order for it to slope away. You'd probably be adding soil at various places in the back yard and excavating soil as you approach the front yard. However, adding & subtracting would be subtle, not pronounced. With grade as generally flat as it is, tolerances would be very tight. I suggest you find someone who can design grading and is capable of establishing spot elevations with some kind of leveling device so that there are distinct, known elevations to achieve. The difference in elevation from the back yard to the front will determine much of what will be possible to do, or not do. If it's done correctly, you won't have any puddles no matter how much rain comes. Building a drainage way of stone will not make any difference if your yard drains or not. It's the grade that's established that will make the difference. Of course you can have sod at the patio. Account for it when calculating elevations. (In other words, it has a thickness that must be accommodated.)

Thank you for your reply. And sorry to be so slow to thank you. We lost a family member this week (my wife's dad age 70) so I've been otherwise occupied. I checked out your recommendation. But I want something brighter. I'm currently leaning towards creeping thyme as the best option. One of the best low growing ground covers is Creeping thyme. This versatile plant, Thymus serpyllum, can be used in countless ways to provide color, cut maintenance and its uses in the garden are almost unlimited. Creeping thyme is one of those easy to grow plants that survive nicely with little or no care. It's a low maintenance plant that can take a lot of abuse too! Uses - there are very few ground covers that can be walked-on, but creeping thyme is one of them. So it makes an ideal ground cover to use between stepping stones, near the patio adjoining walkways or at the base of a rockery. However, those are not the only uses for this versatile low growing ground cover. Because of its low growth habit, it can be used effectively in the foreground of just about any planting in the landscape. It is especially popular to use in spots where the plants can cascade over a rockery or fill-in between evergreen plants. Growing habit - creeping thyme grows about two to four inches high and can spread up to two or more feet in width. The leaves are very small, but dense and cover the low growing plants. Foliage color varies in shades of light to dark green and the variety 'Woolly' thyme has attractive grayish foliage. The leaf color of the other varieties seems to vary with flower color, the lighter flowering varieties have lighter foliages. Flower colors range in shades of lavender, red, rose, or white. They flower in the late spring and early summer. The plants flower so prolifically, you can hardly see the evergreen leaves below. Creeping thyme is an easy plant to maintain, as it does not tend to take-over and can easily be confined to a specific area. Location - these versatile plants will grow in full sun, part sun and shade and even full shade. However, they usually do not flower quite as well in full shade, and sometimes tend to grow a little more sparse in the shade. Propagation - although dividing is the most popular method of propagation, new plants can also be started from seed. Unfortunately, very few companies carry the seed. If you find some, or collect your own seed, it can be sown directly into the garden anytime between may and august.

they failed to grade correctly. It was poorly done. I'd call them back out and have them fix it. (and it's going to have be taken up and redone, regardless. no way to fix that slope without removing those (or, I suppose you could put in a french drain near the foundation. But why should you do that when the patio is supposed to be graded away from the house?? doesn't seem right) BTW, were theses pavers set solely on the dirt/sand? (also the cheap way) They should have poured concrete first, and then laid the pavers. within a few years those pavers are going to shift/sag and move. Ask me how I know.