When most homeowners think about protecting their home, they focus on the roof, windows, or foundation. But one of the biggest threats to any home starts with something much less obvious: where the rain goes after it falls. 

At Mom’s Design Build, we believe great landscape architecture does more than create beautiful outdoor spaces; it protects your home. Through thoughtful site planning, grading, drainage, and stormwater management, we design landscapes that naturally capture, direct, and filter rainwater before it can cause damage. 

To help homeowners better understand this important topic, we sat down with Mom’s Design Build Founder & CEO Jim Sweeney to answer some of the most common questions about stormwater management and how thoughtful landscape architecture can protect both your home and the environment. 

What is stormwater management?

Stormwater management is your property’s plan for handling rainwater before it becomes a problem. 

“The goal is to eliminate runoff, filter the water, and return it into the ground so it doesn’t erode or wash things away,” Jim explains. 

A properly designed stormwater management system helps: 

• Protect your home’s foundation 

• Reduce the chance of basement water intrusion 

• Prevent soil erosion 

• Keep runoff from affecting neighboring properties 

• Return clean water back into the ground naturally 

Every property is different, but the process always begins with one simple question: 

Where is the water going? 

From there, the design team looks beyond the property lines to understand how stormwater flows throughout the surrounding neighborhood. By considering the bigger picture, they develop a customized solution that protects the home, respects neighboring properties, and complies with local regulations. 

Why Stormwater Management Matters  

As older homes in communities like Edina, Minnesota are replaced with larger homes, there’s less space for rainwater to naturally soak into the ground. More roofs, driveways, and patios mean more stormwater runoff. 

As Jim Sweeney explains: 

“We want to be good neighbors. We don’t want to take our water problems and give them to someone else.” 

That’s why thoughtful landscape architecture focuses on capturing and filtering stormwater before it reaches neighboring properties, streets, or local waterways. 

How Smart Landscape Design Prevents Water Damage 

Without proper planning, water naturally follows the path of least resistance, which often leads directly toward your home’s foundation. 

That’s why stormwater management begins with thoughtful landscape design. 

Jim Sweeney explains, “The first line of defense is your gutters.” Clean, properly sized gutters and downspouts help direct rainwater away from your home, preventing it from collecting around the foundation. Once the water reaches the ground, thoughtful landscape architecture takes over. Proper grading directs water away from the home, and drainage systems collect excess runoff. Underground infiltration systems and rain gardens then return stormwater to the soil, reducing erosion and helping keep water away from the foundation. 

The result is a landscape that not only looks beautiful but quietly works behind the scenes to protect your home year after year. 

Signs Your Property May Have a Stormwater Problem 

• Standing water after rain 

• Wet or soggy areas that never seem to dry 

• Water entering the basement 

• Foundation cracks 

• Soil erosion 

• Musty odors or signs of moisture 

Even without these warning signs, stormwater management is often required during major remodels or home additions. As homes become larger and more hard surfaces are added, less rainwater can naturally infiltrate the ground.   

Project Spotlight: Stormwater Prevention Hidden Beneath Beautiful Design 

One recent Mom’s Design Build project in Edina demonstrates how stormwater management can be seamlessly integrated into luxury residential design. 

Working alongside a civil engineer, the team developed a custom underground infiltration system designed to capture runoff from the home’s roof and surrounding hardscape before it could impact neighboring properties or flow into nearby lakes, rivers, and other waterways. 

The finished system is completely hidden beneath the landscape. 

Homeowners never see it working, but every rainfall, it quietly protects the foundation, reduces runoff, meets city requirements, and preserves the clean, elegant appearance of the property. 

It’s a perfect example of how landscape architecture, engineering, and construction work together to create beautiful spaces that perform just as well as they look. 

What Makes Up a Stormwater Management System? 

No two properties are exactly alike, but many stormwater management plans include a combination of: 

• Proper site grading 

• Drain tile systems 

• Underground infiltration basins 

• Rain gardens 

• Drainage piping 

• Collection systems 

• Connections to approved municipal storm sewer systems when necessary 

Each component works together to safely manage rainwater while protecting your home’s foundation and surrounding landscape.

Why Stormwater Planning Should Be Part of Every Design Project 

Stormwater management isn’t something homeowners typically think about until there’s a problem, but by then, solutions are often more expensive and more disruptive. 

Whether you’re planning a: 

• Home addition 

• New patio 

• Swimming pool 

• Outdoor living space 

• Major landscape renovation 

• Significant hardscape installation 

…it’s the perfect opportunity to evaluate how water moves across your property. 

Designing drainage into the project from the beginning is far more effective than trying to correct problems after construction is complete. 

At Mom’s Design Build, stormwater planning is integrated into the design process from day one, ensuring every project is both beautiful and built to perform for decades. 

Expert Advice from Jim Sweeney 

If Jim could give every Minnesota homeowner one simple piece of advice, it would be this: 

Take care of your gutters. 

“Make sure they’re the right size, keep them clean, and extend your downspouts away from your home.” 

It’s one of the easiest and most affordable ways to help keep water away from your foundation and support the overall drainage of your property. 

Better for Your Home and Better for Minnesota 

Stormwater management is about much more than preventing puddles. 

When rainwater is allowed to naturally infiltrate the soil, the ground filters pollutants such as fertilizers, oils, and other contaminants before they reach nearby lakes, rivers, and wetlands. 

That means every thoughtfully designed stormwater management system contributes to cleaner water, healthier ecosystems, and stronger communities throughout Minnesota. 

At Mom’s Design Build, we believe great design considers every detail, including the water you can’t always see. 

By incorporating stormwater management into every landscape, addition, and outdoor living project, we help homeowners protect their investment and be good neighbors while creating outdoor spaces that are as functional as they are beautiful. 

Because the best water problem is the one that never happens.