My drainage ditch project turned into a 3 month saga over 2 inches of slope

Ngl I figured I could knock out a simple french drain behind my shed in a weekend. Turns out my yard sits so flat that water just pooled in the middle no matter how I angled the pipe. After 3 tries and renting a laser level from Home Depot for 60 bucks, I finally fixed it by digging the whole trench 2 inches deeper on the far side. Has anyone else fought their own yard's grade for way longer than they expected?

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sage3081mo ago

Man that laser level rental was a lifesaver for me too, I read somewhere that most DIYers mess up drainage because they eyeball it instead of measuring. My backyard was basically a bowl and it took me a whole weekend just to figure out why the water was sitting there, then another two weekends to fix it. The stupid thing is you think 2 inches won't matter but it totally does, water finds the flattest spot every time. I ended up buying one of those cheap string levels from the hardware store and it still sits in my garage mocking me. Honestly props to you for sticking with it, most people would just give up and let the yard flood.