however, if you have that much water on top, posibility is you would have ground saturation. if this is the case then drywell will aid in a central location for water to pool, fill up, become stagnant, and stink. being in the dogs area, planting bed might not be a solution, or would it? plantings with invasive tertiary root system to suck up that water would be suggested. if not, regrade with a slight swale to the corner of the property. our systems are designed with a process gravel base of a couple inches deep by a couple feet wide from high end to low end covered by a couple of inches topsoil so you can plant over it. depending on your type of soil at said location. iff the water saturation is extreme, then a french drain with crushed stone and filter fabric would be suggested but putting it at an end location would be the callenge. getting it to daylight, or possible drywell in a dryer location could be possible. Here is a link that might be useful: Lafayette Landscape & Construction, Inc.

Hi Saxman1. This was the "fixing process"... 1/ Remove ALL fluids for the engine. Spray WD40 into the cylinder plughole and on the spark plug. 2/ Spray inside the cowling around the pull cord with CRC Co-contact electrical no-residue contact cleaner (for the magneto...). Spray WD40 into the muffler. 3/ Undo the retaining nut inside the spark plug shoe and remove the resistor and retaining spring. Use the contact cleaner in there, as well. 4/ Wait for God to turn on the sun. Seeing that it's summer down here He obliged accordingly. I left the mower alone for a few days in the very hot garage! 5/ Give the plughole another burst with WD40 and replace the plug, etc... after putting a couple of drops of "Start, you Bast#rd"* into the hole. (*Stuff they sell over here for recalcitrant engines that won't go after becoming wet.) 6/ All new fluids. 7/ Pull the cord and, hey presto! She works!!! :):):) Ah that Nevada Walrus guy...what a good bloke!!! Happy New Year to all...

Me again. Finally, we're back in working order. The local service guy and I both learned a few lessons. He learned not to assume that the valve that failed is the cold one, when the customer can't shut off hot or cold supply independently. I learned not to assume he would assume either or both and so order both parts. We both thought about that whole situation a few times since Saturday and both of us realized we should have thought further about where else we could turn off cold or hot supply separately - just the fitting at the wall by the washer, or could we have tracked back further? I'd forgotten that I'd insisted the plumber put in additional shut-offs earlier in the line, in case we ever needed to shut these lines down, without impacting the rest of the household! I also learned that the people at Bosch (where you end up when you schedule warranty service through the 888-77LOWES number) vary wildly in their knowledge of how to proceed. The first one I spoke to misunderstood me back on the weekend I initially posted. He thought I said I was OUT OF WARRANTY so he sent me direct to the local authorized service guys (Scott's Appliance Installation and Repair). Scott and I muddled through trying to get the part ordered over a couple days, and then trying to get it expedited. Once we got through that, Scott came on Saturday (a week after this all began) only to discover in the meantime, that the bad one was the hot, not the cold. He scoured the New England area this morning, found a source, worked out whatever deal he needed to get it in hand today and replaced hot and cold fill valves this evening. Although I'd have been happier if he'd done a more thorough job of troubleshooting me in the first place, I truly like this independent authorized service provider. He works alone - so I'll never see some clueless idiot with an attitude. I like that he completely owned up to making a mistake in troubleshooting and that he made it right, and did a late appointment today, rather than making me stay home from work tomorrow. (On his first visit, when we realized we couldn't make the Bosch functional that day, he fixed a couple dopey* things wrong with my old machine for free, to make sure I could do a couple loads on Sunday, too.) He also helped me put the Kellett ShakeAway Pads I ordered a while back under the machine, even though his experience with various pads said I'd be unhappy because it might cut the sound but the machine would be jumping around more visibly. When we tested them, he said, "I have to admit, I'm impressed!" I'm happy... and the Bosch is humming away upstairs, and my whole house AIN'T shakin! (*hubby put new hoses on the old machine on Friday and ran a load or two. I found them dripping on the basement floor and he'd hooked them up backwards, hot for cold. Good thing I didn't run a load of undies in "cold" or my unmentionables would have also been my invisibles!)

No idea on where to get dirt, but I'd get somebody in to discuss drainage - I doubt raising the level enough is practical. Even if you were to fill to raise, you'd still probably need some drainage solution. It may not be that complicated, something like french drains and a dry well (soakaway) may do it. You'll definitely want to ensure it's done right and drains well before putting any additional sheds up. If it happens after every rain and clears up, it really does sound like drainage would help.