Hi all.

Bought a new house and the drainage/grading around my foundation needs some work due to a few low spots. I'm in New England, and the prior owners let the foliage around the house go out of control, so I'm currently locked in mortal combat with a bunch of Japanese Andromedas and Pachysandra.

Once I clear all that out, I'd like to put down some drainage stone (rather than mulch) over the few remaining pruned shrubs I'll be leaving.

I've gotten some conflicting advice on this, and I'd like to know. Should I pull up the existing weed barrier and put down clay soil to build and rake a slope, and then put some plastic under the drainage stone? Some have said a little extra top soil is fine, rake it away in a slope and pour the stone. Will this just erode over time?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated by me and my basement.