Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Uneven Ground under New Deck

Hello!


Serious newbie to the outdoor landscaping- here's the problem. We had a deck built last summer- The main deck is nestled off the back side of the house and the second deck (housing a very heavy hot tub) is about 4 ft lower. We have a high spot immediately under the main deck that slopes toward the house. We are hoping to level the ground, spread the weed quard material, then cover it with gravel. Most of the ground is clay, so we need to level it out and make sure that any drainage flows away from the house- toward the lower deck- what is the easiest way to level this area? (please don't say a shovel& wheelbarrow) :) Mostly we are concerned about drainage, since there have been issues in the past with flooding.

If you do not want us to say a shovel and wheelboro, what do you want us to say. I am not trying to be smart, I am just asking you a question. Given your problem the way you described it, the answer is shovel and wheelboro.

You've got to move dirt. There are only so many tools available to accomplish that task with.

Seems to me that it would have been a whole lot easier to do before you put the deck in the way tho!!

Yeah- that's what happens when a project is done as repayment instead of money :) The issue is the 2 decks aren't that far off the ground- the upper one you have to stoop to avoid beams and the lower one you'd have to crawl around to get under there........ guess it's just gonna take a while. Thanks for the replys.