Yard Drainage & French Drain Installation

A French drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe at the bottom, set on a slope. Water in the surrounding soil seeps into the gravel and pipe instead of sitting on the surface, and the pipe carries it downhill to a discharge point — a street-side swale, a drainage easement, or another approved spot away from the house. Done right, it's invisible when we're finished: the trench is backfilled, and the sod or beds go back over the top. It works quietly for decades with no moving parts and nothing to maintain under normal conditions.

The difference between a French drain that works for 20 years and one that clogs in three is the installation: correct depth in clay, a real slope on the pipe (water only moves downhill), fabric that keeps clay silt out of the gravel, and a discharge point that actually drains. That's the part we don't shortcut.

1. We walk the lot with you. Mike personally walks every project before we start. We look at where the water collects, where it comes from (roof runoff, neighbor runoff, a low lot), and where it can go. In flat Houston lots, finding a discharge point with enough fall is the whole ballgame — we solve that first, on paper, before any digging.

2. You get a written, itemized estimate before we dig. No vague allowances, no surprise add-ons. The estimate spells out the drain runs, materials, and restoration, with full terms — the same straightforward pricing we use on every job.

3. We install the system. Trench dug to depth, pipe set on slope, gravel and fabric placed, basins and tie-ins connected. Most residential systems go in within 1–2 days.

4. We put your yard back. This is where a design-to-installation crew beats a drain-only outfit: the same people who dug the trench restore the sod, re-edge the beds, and replace the mulch. You don't get left with a dirt scar and a list of other contractors to call.

5. We walk it with you when it's done. You see exactly what went in the ground and where the water now goes.

French drains. The workhorse for soggy yards and wet side lots. Perforated pipe in a gravel trench intercepts groundwater and surface water and carries it to a discharge point.

Catch basins. Grated basins set at low points — a patio corner, the bottom of a driveway slope, the spot where the whole yard drains to — connected to solid pipe that moves collected water out fast. Often paired with a French drain: the basin grabs surface water, the French drain handles the saturated soil.

Channel drains. Long, narrow grated drains that cut across driveways, patios, and pool decks to stop water before it reaches the garage or the house. The right answer when water sheets across concrete toward your door.

Downspout tie-ins. Your roof sheds thousands of gallons in a big storm, and standard downspouts dump it right at the foundation. We bury solid pipe from the downspouts and carry that water to the discharge point instead.

Regrading and swales. Sometimes the pipe isn't the problem — the grade is. We regrade low areas and cut shallow swales that steer surface water around the house and toward drainage, often combined with a drain system for lots that need both.

Dry creek beds. Our favorite solution where it fits: a stone-lined channel that works like a swale but looks like a landscape feature. Dry most of the year, it carries storm water through the yard during downpours, controls erosion, and reads as a deliberate part of the design — river rock, boulders, and plantings along the banks. For homeowners who need serious water movement but don't want their yard to look like a drainage project, a dry creek bed is the one option that makes the yard look better while it fixes the problem. It's drainage you can show off.

Most residential drainage work we install falls into two bands: a simple drain line runs $800–$1,500, and a full yard drainage system runs $2,000–$5,000 or more, depending on length, depth, and how many basins and tie-ins the yard needs. Every yard moves water differently, so any honest price starts with walking the lot — how much drain run you need, how deep we have to go in clay, and where the water can discharge all move the number. Your written estimate is itemized before work starts, and the price on it is the price you pay.