North Texas clay doesn't soak up a hard rain; it sheds it. Add a new subdivision where the lots were graded fast, and you get backyards that hold water for days and side yards that turn into creeks.
Water pooling against a slab foundation is the problem to fix first. Clay that swells wet and shrinks dry moves the foundation with it. Good drainage is cheaper than foundation repair.
- Service area
- Within 25 miles of Rhome, TX: Wise, Denton & north Tarrant County
- Quote
- Free, written and itemized within one business day
- Call
- (817) 555-0142
- Insurance
- Fully insured
What's included
- Rain-day or hose-test diagnosis
- French drains with fabric-wrapped gravel and pipe
- Downspout extensions and buried gutter lines
- Channel drains across patios and drives
- Pop-up emitters and catch basins
- Regrading for positive slope away from the house
- Dry creek beds that move water and look good doing it
How it goes
Find the water
We walk the property, ideally after a rain, and figure out where water comes from and where it can legally go.
Design
You get a drawing showing the drain routes and a fixed price.
Install
We trench, lay pipe and gravel, backfill, and put sod or beds back the way they were.
Notes from the field
The standard we build to: the ground should fall about six inches in the first ten feet away from the foundation. Many of the yards we look at have that backward.
One rule we won't bend: we don't dump your water onto a neighbor's lot. It is a common shortcut and it starts arguments. We route to the street, a drainage easement, or a dry well.
Questions we get
Do I need a French drain or just regrading?
Often regrading alone fixes it, and it is cheaper. French drains are for spots where you can't get enough slope, or water is coming from somewhere uphill.
Will it tear up my yard?
A trench is a trench. But we cut sod out in strips and lay it back, and the line is usually hard to find within a few weeks.
Is my HOA going to care?
Some HOAs want to approve visible work like dry creek beds. We'll give you a drawing to submit.
Guides on this
- Why your backyard holds water after every storm (and how to fix it)
- What does a French drain cost? (And when you don't need one)