French Drain Installation
in Port Orchard, Washington
A French drain is the answer to one specific question: how do you collect water that is already in the ground and move it somewhere else? Not water running across the surface. Water sitting in the soil, against a footing, under a lawn, in the low spot that never dries.
We install them across Port Orchard and the rest of Kitsap County, and we install a fair number of them to replace failed ones somebody else put in three years ago.
What Our Customers Say
★★★★★
"Doug did a great job grading, re-rocking, and compacting our rather steep driveway that had become very worn down, rutted, and rough to drive on. It's now back to its original width, smooth to drive on, and is holding up well through rain and snow. I'm also very pleased that the water is draining down the side of the driveway, away from the house, as Doug designed it to do."
Cynthia W., Google Review
★★★★★
"We had a little tractor break down mid project with months to wait for parts and a huge mess. so i researched locals on facebook, google, local quarries looking for help. Doug not only was the only one to respond, but showed up to estimate, and was up front with a very reasonable minimum fee, and fit me in between other jobs nearby. I was even vague about certain elements of the work to be done, and he did everything and more. Before you try DIY, try this team first!"
David H., Google Review
How a French Drain Works
Dig a trench. Line it with filter fabric. Set perforated pipe at the bottom, backfill with washed drain rock, fold the fabric over the top. Water in the surrounding soil takes the path of least resistance, which is now your gravel, and it drains into the pipe and runs downhill to an outlet.
That is the whole idea. The engineering is in four details, and every failed drain we dig up got at least one of them wrong.
Fall. The pipe has to run downhill the entire way. Not mostly downhill. A drain with a flat spot or a dip becomes a buried pond that silts up.
The outlet. Water has to go somewhere lower than where it started, and somewhere legal. If there is no daylight point, the design changes to a dry well or a pump, and that needs deciding before anybody digs.
Clean rock. Washed drain rock, not pit run with fines in it. Fines pack into the voids and the drain stops draining.
Filter fabric. It keeps silt out of the gravel. Skip it and the drain works beautifully for two seasons, then chokes.
Where French Drains Go
Not every wet yard needs one. When a French drain is the right call, it is usually one of these:
- Along a foundation, pulling groundwater away before it reaches the wall or gets into a crawl space
- Across a slope, intercepting water coming downhill from a neighbor or an uphill field before it reaches the part of the yard you use
- Around a low spot that holds water after every storm
- Behind a retaining wall, where drainage is not optional. A wall with no drain behind it is a wall waiting to lean
- Under or beside a driveway that dumps water into the wrong place
If the water is running over the top of the ground rather than sitting in it, a regraded slope or a swale is cheaper and works better. We will tell you when that is the case. Talking a homeowner into a trench they do not need is a good way to get paid once and never called again.
An Opinion About Pipe
There are two common choices and we are not neutral about them.
Corrugated flexible pipe is cheap and fast to lay. It also crushes under load, holds its own low spots between supports, and its ridges collect silt on the inside where you cannot reach it. The sock-wrapped version clogs even faster in the silty soil we have plenty of around here.
Rigid perforated pipe costs more and takes longer to set. It holds its line, holds its fall, takes weight, and can be cleaned out later if it ever needs it. That is what we use unless there is a specific reason not to.
Is the cheaper pipe ever fine? On a short run, in sandy soil, under nothing heavy, sure. That describes very few yards in Kitsap County.
Our Installation Process
Our process on a French drain is deliberate, because the parts you cannot see later are the parts that matter.
1.
Site walk.
We find where the water comes from, where it sits, and where it can legally go. If we can see it during a storm, even better.
2.
Design.
Route, depth, pipe size, and outlet, worked out before a shovel moves. Most residential drains sit 18 inches to 2 feet deep. Foundation and footing drains go deeper, down to the level we are trying to protect.
3.
Utility locates.
We find what is already buried. Hitting a line is expensive and avoidable.
4.
Trenching.
Cut to grade with continuous fall, checked as we go rather than at the end.
5.
Fabric, pipe, rock.
Fabric in, pipe set and checked for fall, washed rock in, fabric folded over.
6.
Outlet and restoration.
The discharge gets built properly, then we put the surface back and clean up.
Before we start you get the scope, the timeline, and the risks in writing. You also get told what we are unsure about, because on drainage work there is always something underground nobody can promise.
What a French Drain Costs
We price after the site walk, and the range on this work is wide for real reasons:
- Length of the run and where the outlet is. Distance is the biggest single factor.
- Depth. A footing drain is a different excavation from a lawn drain.
- What is in the way. Mature trees, hardscape, a deck, a driveway, an existing utility.
- Soil and rock. Clay digs differently than sand, and hitting rock changes the day.
- Restoration. Putting a lawn back is simple. Putting a paver patio back is not.
- Outlet type. Daylight is cheapest. A dry well or a pump costs more.
Anyone giving you a firm French drain price over the phone has not asked enough questions.
Keeping It Working
A well-built drain lasts a long time, and it lasts longer with a look at it twice a year. Check the outlet is clear, the grate is not buried under bark and leaves, and water is actually coming out during a wet stretch. Before and after the wet season are the natural times.
Most drains we replace did not wear out. They filled up, because nobody checked the outlet for five years.
Drainage Work That Connects
French drains are one tool out of several. See our full
drainage solutions for surface systems, swales, trench drains, dry wells, and pumps. Frequently the real fix pairs a drain with
land grading or
grading and leveling so the surface stops feeding the problem. Pipe means
utility and drainage trenching. New construction should have drainage designed in at
site preparation, not retrofitted after the concrete cures. And every one of our
retaining walls gets drainage behind it as part of the build.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Ready to Get Rid of the Water?
We install French drains throughout Port Orchard, Kitsap County, Mason County, and Gig Harbor. See all of the areas we serve.
Call (360) 337-9051 and tell us where the water sits.
Call
(360) 337-9051 for French drain installation in Port Orchard and across Kitsap County